Early Years Foundation Stage
The Early Years Foundation Stage (EYFS) sets standards for the learning, development and care of students up to 5 years old. The EYFS promotes teaching and learning to ensure children’s school readiness and gives children a broad range of knowledge and skills that provide the right foundation for good progress through school and life. Students in the EYFS programme will learn through structured lessons with a strong focus on inquiry and play.
Our Early Years Programme is focused on igniting children’s curiosity and enthusiasm for learning and for building their capacity to learn, form relationships and thrive. We combine indoor and outdoor play integrated with music, movement and other forms of creative expression.
Communication and Language
The development of children’s spoken language underpins all seven areas of learning and development. Children’s back-and-forth interactions from an early age form the foundations for language and cognitive development. The number and quality of the conversations they have with adults and peers throughout the day in a language-rich environment are crucial. By commenting on what children are interested in or doing, and echoing back what they say with new vocabulary added, practitioners will build children’s language effectively. Reading frequently to children, engaging them actively in stories, non-fiction, rhymes and poems, and then providing them with extensive opportunities to use and embed new words in a range of contexts, will give children the opportunity to thrive. Through conversation, story-telling and role play, where children share their ideas with support and modelling from their teacher, and sensitive questioning that invites them to elaborate, children become comfortable using a rich range of vocabulary and language structures.
Personal, Social and Emotional Development
Children’s personal, social and emotional development (PSED) is crucial for children to lead healthy and happy lives, and is fundamental to their cognitive development. Underpinning their personal development are the important attachments that shape their social world. Strong, warm and supportive relationships with adults enable children to learn how to understand their own feelings and those of others. Children should be supported to manage emotions, develop a positive sense of self, set simple goals, have confidence in their own abilities, persist and wait for what they want, and direct attention as necessary. Through adult modelling and guidance, they will learn how to look after their bodies, including healthy eating, and manage personal needs independently. Through supported interaction with other children, they learn how to make good friendships, co-operate and resolve conflicts peaceably. These attributes will provide a secure platform from which children can achieve at school and in later life.
Physical Development
Physical activity is vital in children’s all-around development, enabling them to pursue happy, healthy and active lives. Gross and fine motor experiences develop incrementally throughout early childhood, starting with sensory explorations and the development of a child’s strength, coordination and positional awareness through tummy time, crawling and play movement with both objects and adults. By creating games and providing opportunities for play both indoors and outdoors, adults can support children to develop their core strength, stability, balance, spatial awareness, coordination and agility. Gross motor skills provide the foundation for developing healthy bodies and social and emotional well-being. Fine motor control and precision help with hand-eye coordination, which is later linked to early literacy. Repeated and varied opportunities to explore and play with small world activities, puzzles, arts and crafts and the practice of using small tools, with feedback and support from adults, allow children to develop proficiency, control and confidence.
Literacy
It is crucial for children to develop a life-long love of reading. Reading consists of two dimensions: language comprehension and word reading. Language comprehension (necessary for both reading and writing) starts from birth. It only develops when adults talk with children about the world around them and the books (stories and non-fiction) they read with them and enjoy rhymes, poems and songs together. Skilled word reading, taught later, involves both the speedy working out of the pronunciation of unfamiliar printed words (decoding) and the speedy recognition of familiar printed words. Writing involves transcription (spelling and handwriting) and composition (articulating ideas and structuring them in speech, before writing).
Mathematics
Developing a strong grounding in numbers is essential so that all children develop the necessary building blocks to excel mathematically. Children should be able to count confidently, and develop a deep understanding of the numbers to 10, the relationships between them and the patterns within those numbers. By providing frequent and varied opportunities to build and apply this understanding – such as using manipulatives, including small pebbles and tens frames for organising counting – children will develop a secure base of knowledge and vocabulary from which mastery of mathematics is built. In addition, it is important that the curriculum includes rich opportunities for children to develop their spatial reasoning skills across all areas of mathematics including shape, space and measures. It is important that children develop positive attitudes and interests in mathematics, look for patterns and relationships, spot connections, ‘have a go’, talk to adults and peers about what they notice and not be afraid to make mistakes.
Understanding the World
Understanding the world involves guiding children to make sense of their physical world and their community. The frequency and range of children’s personal experiences increase their knowledge and sense of the world around them – from visiting parks, libraries and museums to meeting important members of society such as police officers, nurses and firefighters. In addition, listening to a broad selection of stories, non-fiction, rhymes and poems will foster their understanding of our culturally, socially, technologically and ecologically diverse world. As well as building important knowledge, this extends their familiarity with words that support understanding across domains. Enriching and widening children’s vocabulary will support later reading comprehension.
Expressive Arts and Design
The development of children’s artistic and cultural awareness supports their imagination and creativity. It is important that children have regular opportunities to engage with the arts, enabling them to explore and play with a wide range of media and materials. The quality and variety of what children see, hear and participate in are crucial for developing their understanding, self-expression, vocabulary and ability to communicate through the arts. The frequency, repetition and depth of their experiences are fundamental to their progress in interpreting and appreciating what they hear, respond to and observe.
Charlotte Mills
International Early Years Learning Lead, International K2 Teacher
Charlotte Mills
International Early Years Learning Lead, International K2 Teacher
Years of Teaching Experience: 10
Degree & Certifications: Bachelor of Arts, PGCE, EYFS Bitesize, Middle Leadership Essentials
With degree qualifications and a PGCE, Charlotte has been teaching since 2013 in early years, primary and secondary teaching roles. Having lived in Vietnam for nearly a decade, Charlotte has focused on Early Years as her specialty.
As our Early Years Learning Lead Charlotte has taken on the role with gusto and in the last 12 months completed the Early Years Foundation Stage Framework course, Middle Leadership Essentials and Dyslexia Awareness under the HAIS Professional Development programme.
For Charlotte, teaching is more than just a job – she enjoys incorporating her passions and enjoyments into her lessons and classes, including music, dance, yoga, cooking, art and drama. She believes that the role of an Early Years teacher is to encourage children to take ownership of their thoughts and ideas, to know their voices are listened to and respected and to foster a love and motivation of learning that will continue through their educational journey.
Fun Fact: Charlotte loves walking her little dog on the beach, travelling, cooking and yoga.
Anna Talbot
International Kindergarten 1 Teacher, Art Teacher
Anna Talbot
International Kindergarten 1 Teacher, Art Teacher
Years of Teaching Experience: 10+
Degree & Certifications: Bachelor of English
Anna was lucky to have a childhood full of opportunities to create, explore and be active. Her passion is to provide that opportunity to others through teaching art and early years. She is very happy to be at a school that values the whole child and offers such a vast range of experiences and activities!
Anna began her career in 2006 as a recreation leader, art teacher and community art facilitator. Throughout her time in Canada, she developed numerous murals and school wide art projects.
She came to Vietnam in 2017 and trained in Montessori and Reggio Emilia teaching methodologies, then went on to complete her teaching qualification with a focus on Early Years. She believes Early Years education is the foundation for life and seeks to guide children to develop their strengths, curiosity, independence and lifelong love for learning.
Fun Fact: Anna also has a background in costume and fashion design and designed for film.
Le Thi Bich Hanh
International K2 Teaching Assistant
Le Thi Bich Hanh
International K2 Teaching Assistant
Years of Teaching Experience: 3+
Degree & Certifications: Bachelor of English
Hanh feels that she is the right fit for this job because she is dedicated, patient and most importantly she has a great love for children. Working with children has always been an enjoyable experience for Hanh, especially seeing them progress and learn something new. Additionally, the working environment at HAIS brings her opportunities to communicate with international teachers and share teaching methodologies.
Hanh has 4 years experience in teaching students from Kindergarten to Primary School. She feels that she is empathetic with students and can read other people’s emotions well, enabling her to effecltively provide support to teachers and students.
She believes that the classroom is a living community and students are the centre. Everyone from teachers to parents must contribute in order to maintain a positive atmosphere so that no students are left behind.
Fun Fact: Hanh’s dream vacation is going to some beautiful places far away and enjoying them by riding hot air balloons.
Specialist Subjects Teachers
Nguyen Thi Thuy An
Head Librarian
Nguyen Thi Thuy An
Head Librarian
Years of Teaching Experience: 2+
Degree & Certifications: Certificate of Training in Library and Information Competence; Bachelor of Tourism & Hospitality Management
After earning a Bachelors in Tourism & Hospitality Management, Thuy An realized that her passion is in education, so she has been pursuing this career and constantly improving herself. Thuy An has been working as an Assistant Librarian at HAIS for 2 years now. She loves working with students, in education and with books, which led her to this job.
Fun Fact: Thuy An loves dancing although she feels she is not really good at it. She enjoys reading and running in her spare time.
