Curriculum

At YMCA Sefton Nursery we encourage our children to learn through play.

Our curriculum covers all the key areas of the Early Years Foundation Stage and is designed to meet the needs of each individual child.

We follow the Government’s Early Years Foundation Stage (EYFS) framework which sets the standards for learning, development and care for children from birth up to 5 years of age.

The principles which guide the work of our Early Years Professionals are grouped into four themes:

A unique child – every child is a competent learner who can be resilient, capable, confident and self-assured

Positive Relationships – children learn to be strong and independent from a base of loving and secure relationships with parents and/or key person

Enabling Environments – the environment plays a key role in supporting and extending children’s development and learning

Learning and Development – children develop and learn in different ways and at different times; all areas of learning and development are equally important and inter-connected.

There are three prime areas of learning in which our Early Years Professionals support children to learn and develop. These are:

Personal, social and emotional development

Communication and language

Physical development.

Plus four specific areas of learning. These are:

  • Knowledge and understanding of the world
  • Literacy
  • Mathematics
  • Expressive arts and design.

In planning and guiding children’s activities, practitioners reflect on the different ways that children learn and reflect these in their practice.

Three characteristics of effective teaching and learning are:

  • Playing and exploring – children are allowed to investigate and experience things with a ‘have a go’ attitude
  • Active learning – children are encouraged to persevere and taught to enjoy achievements
  • Critical thinking – children are inspired to develop their own ideas, make links between ideas, and develop strategies for doing things.

Please click here  for a useful document for parents/cares to support EYFS at home

Each child has their own key person to enable them to feel reassured, safe and cared for within our setting.

This key person will keep a detailed Learning Journey of the child’s progress during their time with us. These records are available for all  parents on the online journal, Tapestry, who are always encouraged to add details of their child’s experiences from outside the nursery.

If you have any specific questions about the curriculum, please get in touch with our manager, who will be happy to answer any questions.