Bumble Bee Nursery Sharjah offers the EYFS Curriculum (British Curriculum)
At Bumble Bee Nursery we follow the Early Years Foundation Stage (EYFS), which flows seamlessly into the British National Curriculum. The EYFS is a framework that provides standards and expectations for the development of children up to five years of age that early years providers must meet to ensure that children learn and develop well and are kept healthy and safe. The EYFS promotes teaching and learning to prepare children for school readiness by giving the children a diverse range of knowledge, experiences and skills that provide a strong foundation for future learning and school life.
As a British curriculum (EYFS) nursery we know that every child deserves the best possible start in life and the support that enables them to fulfill their potential. Children develop quickly in the early years and a child’s experiences between birth and age five have a major impact on their future life chances. A secure, safe and happy childhood is important in its own right and is something that we take very seriously at Bumble Bee Nursery Sharjah. Good parenting and high quality early learning together provide the foundation children need to make the most of their abilities and talents as they grow up.
By following the EYFS we seek to provide
- Quality and consistency in our English nursery so that every child makes good progress and no child gets left behind
- A secure foundation through learning and development opportunities which are planned around the needs and interests of each individual child and are assessed and reviewed regularly
- Partnership working between teachers and with parents and/or carers
- Equality of opportunity and anti-discriminatory practice, ensuring that every child is included and supported
The 4 Guiding Principles of the British Curriculum (EYFS)
All of us here our nursery in Sharjah understand that children are born ready, able and eager to learn. They actively reach out to interact with other people, and in the world around them. Development is not an automatic process, however. It depends on each unique child having opportunities to interact in positive relationships and enabling environments.
- Every child is a unique child, who is constantly learning and can be resilient, capable, confident and self-assured
- Children learn to be strong and independent through positive relationships
- Children learn and develop well in enabling environments, in which their experiences respond to their individual needs and there is a strong partnership between practitioners and parents and/or carers
- Children develop and learn in different ways and at different rates. The EYFS framework covers the education and care of all children in early years provision, including children with special educational needs and disabilities.
The 7 Areas of Learning in the British Curriculum (EYFS)
The EYFS is divided into 7 areas of learning development, which are all interconnected. These areas guide our teachers’ engagement with your child’s play and activities as they learn new skills and knowledge. Our professional teachers and assistants supporting your child will make sure that the activities are suited to your child’s unique needs and interests.
The prime areas begin to develop quickly in response to relationships and experiences, and run through and support learning in all other areas. The prime areas continue to be fundamental throughout the EYFS and the British Curriculum.
The specific areas include essential skills and knowledge. They grow out of the prime areas, and provide important contexts for learning.
Personal Social and Emotional Development involves helping children to develop a positive sense of themselves, and others; to form positive relationships and develop respect for others; to develop social skills and learn how to manage their feelings; to understand appropriate behaviour in groups; and to have confidence in their own abilities. It is broken down into 3 categories:
- Making relationships
- Self Confidence and Self-awareness
- Managing feelings and behaviour
Communication and Language development involves giving children opportunities to experience a rich language environment; to develop their confidence and skills in expressing themselves; and to speak and listen in a range of situations. It is broken down into 3 categories
- Listening and Attention
- Understanding
- Speaking
Physical development involves providing opportunities for young children to be active and interactive; and to develop their co-ordination, control, and movement. Children will also be helped to understand the importance of physical activity, and to make healthy choices in relation to food. It is broken down into 2 categories:
- Moving and Handling
- Health & Self-care
Literacy development involves encouraging children to link sounds and letters and to begin to read and write. Children will be given access to a wide range of reading materials (books, poems, and other written materials) to ignite their interest. It is broken down into 2 categories:
- Reading
- Writing
Mathematics involves providing children with opportunities to develop and improve their skills in counting, understanding and using numbers, calculating simple addition and subtraction problems; and to describe shapes, spaces, and measure. It is broken down into 2 categories:
- Numbers
- Space, Shape and Measure
Understanding the world involves guiding children to make sense of their physical world and their community through opportunities to explore, observe and find out about people, places, technology and the environment. It is broken down into 3 categories:
- People and Communities
- The World
- Technology
Expressive arts and design involves enabling children to explore and play with a wide range of media and materials, as well as providing opportunities and encouragement for sharing their thoughts, ideas and feelings through a variety of activities in art, music, movement, dance, role-play, and design and technology. It is broken down into 2 categories:
- Exploring and Using Media & Materials
- Being Imaginative
Characteristics of Effective Learning
Children need motivation to learn. Motivation is more important than intelligence and is the key to success for children and adults. When children are left to explore a stimulating learning environment on their own, they will learn through playing and exploring. However, this is not enough. Children need support from a skillful practitioner, who has the knowledge of when to intervene and give guidance. This support will help children make significant progress in their learning. When our teachers plan activities or experiences they keep in mind the ways in which children learn and reflect this in practice.
Playing and Exploring - Engagement
- Finding out and exploring is concerned with the child’s’ open-ended hands-on experiences, which result from innate curiosity and provide the raw sensory material from which the child builds concepts, tests ideas and finds out.
- Using what they know in their play describes how children use play to bring together their current understandings, combining, refining and exploring their ideas in imaginative ways. Representing experiences through imaginative play supports the development of narrative thought, the ability to see from other perspectives, and symbolic thinking.
- Being willing to have a go refers to the child finding an interest, initiating activities, seeking challenge, having a ‘can do’ orientation, being willing to take a risk in new experiences, and developing the view of failures as opportunities to learn.
Active Learning - Motivation
- Being involved and concentrating describes the intensity of attention that arises from children concentrating on following a line of interest in their activities.
- Keeping on trying refers to the importance of persistence even in the face of challenge or difficulties, an element of purposeful control, which supports resilience.
- Enjoying achieving what they set out to do refers to the reward of meeting one’s own goals, building on the intrinsic motivation, which supports long-term success, rather than relying on the approval of others.
Creating and Thinking Critically
- Having their own ideas covers the critical area of creativity – generating new ideas and approaches in all areas of endeavor. Being inventive allows children to find new problems as they seek challenge, and to explore ways of solving these.
- Using what they know to learn new things refers to the way in which children develop and link concepts, find meaning in sequence, cause and effect and in the intentions of others through both narrative and scientific modes of thought
- Choosing ways to do things and finding new ways involves approaching goal-directed activity in organised ways, making choices and decisions about how to approach tasks, planning and monitoring what to do and being able to change strategies.
Every child is regularly assessed in accordance with the Early Years Foundation Stage (EYFS) framework and the academic and social progress is analysed, tracked and reported by our teachers.
Assessment plays an important part in helping our parents, carers and teachers to recognise children’s progress, understand their needs, and to plan activities and support. Ongoing assessment (also known as formative assessment) is an integral part of the learning and development process. It involves our teachers observing children to understand their level of achievement, interests and learning styles, and to then shape learning experiences for each child reflecting those observations.
Parents and/or carers are kept up-to-date with their child’s progress and development at regular intervals at Bumble Bee Nursery. Our dedicated and well-qualified staff will address any learning and development needs in partnership with parents and/or carers, and any relevant professionals.