EYFS at Mini Montesaurs
At Mini Montesaurs, we are committed to providing a nurturing and stimulating environment that aligns with the Early Years Foundation Stage (EYFS) framework. Our approach ensures that every child receives the best start in life and the support they need to fulfill their potential.
Continuous
Provision
Continuous provision encompasses all the different areas available for children to explore daily. Each area is equipped with a core range of resources that children can access year-round. Effective planning for continuous provision is essential and involves thoughtful consideration of classroom layout and resources to offer a wide range of learning opportunities.
Well-planned continuous provision helps children develop skills, challenges their thinking, and reinforces concepts. It also creates a rich environment for learning conversations between children and adults, providing ample opportunities for modelling and expanding speech and vocabulary. In this nurturing environment, children develop key learning attributes.
The way your environment is planned, resourced, valued, and utilised can significantly impact children’s engagement, independence, collaboration, self-confidence, resilience, and curiosity.
Circle
​Time
Circle time will consist of daily counting, days of the week, noticing the weather, months, seasons, daily phonics, sharing a story, dough disco, introducing a new activity, PSE activity, playing a listening game or celebrating an event or festival. Equally our circle times often naturally go off track in a discussion that has sparked the children’s attention that day. As you can imagine we have lots of giggles with our little ones!
Communication
and Language
At Mini Montesaurs, Communication and Language is a key focus for all our staff. With a diverse range of ages and abilities in our setting, we ensure we have the expertise and methods to support every child in becoming a confident communicator.
We use a visual timetable to aid every child, helping them understand our instructions and providing them with the language to use and practice during play. Our environment includes communication-friendly spaces where children can feel secure. We also incorporate small group sessions and high-intensity interaction times to support the children in our care.
We believe it is essential to give children time to talk and answer questions, simplifying our language when needed and continuously modeling language. We explore various storytelling techniques, rhymes, and songs to expand vocabulary and develop listening skills. Through play, we enhance language skills by modeling and questioning, and we use Makaton to support communication when necessary.
Listening and Attention
​Understanding
​Speaking
Personal, Social
​and Emotional Development
At Mini Montesaurs, we prioritise building strong relationships with families. We offer flexible opportunities for prospective families to visit our setting and hold stay-and-play sessions for both new and existing families to join. We provide children with essential time to interact and build relationships with one another.
At Mini Montesaurs, we consistently model kindness and tolerance, fostering a caring and accepting attitude. We believe that with time and space, children can play, follow their interests, and develop their own ideas and identity. Our team employs various teaching methods and explores feelings with children through diverse activities to spark engagement.
We have developed our practices and environment to support children in co-regulating their emotions. We use core books, communication tools, and group times to provide children with opportunities to understand and manage their emotions.
Making Relationships
​Sense of Self
​Understanding Feelings
Physical Development
At Mini Montesaurs, we continually adapt our environment and teaching methods to support children’s physical development. Our indoor and outdoor spaces offer numerous opportunities to develop skills, and we work together to enhance these experiences.
We spend a significant portion of our day outdoors, believing that it provides children with more opportunities for imaginative play, creativity, problem-solving, and the development of key physical skills. We also regularly hold ‘dough disco’ sessions to strengthen fine motor skills, preparing little fingers for tasks like mark-making.
As a team, we reflect on ways to support children’s independence and encourage healthy habits. Physical development is a continuous focus at Mini Montesaurs. Bianca, our PD champion, attends regular training with the Physical Development Champions in Stockport and shares her knowledge with the team.