Parent partnership 

Why are parent partnerships so important?

• Parents know their children best

• It helps the child to feel safe and secure while in the setting if they see that their parents feel comfortable there.

• To create a shared level of expectation

• To information share about new levels of development, any concerns and any new likes or dislikes

• To keep up to date with what is happening outside the setting, especially if the home situation may be causing problems for the child

• Parents can feel secure to seek advice, help and support should they need it

• To make transitions throughout the setting smooth

• Improve practice and outcomes for the children, ensuring every child has their full individual needs met.

 

The Early Years Foundation Stage

Provision for the development and learning of children from birth to 5 years is guided by the Early Years Foundation Stage. Our provision reflects the four overarching principles of the Statutory Framework for the Early Years Foundation Stage (DfE 2023):

• A Unique Child

Every child is unique who is constantly learning and can be resilient, capable, confident and self-assured.

• Positive Relationships

Children learn to be strong and independent through positive relationships.

• Enabling Environments

Children learn and develop well in enabling environments, in which their experiences respond to their individual needs and there is a strong partnership between practitioners, parents and carers.

• Learning and Development

Children develop and learn in different ways and at different rates. The framework covers the education and care of all children in early years provision including children with special educational needs and disabilities.

 

7 Areas of Development and Learning comprise:
3 Prime areas

• 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.

 

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

 

• 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.

4 Specific Areas

• Literacy development involves encouraging children to link sounds and letters and to begin to read and write.  Children must be 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 measures.

 

• 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 design and technology.

 

For each area, the level of progress that children are expected to have attained by the end of the Early Years Foundation Stage is defined by the Early Learning Goals. These goals state what it is expected that children will know, and be able to do, by the end of the reception year of their education.