Communication and language
Talking, listening and being listened to. The single strongest predictor of how a child will do at school, which is why it runs through everything.
The British EYFS Curriculum
The framework
What the EYFS actually is
The EYFS is the framework used across British early years education for children from birth to five. It is not a syllabus and there is no textbook. It rests on a single idea: that very young children learn through play, repetition and exploration rather than instruction — and that an adult’s job is to notice, extend and gently steer rather than to deliver lessons.
In practice that means your child will spend the day playing. Our teachers spend the day watching closely, recording what they see, and setting up whatever comes next.
- Birth to fiveThe framework used across British early years education.
- No syllabus, no textbookLearning follows the child, not a list of lessons.
- Play, repetition, explorationHow very young children really learn.
- Notice, extend, steerWhat our teachers do all day, every day.
The seven areas of learning
Three prime areas and four specific areas. The prime areas come first because the specific areas do not develop well without them. Your child will not experience any of this as separate subjects — a single morning of play can touch all seven.
1–3 The prime areas
Physical development
Climbing, balancing, holding a pencil, managing a zip. Gross and fine motor skills, plus gymnastics and outdoor play each week.
Personal, social and emotional
Sharing, waiting, naming a feeling, recovering from a disappointment. The part parents notice first at home.
4–7 The specific areas
Literacy
Stories, rhyme and the sounds inside words, well before any formal reading. Mark-making that becomes writing.
Mathematics
Counting, sorting, pattern, more and less, shape and space — mostly through handling real things rather than worksheets.
Understanding the world
Families, places, living things, and how objects behave. In Sharjah that also means a room where many cultures sit side by side.
Expressive arts and design
Paint, music, construction, role play. Where children try out ideas that have no right answer.
How the balance works: child-led and adult-guided
Most of the day is child-led. Children choose where to go and what to do, and the adults move between them — watching, narrating, asking a question and then waiting long enough to get an answer. That waiting is the skill.
Alongside that, each day holds focused adult-guided sessions: early language, early numbers, fine and gross motor work. These are short, because a two-year-old's attention is short, and they are pitched at the group in front of the teacher rather than at the age on the register.
Each week also includes gymnastics, music and outdoor play.
A two-year-old filling and emptying a jug is doing volume, cause and effect, and wrist control. Left alone, that is play. With a teacher who narrates it, asks a question and waits for the answer, it becomes learning.
A Day at Bumble Bee Nursery
The shape of a full day, Monday to Thursday. Friday finishes at midday.
Morning 7:00 – 10:15 AM- 7:00 AMArrival, staggeredStraight into free play while the room fills.
- 8:30 AMCircle timeNames, the day, a song and a story.
- 9:00 AMFocused sessionSmall-group work in language, numbers or fine motor skills.
- 10:15 AMSnackPouring, passing and chatting — self-care skills.
Midday 10:45 AM – 2:00 PM- 10:45 AMOutdoor and physical playClimbing, balancing, running; gymnastics and music in the week.
- 11:45 AMStory and settlingA calm activity before lunch or pickup.
- 12:00 PMLunch and restYounger children sleep; older ones have quiet time.
Afternoon 2:00 – 5:30 PM- 2:00 PMAfternoon programmeChild-led play with the same teachers as the morning.
- 4:00 PMSnack and free playUsually outdoors when the weather allows.
- 5:30 PMPickupEvery parent gets a written note about the day.
Questions parents ask about the curriculum
The British Early Years Foundation Stage, and only that. Plenty of nurseries in Sharjah advertise EYFS alongside Montessori and a STEM programme. One framework, with staff trained in it and assessment that genuinely follows it, is a different proposition from three at the surface.
The 3–4 year is the year before school, and it maps onto FS1 in the British curriculum schools most of our families go on to in Sharjah and Dubai. Children leave able to sit in a group, follow two-step instructions, hold a pencil properly and manage their own shoes and bag.
Children from 45 days to 4 years, in four class groups: Infant Class (45 days to 1 year), Toddler Class (1 to 2 years), Toddler Class 2 (2 to 3 years) and Preschooler Class (3 to 4 years). See the class groups.
A written note at pickup, every day — not a summary at the end of term. Beyond that: updates through the parent app, written progress reports, parent–teacher meetings and newsletters.
Come and watch a session
The best way to judge a curriculum is to watch it being taught. Come mid-morning, when the focused sessions are running.