First Little Steps Pre-school is approved and regulated by Ofsted. In September 2008 the government introduced the Early Years Foundation Stage Framework (EYFS) -this replaces the Birth to Three Matters (0-3 years olds) and the Foundation stage (3-5 year olds).

The EYFS continues to cover the 7 areas of learning which are:

• Personal, Social and Emotional Development (PSE)
  
• Communication and Language (CL)
  
• Physical Development (PD)
  
• Literacy (L)
  
• Mathematics (M)
  
• Understanding the world
  
• Expressive arts and crafts
  

The learning and development requirements are:

• A Unique Child: every child is a competent learner from birth who can be resilient, capable, confident and self-assured.
  
• Positive Relationships: children learn to be strong and independent from a base of loving and secure relationships with parents and/or a key person.
  
• Enabling Environments: the environment plays a key role in supporting and extending childrens development and learning.
  
• Learning and Development: children develop and learn in different ways and at different rates and all areas of Learning and Development are equally important and inter-connected.
  

These four guiding themes work together to underpin effective practise in the delivery of the EYFS.

When your child joins First Little Steps Pre-school they will be allocated a ‘key worker’ who will keep a ‘Learning Journey’ of achievements of your child through observations, photos, drawings and conversations with yourselves and/or carers.

The children have free flow access to all areas during the day and planning for the Foundation Stage covers the seven areas of learning which are incorporated within their play. The house is divided into4 rooms all open plan so the children can use all the workshop areas covering the following:

• Mark making
  
• Creative and messy play
  
• Role play and imaginative play
  
• ICT (Information and Communication Technology)
  
• Small world and construction
  
• Science and Investigation
  
• Library and relaxation
  
• Mathematics
  

The premises are bright and cheerful and we offer all the comforts of home to ensure the children feel happy, safe and secure. Parents can leave their child with the knowledge that they will enjoy themselves, make friends and most importantly ‘LEARN THROUGH PLAY’.