Welcome to our Early Years department at Oakley College! We aim to introduce families to the benefits of the British Educational system from age two. Emphasising the development of essential skills, fostering creativity and nurturing their learning, our play based learning is focused on making our students enjoy learning.
Early Years Foundation stage (EYFS)
The Early Years curriculum is based on the following 7 areas of Learning and Development:
Communication and Language – communication and language are key to ensuring the children understand and feel understood. The environment is English speaking and the learning and activities encourage the children to develop good listening skills and express themselves using key words and phrases. This increases their confidence and interaction with their teacher, learning support assistant and classmates. Our native teachers and learning support assistants build on the language and communication to encourage confident young learners.
Personal, Social and Emotional development – we focus on our children feeling safe, valuedand understanding that they have an important part to play in their class and community. A positive, calm environment encourages the children to build relationships and friendships in a sharing respectful way. Individual and group activities developing their own personal hygiene encourage independence and teach the children how they are a part of a group learning and growing together.
Physical development – active and varied play activities that include jumping, skipping, rolling and hopping are just some of the ways children develop their gross motor skills ready for the next development of the fine motor skills doing puzzles, using small tools that are necessary for mark making and writing.
Literacy – songs, nursery rhymes and stories help the children enjoy listening and memorising the words and sequences of events. They begin to link sounds and letters which is the start of their learning to read and write.
Mathematics – the children start to understand numbers and the value of them through play, number songs, counting, the sand and water activities and using their fingers, blocks and toys.
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. Visits to parks, libraries and meeting members of society such as police officers, nurses and firefighters builds on their understanding.
Expressive arts and design – children are naturally creative and imaginative. We encourage this with a variety of activities including, experimenting with different materials, colour in painting and mark making, building structures large and small, cutting, sticking and plasticine.
We provide the children with a safe and happy environment where they experience a wide variety of learning experiences. This acts as the basis for their continued learning and development throughout school.
Our four guiding principles are:
- Every child is unique
- Positive relationships help children to be strong and independent
- Stimulating environments help children to learn and develop
- Children learn and develop in different ways and at different rates
Did you know?
Inside outside classroom – In the British Educational system outdoor activities are considered part of students learning objectives. These are tracked through regular assessments and goals recorded for families to discover.
The structure of the British Educational system is similar to the structure of the Spanish Educational system but also includes “Key Stages”, dividing the educational departments into smaller sections to include more specific targeted learning objectives that cover several years of learning.
Want to learn more? Call or email us with any questions you might have or to arrange a visit
