• Communication and Language
• Personal, Social and Emotional Development
• Physical Development

These areas form the foundations of children’s learning, helping them to build confidence, independence and the skills they need to thrive.

As children grow and develop, they are also supported in four Specific Areas of Learning:

• Literacy
• Mathematics
• Understanding the World
• Expressive Arts and Design

Every child develops at their own pace, and no two learning journeys are the same. Through carefully planned experiences, skilled interactions and plenty of opportunities for play, we support each child to develop the knowledge, skills and confidence they need for their next stage of learning.

Most importantly, we want children to develop a lifelong love of learning, where they feel happy, capable and excited to explore the world around them.

Bringing Learning to Life Through Our 5Cs Curriculum
At Seymour House, we bring the EYFS to life through our unique 5Cs Curriculum:

• Communication
• Cooperation
• Curiosity
• Critical thinking; and
• Creativity

These are the skills we believe will help children flourish in a rapidly changing world. By nurturing the 5Cs from an early age, we help children to become confident communicators, thoughtful problem-solvers, creative thinkers, curious explorers and collaborative learners.

Our curriculum is brought to life through exciting educational programmes, inspiring environments and meaningful experiences. Whether children are building, creating, questioning, experimenting or working together with friends, they are developing the skills that will support them throughout school and beyond.

By focusing on both what children learn and how they learn, we help every child build strong foundations for their future.

Our Awe & Wonder programme has been lovingly created by our early education experts, to create brilliant childhood memories for our tremendous 2-year-olds.

Filled with 5Cs learning, our Awe & Wonder programme is packed with adventure, excitement, discovery, and moments of pure surprise! Children can become a firefighter for the day, be a superhero on a mission, be wowed by marvellous magic, or even travel back in time to discover dinosaurs! Each experience is designed to ignite imagination and inspire curiosity, bringing a sprinkle of magic and a whole lot of joy to our tremendous two-year-olds.

To share these special moments with our families, each child receives a personalised Awe & Wonder keepsake, capturing their adventure with a treasured photograph to cherish the memory. On the day of their experience, your child will proudly wear a unique Awe & Wonder sticker home – a lovely way to spark conversation and help them tell their story.

At Seymour House, every day is a chance to explore, imagine and create – and Awe & Wonder makes those moments even more extraordinary.

We would love for families to contribute too! When your child starts on the programme you’ll receive an experience card from their Key Person, where you can jot down Awe & Wonder experiences with your child as a family. We’ve put together a list of 22 things to do aged two for some magical inspiration.

Download 22 things to do aged two

We would love to see what you’ve been up to! Why not return your card to nursery so that we can talk about your adventures and share it with their friends?

• PE sessions
• Choose a Challenge
• Reading Programme
• Writing Programme
• Dragon Maths
• And much more!

Through each of these experiences we place a strong emphasis on developing the fundamental skills that help children thrive including:

• Building positive relationships and interactions with peers
• Developing independence and self-care skills
• Growing in confidence and resilience
• Embedding our Seymour House values in everyday experiences

School Leavers EYFS Assessment
As your child approaches the end of their nursery journey, their Key Person will complete a final assessment celebrating their achievements, development and learning.

This assessment provides a valuable overview of your child’s strengths, interests and preferred ways of learning. It helps parents and Reception teachers gain an understanding of the skills and knowledge your child has already developed and the areas in which they feel most confident.

We provide this assessment as a transition tool and strongly encourage parents to share it with their child’s new school, particularly during school visits and transition meetings. The information can help teachers begin preparing for your child’s arrival and support a smooth, positive start to their next learning journey.

Starting school is a very special milestone, and we are proud to work in partnership with families and feeder schools to help every child feel happy, confident and ready for the exciting adventures ahead.

Our very own mathematics programme, designed to help your child build a strong foundation in numeracy.

Through fun, hands-on learning, Dragon Maths supports your child as they take their first steps in counting, explore and understand numbers, and begin solving simple addition and subtraction problems in a creative and engaging way.

Watch the video to see Dragon Maths in action and learn how to play:

Kaida, our very own dragon maths mascot, will guide your child in learning all things mathematics, from numbers and shapes to space and measure.
Kaida’s Challenge is designed to foster co-operation skills, build relationships and connections, and nurtures a positive attitude towards learning as your child plays with others, navigates turn taking and takes on each of the challenges.

Before playing for the first time, prepare your counters 0 – 5. Add stickers to 6 of your counters. Place a sticker with the number on one side of each counter, and a sticker with the corresponding number of dots on the reverse side.

Dragons challenge 1

• Collect 4 objects
• Complete 5 star jumps
• Place a favourite toy ‘under’ a chair
• Build a small tower, then build an even bigger tower
• Point out a circle shaped object from around the home.
  For example: a circle clockface or plate
• Collect 3 objects and place them in height order, shortest to tallest

Dragons challenge 2

• Collect 5 objects and place them in weight order, lightest to heaviest
• Repeat a made-up action pattern.
  For example: Clap, clap, tap your knees, tap your knees, stomp stomp
• Collect 3 items, add 2 more, how many items do you have now?
• Fill a container with a range of objects and guess how many are inside.
  Once you’ve made your prediction – check!
• Find a square shaped object and a triangle shaped object from around the home – go, go, go!
• Show 2 counters in a pile, next to 4 counters in pile. Which is more?

Dragons challenge 3

• Using your Dragon Maths board, place your age in counters on the board, using the song, add 10. How old will you be in 10 year’s time?
• Predict how many steps to takes to get from the living room to the kitchen?
  Once you’ve made your prediction – test it out!
• Count backwards from 5 or even 10. Make it fun using different voices!
• Collect 5 objects, can you match to your number 5 counter? Repeat using 2 objects etc.
• Place a favourite toy ‘between’ 2 objects
• Order your number counters from 0 to 5. What number comes next?

Our programme is designed to support your child in taking their first steps in learning to read and to ignite a love for books that lasts a lifetime. Our goal is to nurture a passion for reading, to build healthy reading habits for school and beyond.

Programme overview
To learn to read children need to know which letters (graphemes) correspond to which sounds (phonemes).

Letter sounds are not introduced in alphabetical order, but in an order that allows children to blend sounds together to start to read first words more easily. For example, once your child is confident with the sounds s, a, t, p, i, n, m and d, they can start to blend these together to read words like it, in, is, am, at, sat and pat.

Some words cannot be decoded using phonic methods, these are known as harder to read and spell words, or tricky words. We teach these words through sight recognition. Keep an eye out for the * symbol in our resources to identify these words.

How to use the sound sets

Show your child each letter sound, modelling its sound, not its name. Encourage your child to repeat the sound back to you. Play games in short, fun sessions as new letter sounds are introduced. For example:

Sound hunt – find objects around the home that start with the new sound.

I spy – play I spy to spot items that begin with that sound.

Hide and seek – hide cards around the home for your child to discover.

Storybook search – look for letter sounds in your favourite storybooks.

Once your child is confident with sound set 1, it’s time to dive into word bank 1. Progress through each sound set and the corresponding word bank, from 1 – 7. You’ll notice we’ve colour coded sets for ease.

How to use the word banks

Show your child each word, modelling how to read by segmenting into individual sounds, then blending sounds together. Encourage your child to do the same, running your finger under each sound in turn as a guide.

As new words are introduced, focus on vocabulary. Don’t forget to keep an eye out for words marked with a * to identify words that are harder to read and spell.

Once your child is confident with word bank 1, jump to sound set 2. Progress through each sound set and the corresponding word bank, from 1 – 7.

For correct pronunciation, checkout the guidance on the back of each card, or listen to the sound buttons below:

Sound Set 1

s

a

t

p

i

n

m

d

Sound Set 2

g

o

c

k

ck

e

u

r

Sound Set 3

h

b

f

ff

l

ll

ss

j

v

w

x

y

z

zz

qu

Sound Set 4

ch

sh

th

ng

Sound Set 5

ee

oa

oo

ar

ai

Sound Set 6

er

ow

or

ur

oi

Sound Set 7

igh

ear

air

ure

Reading journal

Your child’s reading journal captures their early reading progress. This journal will keep you updated on letter sounds your child is practising at nursery, so you can focus on these at home. Your key person will share book titles for home reading and will provide further ideas to enhance your child’s reading experience. We love for parents to participate by adding comments too!

In addition, the journal provides useful information as your child begins the programme, with details on:

• Pre-reading skills
• How to support your child in learning to read at home
• Understanding reading book bandings

Let the reading adventures begin!

For more information, please speak to your key person or Head of Early Years Practice

• Communication and Language
• Personal, Social and Emotional Development
• Physical Development

For each area, you’ll also see one of the following progress indicators:

Progressing Well – your child is meeting their expected milestones.
Give More Support – your child is working towards some milestones and may benefit from a little extra support.
Needs Special Support – additional support is already in place, such as One Planning and/or additional funding.

For areas where ‘give more support’ has been identified, you’ll also see a short ‘what’s next’ comment explaining how we will be supporting your child at nursery.

Please don’t worry if your child isn’t progressing at the same pace across every area. Children naturally have their own unique strengths and interests, often excelling in some areas while needing a little more time and encouragement in others. If your Key Person has any concerns about your child’s development, they will always discuss these with you.

For older children, those approx. 2 years and above, the Check-In will also include a summary of the Specific areas of learning:

• Mathematics
• Literacy
• Understanding the World
• Expressive Arts and Design

These assessments, together with your ongoing feedback and observations, help us to tailor learning and experiences that support your child’s individual learning journey.

Your child’s Key Person will let you know when a Check-In has been published and is ready for you to view on the Seymour House App. We kindly ask parents and carers to acknowledge that they have read it by leaving a short comment.

Thank you for working in partnership with us to support your child’s learning and development.