Manor School "Achieving together"
The Foundation Stage Curriculum
The Foundation Stage consists of 7 areas of development, three prime and four specific.
Children should mostly develop the three prime areas first:
The prime areas are the most essential for a child’s healthy development and future learning
As children grow these prime areas will help them to develop skills in four specific areas:
Children in the Early Years learn in both our indoor and outdoor areas through: playing and exploring, being active and through creative and critical thinking.
Characteristics of Effective Learning
The Characteristics of Effective Learning and the prime and specific areas of learning are all interconnected. They should also underpin everything that practitioners offer in the environment. The characteristics describe how a child learns.
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 skilful practitioner, who has the knowledge of when to intervene and give guidance. This support will help children make significant progress in their learning. Practitioners must not push children; they must look closely at their emotional and intellectual abilities and find out what they can do. When planning activities or experiences practitioner’s must remember the different ways in which children learn and reflect these in practice.