Bourne Primary School

Useful information

A lot of the learning which takes place in EYFS (Early Years Foundation Stage) is independent learning time or learning through play, at Bourne we refer to this as Discovery Time.  During this time, classrooms are open along with the outside area.  This allows the children to interact with others and gives them a large range of places to explore. Throughout the day the children have a mixture of adult led and child led activities to complete and areas to visit. These areas include:

• A construction area
• A role-play area (which is linked to the current topic)
• A water play area
• An art and creative area
• A sand play area
• A maths area
• A range of ICT devices for the children to explore
• A mud kitchen
• A writing and mark making area
• A small world area
• Finger gym and fine motor opportunities
• A book corner
• A home corner
• A playdough table

The EYFS curriculum:

There are seven areas of learning and development that must shape educational programmes in early years settings. All areas of learning and development are important and inter-connected. Three areas are particularly crucial for igniting children’s curiosity and enthusiasm for learning, as well as developing their capacity to learn, form relationships and thrive.

The three prime areas are:

• communication and language
• physical development
• personal, social and emotional development

Children are also supported in four specific areas, through which the three prime areas are strengthened and applied.

The specific areas are:

• literacy
• mathematics
• understanding the world
• expressive arts and design

The seven areas are divided into strands, and each strand can be tracked from a young baby’s very earliest days, right up until a child reaches their Early Learning Goals.

The three characteristics of effective teaching and learning are:

• playing and exploring – children investigate and experience things, and ‘have a go’
• active learning – children concentrate and keep on trying if they encounter difficulties, and enjoy achievements
• creating and thinking critically – children have and develop their own ideas, make links between ideas, and develop strategies for doing things.

We use an online tool, ‘Tapestry’, to record the children’s achievements in learning throughout the year. Parents are also given access to this, and it can be an excellent way to maintain strong learning links between home and school.