A Parent's guide to the EYFS
Parents’ Guide to the
  Early Years Foundation Stage Framework
   Exciting times ahead for you and your child

What is the Early Years Foundation Stage?
The Early Years Foundation Stage (EYFS), is how the Government and early years professionals describe the time in your child’s life between birth and age 5.

This is a very important stage as it helps your child get ready for school as well as preparing them for their future learning and successes. From when your child is born up until the age of 5, their early years experience should be happy, active, exciting, fun and secure; and support their development, care and learning needs.

Childminders, nurseries, pre-schools and reception classes registered to deliver the EYFS must follow a legal document called the Early Years Foundation Stage Framework.

   What is the EYFS Framework ~ why do we have one?
The EYFS Framework exists to support all professionals working in the EYFS to help your child, and was developed with a number of early years experts and parents.

In 2012 the framework was revised to make it clearer and easier to use, with more focus on the things that matter most. This new framework also has a greater emphasis on your role in helping your child develop.

The framework has been revised again with changes to the statutory guidance coming in to effect in September 2014 and 2017.

 What does it mean for me as a parent?
Ensuring my child’s safety
Much thought has been given to making sure that your child is as safe as possible. Within the EYFS there is a set of welfare standards that everyone must follow. These include how many children a childminder can look after,  the numbers of staff required in a nursery, and things like administering medicines and carrying out risk assessments.

Quality
You can find out about the quality of your childminder and other early years providers such as nurseries in relation to the EYFS Framework by checking what the Government’s official inspection body for early years, Ofsted, has to say about it. You can find this information at www.ofsted.gov.uk/inspection-reports/find-inspection-report
 How my child will be learning
The EYFS Framework explains how and what your child will be learning to support their healthy development.
Your child will be learning skills, acquiring new knowledge and demonstrating their understanding through 7 areas of learning and development.
Children should mostly develop the 3 prime areas first. These are:
•    Communication and language (C&L)
•    Physical development (PD); and
•    Personal, social and emotional development (PSED).
These prime areas are those most essential for your child’s healthy development and future learning.
As children grow, the prime areas will help them to develop skills in 4 specific areas. These are:
•    Literacy;
•    Mathematics;
•    Understanding the world; and
•    Expressive arts and design.
These 7 areas are used to plan your child’s learning and activities. Childminders and other professionals teaching and supporting your child will make sure that the activities are suited to your child’s unique needs. This is a little bit like a curriculum in primary and secondary schools, but it's suitable for very young children, and it's designed to be really flexible so that early years professionals can follow your child's unique needs and interests.
Children in the EYFS learn by playing and exploring, being active, and through creative and critical thinking which takes place both indoors and outside.

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