The Blossom Nursery Glossary - All terms

From EYFS to XYZ, we’ve pulled together every term you might need to know to work, run, open or book your child into any childcare setting.

Whether you’re starting your childcare career or have never truly understood the difference between a grapheme and a phoneme — we have you covered.

Childcare setting types

There are many different types of childcare settings in the UK. We’ve included the definitions of the most common types of early years providers.

Blossom provides software for these kinds of childcare settings:

Early years provider

An early years provider offers childcare for children under five. They will be registered with Ofsted and will follow the EYFS statutory framework. Early years providers range from childminders to nursery schools, each providing childcare and child development opportunities.

Day nurseries

They may be stand-alone day nurseries or one location within a group nursery. Private day nurseries operate under their own opening times and charge for their services.

Private nurseries are often open from 7 a.m. to 6 p.m., although a child will unlikely stay the whole time.

PVI Nursery

PVI nurseries stands for Private, Voluntary and Independent.

Childminder

A childminder or childminder agency provides childcare in their own setting (often their homes). They will have fewer children in their care than in a nursery setting.

Some childminders only look after school-aged children, whereas others are registered as early years childminders. Childminders have their own EYFS statutory framework to follow.

Local authority-maintained nursery school (MNS)

A local authority nursery school is funded and maintained by the local authority. It is managed like a primary or secondary school and has a headteacher and qualified nursery teachers. Local authority nursery schools often support children aged 3-5.

Preschool

Also known as a nursery school, preschools are attached to primary schools and generally admit children aged 2-5.

They run term-time and often open from 9 a.m. to 3 p.m. Children in England usually access preschools through universal childcare funding (where 3—and 4-year-olds are entitled to 15 hours of free early education per week).

Independent nursery school

This early years provision takes on children from age 3. They will follow the EYFS statutory framework and will be Ofsted registered. They are not local authority funded or run and charge for their services.

Reception and Foundation 1

You would be forgiven for not knowing the difference between Foundation 1 and Foundation 2 and which one is ‘reception’.

Foundation 1 is often what the preschool year is called (when children are 3 and 4 years old). Reception begins when they join the school, which is when they are 4 or 5 (this is known as Foundation 2).

SEND-specialist provision

A specialist setting with suitably trained staff and facilities to support children with SEND who may need additional support than currently provided in mainstream settings.

Sure Start Centres

Known as Flying Start in Wales and Best Start in Scotland, are government-funded and staffed centres that support children under five. Although the number of Sure Start Centres has diminished significantly, they offer health services, parenting support and childcare services to parents in the most disadvantaged areas.

Early years pedagogy

All early years providers use the EYFS Framework. The statutory information covers a variety of educational pedagogies.

Pedagogy is simply the combination of theory and practice in teaching.

A strong EYFS pedagogy gives nursery practitioners direction on supporting the babies and toddlers in their care.

We look at some of the well-used phrases and terms you may find with early years pedagogy.

Play-based learning

Where play is at the heart of learning. Children will engage with unstructured play as their primary exploration and development method.

Child-led learning

As it says on the tin, the children direct the form the game or play takes.

Learn more about child-led learning on our Blossom Blog.

Adult-led learning

Nursery practitioners will direct the play or learning through modelling. The end goal is to achieve a specific goal or demonstration of a skill.

Child-centred approach

Similar to child-led learning, the child’s interests, needs and abilities drive the opportunities for development.

Schemas

Schemas allow children to organise new information based on their understanding of similar topics.

For example, a child who has a cat at home knows it has four feet, a tail, and is fluffy. When they go to the zoo and see an Arctic Fox, they may say ‘cat’.

Metacognition

In short, it is the thinking behind learning. It examines how children learn as patterns to repeat in new learning situations.

Montessori approach

This child-led and hands-on approach, championed in the UK and Scandinavia, promotes active learning and independence. Measured risk-taking is encouraged in Montessori practices.

Curiosity approach

Where children are invited to learn through their own curiosity. Free play and unstructured activities are encouraged with the Curiosity approach.

Scaffolding

A nursery practitioner will model and scaffold the child’s learning to build independence through initial guidance and help.

Zone of proximal development

From the educational theorist Vygotsky, this term means the area of opportunity where a child learns the most, between what they can do without help and what they need assistance for, just outside their knowledge or skills.

Loose parts play

Loose parts play goes hand-in-hand with many of the child-led play approaches. Small natural or man-made objects can be used in whatever manner children see fit. A stick becomes a wand, for example.

Forest school

Integrating a number of the pedagogies discussed earlier like the Montessori approach. Forest schools use the natural environment to promote experiential learning and a connection with nature.

The EYFS curriculum

EYFS stands for Early Years Foundation Stage. There is no one set EYFS curriculum nurseries should follow in England. Several supporting documents give guidance and advice on what a broad coverage might look like.

However, the EYFS Statutory Framework is the document that sets out what skills and knowledge must be covered. How these skills and areas of learning are covered, is setting-specific.

The EYFS Framework

This is a statutory document that sets out what each early years provider must offer every child in their care. One of the changes EYFS experienced in 2024 was the framework change. The framework was split into two versions: one for group and school-based providers and another for childminders.

Early Years Curriculum

You choose the curriculum that your early years setting follows. Your setting’s curriculum should be broad and varied, offering children the opportunities they need to understand their community and be school-ready.

Early Learning Goals (ELGs)

ELGs are a set of guides for early years providers that show what children should cover in each aspect of the 7 areas of learning and development in the EYFS. They are not designed to be a curriculum.

Four EYFS principles for EYFS

The four principles in the EYFS Framework for England are:

Every child is unique
Positive relationships should be created
Enabling environments to be created
Learning and development happen at different rates

The EYFS Curriculum for England

Early years providers in England will cover the 7 areas of learning and development in their curriculum. They will create a curriculum that meets the needs of the children and statutory requirements from the framework.

The EYFS Curriculum for Wales

The new early years curriculum for Wales was introduced in 2022. It is used alongside the Foundation Phase Framework, which offers guidance for curriculum and outcomes for children aged 3 to 7.

The early years curriculum for Scotland

Scotland follows the Curriculum for Excellence document for curriculum guidance. It gives outcomes and guidance for children aged 3 to 18. The Early Years Framework covers pre-birth to 8 years of age.

EYFS curriculum for Northern Ireland

Curricular guidance for pre-school education is given to schools or nurseries that educate children before they reach school age (before the child turns 4). This guidance sets out the six pre-school areas of learning.

EYFS 7 areas of learning and development

For providers in England, the 7 areas of learning and development are split into prime and specific areas of learning.

Prime areas of learning EYFS

Communication and language
Personal, social and emotional development
Physical development

Specific areas of learning EYFS

Literacy
Mathematics
Understanding the world
Expressive arts and design

Looking for EYFS activities for all of the seven areas of learning? Take a look at our ultimate guide!

Language structures in early years

How words, phrases, and sentences are used to communicate.

Phonological awareness

The understanding of the sound structure of words. Including rhyme, word break-up and phonemes.

Phonemes

The individual sounds that make up a word. A phoneme can be made up of more than one letter but will have one sound. The English language has around 44 phonemes – more or less depending on your accent.

An example of a word with two phonemes is k-ey > Key. A 3-phoneme word example is b-oa-t > Boat.

Grapheme

The written version of phonemes. A single letter or group of letters representing different sounds (phonemes).

An example of a grapheme is the C in CAP. The word Cap consists of three graphemes: c, a, and p.

Personal, social and emotional development (PSED)

Self-regulation

Self-regulation is a challenging skill, it is the ability to recognise, understand and manage feelings. It is about having self-awareness as to what has caused an emotion and then making conscious choices on how to behave next.

Dysregulation

Dysregulation is on a spectrum and is caused by a number of factors. It is the opposite of being regulated. Dysregulation can be due to physical feelings like hunger, fatigue, or thirst, or it can be emotional due to triggering thought or experience.

Dysregulation signs begin with ‘bubbling’ and can progress to crisis if the child is not supported to regulate.

Zones of regulation

A well-known cycle of regulation, the zones of regulation are measured on a 1-5 scale. Children begin at the bottom of the scale at 1, meaning they are regulated and ready to learn and interact. They progress up the scale, and 5 on a zone of regulation measure would be a crisis.

Emotional literacy

A term coined in the 1970s, emotional literacy is the comprehension of emotions and their impact. It can be applied to oneself or others.

Attachment

Linked to psychological theories, attachment looks at the relationships between a child and another person.

Adverse Childhood Experiences (ACEs)

ACEs are events and situations that result in significant stress levels. They are often linked to traumatic experiences a child or young person goes through that require substantial support. ACEs can accumulate into larger challenges as a drip-drip effect.

Circle time

Circle time is when children will sit in a circle and participate in an activity together. It may be a PSED activity or building social and communication skills. Circle time is used frequently in nurseries and primary schools.

Fine and gross motor skills

Fine motor skills are linked to small muscles, like hand-eye coordination and dexterity. Gross motor skills centre around stability and balance- like activities that require pushing, pulling, or even sitting still.

Spatial awareness

Spatial awareness is the knowledge and understanding of where your body is in relation to objects and others. Children who have Dyspraxia may find tasks requiring spatial awareness challenging.

Physical development milestones

Physical development milestones look at the expected physical skills for a particular age group, such as walking, talking, and crawling.

Pincer grip

A pincer grip is a fine motor skill used when holding a pen or a pair of tweezers. Children place their hands in the shape of a crab claw to complete tasks needing close detail, like a pincer.

Safeguarding in the early years

The safety and wellbeing of the children in your care will be your number one priority. Safeguarding is a broad topic. Covering first aid to noticing signs of potential abuse and escalating concerns further than your nursery.

We share some of the main terms you’ll hear when learning about EYFS safeguarding practices.

Childcare arrangement order

Parents who are separated or living in separate households may have a childcare arrangement order. This order is a legal document obtained during a court hearing to decide where a child will live, the types of contact, and for how long with the non-resident parent.

LADO (Local Authority Designated Officer)

The LADO’s role in the local authority is to investigate and support any safeguarding concerns that require more than the DSL. They will be notified through the local authority website and work alongside schools, police, and social care.

Child protection

Child protection is a mandatory requirement for all nursery staff. Every effort must be made to protect the children from abuse and mistreatment of any kind. Nurseries will have a child protection policy that all staff must follow.

Prevent Duty

All public-facing organisations must be Prevent Duty trained. The aim is to prevent people from being radicalised to join and support terrorist organisations.

Safer recruitment

Managers and leaders in nurseries and schools must undertake safer recruitment training before hiring new staff members. Safe recruitment is training to identify and prevent unsuitable persons from working and having access to children.

Designated Safeguarding Lead (DSL)

The designated person in charge of enforcing the safeguarding policies and practices across the setting. They will be the person you refer any concerns to and will escalate safeguarding concerns to the LADO or beyond.

(Remember, anyone can raise safeguarding concerns, you do not need to wait for a DSL to progress a problem if you feel it is not being met with enough action).

Early Help Team

Early help teams are linked with local authorities. They consist of a multidisciplinary team offering immediate support to families in need of child protection help.

Whistleblowing

Whistleblowing is the process of an employee raising concerns to outside-employment services about areas of concern they have about methods of running or incidents that have happened.

DBS checks (Disclosure and Barring Service)

DBS checks are mandatory for nursery staff and anyone who works with children and young people. The Home Office’s public body runs background checks on known criminal and concerning behaviour.

Keeping Children Safe in Education (KCSIE)

This is a legal document used by anyone who interacts with children and young people under 18 in a school or college setting.

Paediatric First Aid Course

The PFA course is a statutory requirement for nursery team members solely responsible for children. A nursery setting has PFA requirements they must follow to remain statutory compliant.

Risk assessment in EYFS

Nursery staff complete risk assessments when an activity, trip, or experience is organised to recognise and reduce the possible risk of injury or harm.

Safe sleep practices

Nurseries nationwide adopt safe sleep practices to minimise the risk of Sudden Infant Death Syndrome (SIDS).

EYFS SEND and inclusion

Your nursery should be inclusive by design, promoting inclusive practice to support all development levels and needs to enjoy their time at your nursery. There may be children who require additional support due to special educational needs or disabilities (SEND).

Let’s unpick some of the most-used phrases in EYFS linking to SEND and inclusion.

Or take a look at our blog content centred around SEND and diversity for more SEND insights.

SEND (Special Educational Needs and Disabilities)

Children with SEND require additional support and facilities in comparison to their peers in one or more of the four broad areas of need.

The four broad areas of need

Communication and interaction, Cognition and learning, Social, emotional mental health and Physical and sensory needs.

EHCP (Education Health Care Plan)

An EHCP is a legal document that sets out the need for targeted outcomes and provision for a child with SEND to meet their potential. Not all children with SEND needs will have an EHCP, it requires an assessment request and agreement by local authority SEND teams.

SENDCo

Special Educational Needs Coordinator – it’s mandatory for an EYFS setting to have a SENDCo.

Speech and Language Therapy (SALT)

Undertaken by a qualified therapist, children get tailored support to develop their speech and comprehension of language.

Educational Psychologist

A qualified professional who will assess children’s cognitive and social development.

Local offer

This is where the local authority will set out the SEND provision available in the local area.

To find information on all recognised SEND needs, access a SEND-specific glossary.

Early years assessment

Early years assessment and outcomes are closely monitored during nursery. All small achievements add up to big golden milestones.

We’ve collated some of the top terms for EYFS assessment you’ll need to know.

The Early Learning Goals

The ELGs are made up of 17 targets that children are expected to reach by the end of their F2 year (reception). These are linked to the seven areas of learning.

Characteristics of effective learning— Included in the EYFS Statutory Framework, the characteristics of learning should underpin all learning opportunities for children:

Playing and exploring
Active learning
Creating and thinking critically

Good level of development (GLD)

A level of good development is assessed at the end of EYFS using the ELG as a deciding guide. A GLD demonstrates a child is ready for the next stage of learning in Year 1.

To achieve a GLD, children must have achieved all prime areas of learning and Literacy and Mathematics in the specific area section.

Progress check at age two

Practitioners carry out progress checks to monitor a child’s development in the prime areas of learning. The results are shared with the parents.

Reception baseline assessment (RBA)

This assessment will be undertaken in the first 6-weeks that a child joins a school. It is their baseline assessment for mathematics, literacy and communication and language.

Formative assessment

Formative assessment is used every day in EYFS. It consists of small pieces of information gathered to build bigger pictures about the child’s development and progress across all areas of the EYFS Framework.

Summative assessment

Summative assessments are more formal assessment points. They consist of assessments and observations, usually against a set of requirements (like the ELGs).

Observations in EYFS

Nursery practitioners frequently conduct observations, which are the process of gathering information about a child’s development journey. Although these may not be written observations, they should be frequent and not impede time spent with the child.

Development Matters EYFS Framework

The UK government provides non-statutory guidance to EYFS settings. The aim is to support practitioners in planning and assessing activities that will give early years children a broad and balanced curriculum.

Birth to Five EYFS Framework

Some nurseries use the Birth to Five Framework, which is another non-statutory government guidance for EYFS activity coverage.

Explore how to connect the latest EYFS Framework guidance documents to practitioner observations.

If you’re looking for EYFS activity ideas, explanations or the latest government updates on childcare funding, subscribe to our free blog to get the information dropped straight into your inbox.

EYFS Ofsted

Ofsted is the Office for Standards in Education, the body responsible for grading education establishments in England.

As of 2nd September 2024, Ofsted’s single-word ratings were scrapped, and now instead nurseries and educators will receive a ‘report card’ that looks at four areas of education. These four areas are:

Quality of Education
Behaviour and Attitudes
Personal Development
Leadership and Management

Early Years Ofsted Inspection Framework

This is the inspection framework that Ofsted will use when they visit nurseries. It is split into four main sections: quality of education, behaviour and attitudes, personal development, and leadership and management.

Discussing some of the most commonly asked Ofsted questions about EYFS settings can prepare your team for an upcoming Ofsted inspection.

Quality of education

This section of the Ofsted process looks at how your EYFS curriculum is designed to meet the children’s needs. The inspectors will evaluate the impact on children’s learning and development.

Behaviour and attitudes

A positive attitude to learning is vital from an early age. Behaviour and attitudes of children are monitored in an Ofsted visit.

Personal development

A child’s wider development is more than academic learning. Personal development measures progress in well-being, social, and emotional development through access to carefully planned activities.

Leadership and management

Nursery management should ensure a high quality of provision is achieved for every child. In this aspect of the Ofsted inspection, nursery leadership will be evaluated for effective practices.

Deep Dive

More focused on primary schools, Ofsted will do a deep dive into a few choice subjects during their visit.

Registered Early Years Provider

Any childcare provider that cares for children from birth to five years old must be an Ofsted early years registered provider.

Want to see if your tracking and monitoring processes are Ofsted-ready? We have a blog for that!

Funding in the early years

Funding in the early years can be a tricky topic to navigate. With changing government policies, understanding childcare funding in 2024 should be at the top of your learning list.

Tax-free childcare

Tax-free childcare can be used in conjunction with the 15 or 30 free hour offer in England if you are eligible. For every £8 added to the online account used for the childcare payments, the government will contribute £2.

Working parent childcare funding

Introduced in April 2024, eligible working parents can receive 15-30 hours of childcare if the child is between nine months and five years old.

Universal credit childcare offer (England)

In England, parents on universal credit can claim to cover childcare costs. The amount parents will receive for one child is £951 per month and £1630 for two children.

Early Years Pupil Premium (EYPP)

The EYPP is given to early years providers as additional funding for disadvantaged 3 and 4-year-olds. For the 2024-2025 financial year, 68p per hour per eligible child is available. This totals up to £388 per year per eligible child with 570 hours of childcare.

Disability Access Fund (DAF)

Early years settings receive funding to support children with additional needs and recognised SEND.

Free school meals (FSM)

If a family meets the criteria for free school meals, the children will receive free lunches during their time in primary and secondary school.

You can find out all you need to know about the government’s latest childcare funding in our summary blog.

Childcare qualifications

There are lots of different ways to enter the childcare profession. We have collated some of the most common routes nursery practitioners have taken to get to where they are now.

Level 2 Early Years Practitioner

Level 2 practitioners will not work unsupervised in the nursery setting. They are pivotal members of the nursery team, supporting children’s progress with learning and development through a range of carefully planned tasks and play-based activities.

Level 3 Early Years Educator

A Level 3 practitioner in childcare is responsible for the planning and organising of their activities and tasks. Level 3s work unsupervised and will likely supervise others.

Early Years Teacher Status (EYTS)

a graduate-level qualification, where teachers can work with children from birth to five years of age.

Qualified Teacher Status (QTS)

This is the necessary qualification to teach in maintained primary schools and academies (free school qualifications can differ). A teacher with QTS can also teach in an early years setting.

Paediatric First Aid Certificate

Nurseries are required to have a minimum number of PFA-trained staff supervising children at one time. Many nurseries train all staff in administering paediatric first aid.

Safeguarding training

As part of an induction to the nursery and repeated every two years as a minimum, all of the nursery staff will receive safeguarding training.

Continuous Professional Development (CPD)

Training designed to improve a nursery practitioner’s skills, knowledge or confidence in an area associated with their role and future roles.

Childcare apprenticeships

Undertaken with a training provider, childcare apprentices learn on the job. Studying a mixture of pedagogy and educational theory whilst supporting in the nursery.

Everyday EYFS terminology

And for the important EYFS terms that just don’t have a clear category, the miscellaneous list.

EYFS

EYFS stands for Early Years Foundation Stage, the foundational framework for children in
England and the standards that school and childcare providers must meet for the learning, development and care of children from birth to 5.

Child: Adult ratio

This is the ratio that must be followed when working with children in nursery settings. For example, the current child:adult ratio for 2024 for 2-year-olds is 1 adult for every 5 children – this increased in September 2023 from a 1:4 ratio.

Key worker

When a child joins the nursery, a key worker is attached to the child and their family. This is a nursery practitioner who will work closely with the child. They will often be the first point of contact for parents’ questions.

English as an additional language (EAL)

A child or family’s primary language is not English.

Looked after child (LAC)

LAC refers to a child who has been in the care of their local authority for over 24 hours and is known as a looked after child. Some local authorities may use the term children looked after (CLA).

Nursery open day

A nursery open day can be an approach to increasing nursery applications to your setting. Usually combined with a walk around the facilities, an open day can include fun activities for parents and their children.

Nursery walk-around

Prospective parents will contact nurseries to arrange a walk-around. This is where they will attend a nursery visit to see the setting and speak to the staff their children will be supported by before making an application to the nursery.