The Early Years Foundation Stage of education was established in the UK under the Childcare Act 2006. It’s a framework that serves as a guideline for all preschool and kindergarten curricula. This framework covers the education, care and assessment of all preschool and kindergarten-aged children up to the age of around 5.
The EYFS framework is based on four basic principles:
- Every child is a unique human being. They are constantly learning and are self-assured, confident, and capable.
- Developing positive relationships is the way to develop a child’s interests and intellect that lead them to becoming educated and independent people.
- An enabling environment allows a child to enjoy their learning experience and feel comfortable exploring the world around them.
- Children have different ways of absorbing knowledge and learn at different rates.
The EYFS framework was developed to help children become strong and self-assured. It stresses skilful communication and the development of a creative and imaginative mind, and a happy and healthy body.
Seven Areas of Learning
The EYFS curriculum encompasses seven areas of learning that children will be taught, mostly through interactive exploration and play. These areas are:
- Communication and Language
- Physical Health and Development
- Personal, Emotional and Social Development
- Literacy
- Mathematics
- An Understanding of the World Around Them
- Expressive Art and Design
How an EYFS Curriculum Helps a Child’s Development
The seven prime areas of learning have been designed to cover the educational needs of the modern child. Through these learning areas, a child gains the skills, intellect and communication abilities to enable them to explore the worlds of science, maths, arts and literature and technology.
Under the EYFS curriculum children will enjoy a level of support from parents and educators that will take them through their early years development and ready them for Year 1 of their formal education. A child’s development is assessed at the beginning and end of this stage of development.
An EYFS practitioner will initially assess the child’s progress when they first start our school and will continue the on-going assessment weekly. These assessments are based on classroom observations only. The teachers will be looking mainly to see the child’s progress in the prime areas of learning and will write down their observations and make them accessible to parents, care-givers and any necessary education specialists.
The assessment is simple. It notes the child’s strengths in the prime learning areas and also the areas where the child may be struggling. Beyond this assessment, the practitioners that are in daily contact with the child (their teachers and assistant teachers) may also add observations that go beyond the prime areas, where necessary.
When the child reaches 5 years of age, a EYFS profile or a learning journal is created. This profile is an all-encompassing picture that is composed of observations and assessments from parents, care-givers, teachers, special education practitioners and anyone involved in the daily life and education of the child.
The profile serves to document the child’s current knowledge, abilities, understanding, their progress in the prime areas of learning, plus their readiness for entering Year 1 of their formal education.
The Benefits of the EYFS Curriculum
The Early Years Foundation Stage has been in existence for 15 years. In that time the progress exhibited by children in the UK has been so impressive that the curriculum has spread around the world. It has grown to become a standard for the education, care and assessment of all children thanks to the basic compassion and dignity it provides children with from the beginning of their educational years.
Raintree Kindergarten Practices EYFS
In Bangkok, Thailand, Raintree International School offers preschool and kindergarten classes that have adopted the EYFS curriculum. These classes are popular with both Thai and foreign parents who are keen for their children to receive an early education that best prepares them for the road ahead.
Children who have completed the EYFS programme at Raintree International School have demonstrated high levels of personal development thanks to the progressive teaching techniques that are focused on the individual child, rather than an arbitrary set of levels and grades.
To get a better idea of the benefits this modern education can provide for your child, contact Raintree International School, arrange a campus tour, and see how an EYFS curriculum can prepare your child for a future of infinite possibilities.
