All the activities in NURSERY and KINDERGARTEN are in ENGLISH. In planning and guiding children’s activities, teachers pay attention 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 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

THE AREAS OF LEARNING AND DEVELOPMENT

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, inter-connected and crucial for igniting children’s curiosity and enthusiasm for learning, and for building their capacity to learn, form relationships and thrive.
Educational programmes involve activities and experiences for children, as follows:

• 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
• Physical development: involves providing opportunities for young children to be active and interactive; and to develop their co-ordination, control, and movement. Children are helped to understand the importance of physical activity, and to make healthy choices in relation to food
• 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

KINDERGARTEN

In addition to the further development of the activities begun in NURSERY, in KINDERGARTEN we introduce:

• Literacy development: involves encouraging children to link sounds and letters and to begin to read and write. Children are given access to a wide range of reading materials (books, poems, and other written materials) to ignite their interest
• 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
• 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
• 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

For children whose home language is not English, teachers will take reasonable steps to provide opportunities for children to support their learning. They also ensure that children have sufficient opportunities to learn and reach a good standard in English language during the EYFS: ensuring children are ready to benefit from the opportunities available to them when they begin Primary. When assessing communication, language and literacy skills, teachers will also assess children’s skills in English.