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Early Years Foundation Stage (EYFS)

February 19, 2014
Designed to meet the needs of globally-mobile families, the International Baccalaureate program lets children learn through discovery, say our Bangkok-based teachers.By Dina Kassymbekova  In the last issue, we introduced to our readers Early Years Foundation Stage (EYFS), the document that sets standards for childcare in the UK and the guidelines followed by all schools in Bangkok who teach the British curriculum. Today we will provide you with more detailed information about the EYFS curriculum to give you an idea about what exactly your child will be doing at school if you choose British education.

Curriculum

Students’ days in the early years consist largely of free play and child-initiated activities, says Meg King, Early Years coordinator at St. Andrews International School Bangkok. Additionally, two to three times a week teachers lead activities for the students and offer structured time, such as morning circle, story time, sports etc. To support teachers by planning activities for students, the EYFS defines seven areas of child’s learning and development including three prime areas: communication and language, physical development, personal social and emotional development; and four specific areas: literacy, mathematics, understanding the world and expressive arts and design.One activity can cover several learning areas. “Today we offered our students a face-painting activity”, says Meg King, “The children mixed the colors and painted themselves as animals. This is an art activity but at the same time, the children develop their communication skills through interactions with their peers and the teacher.” When the children found a caterpillar on school grounds and were allowed to keep it in the classroom for observation, the teachers displayed books and word cards next to it, so that children could extend their learning.Teachers often use children’s free play to develop their specific skills. Meg gives an example that if a child is playing with sand and different cups, the teacher might start a conversation and ask the child to compare the sizes of the cups, ask which cup is full, which one is empty and help the student to develop an understanding of measurement.“Learning literacy for little children starts with understanding that words carry meaning,” says Meg, “during the carpet time we give children folders with their names on it and encourage them to recognize the names; in the beginning, they recognize only the first letter. If a child struggles, the teacher or their classmates will help. Children learn a lot from each other.”

Individual approach

Meg explains that some children are ready for learning particular skills earlier than others. “We observe our children and their interests. When a child comes to the table with paper and pencils and tries to write, we will offer support. On the other hand, if a child doesn’t show any interest in writing, it doesn’t make sense to start learning. All children learn at a different pace. While some children are only learning to recognize their names, others are already learning to write.”

Environment

To address students’ individual needs, the environment is set up so that children have plenty of choice for their activities. The resources are freely available and can be used in a variety of ways. For example, big plastic boxes that children use for climbing today might be used to build a ship tomorrow.

Reception year

The last year of preschool is called reception year in British educational system. In the reception year the emphasis changes from free play to structured time, says Emma Mulligan, a teacher at St. Andrews International School Bangkok. The focus is on fostering children’s independence and establishing routines, on getting children ready for school.Every day next to the free-choice activities there are two teacher-led activities in small groups of four to five children. They learn literacy with the help of Jolly Phonics - a program, designed to teach children to read and write through learning letter sounds. Each letter sound is connected to an action and a song, so it is fun for children to learn. In math, children learn to recognize numbers and develop an understanding of the concept of numbers.To engage students in learning, teachers use the children’s personal interests. “If a child likes chalk I will add chalk to the writing table,” says Emma Mulligan, “if a child is obsessed with trucks - we put the numbers on trucks.” In order to be able to approach each student individually, the teachers dedicate the first six to seven weeks getting to know their students.A lot of learning happens through play. Emma gives examples of the games she plays with her students. The teacher sounds out a word and the children, each of whom is holding a sheet of paper with a letter on it, have to put the word together. A similar game is when the children hold the sheets with numbers and have to organize themselves so that the numbers are put in order. “When I introduce a new letter to the class, sometimes I hide objects, beginning with this letter in the classroom,” says Emma. She goes on to tell us that when a caterpillar was found, observing it was not only used to explain the children the life cycle of a butterfly, but also for learning about patterns, shapes and symmetry.

Overview

If you choose to send your child to a preschool that follows the British curriculum, in the first years, your child will spend most of her/his time engaged in free play and play-based learning. In the last (reception) year the emphasis will change from free play to structured time. Keep in mind that there is no accreditation system for preschools teaching British curriculum abroad. 

Resources

Schools and kindergartens in Bangkok teaching British curriculum

 Useful links

Photo by stem.T4L on Unsplash. 

About the Author

Dina comes from Almaty, Kazakhstan. After graduating with a degree in philosophy, she moved to Germany to get her master’s degree in public relations from Freie Universitaet Berlin and worked as a freelance PR-consultant and a children’s book editor.
The views expressed in the articles in this magazine are not necessarily those of BAMBI committee members and we assume no responsibility for them or their effects.BAMBI News welcomes volunteer contributors to our magazine. Please contact editor@bambiweb.org.