Early Years Foundation Stage Curriculum

Communication and Language

Listening, Attention and Understanding

- Listening and responding to stories and in whole class/ small group discussions.

- Make comments and asking questions.

- Hold conversation with their teacher and peers.

Speaking

- Join in small group, class and one-to-one discussions.

- Use recently introduced vocabulary.

- Talk about stories, non-fiction, rhymes and poems.

- Use of past, present and future tenses in conversation.

Personal, Social and Emotional Development

Self-Regulation

- Understand own feelings.

- Begin to regulate behaviour accordingly.

- Be able to wait for what they want.

- Follow instructions involving several ideas or actions.

Managing Self

- Be confident to try new activities.

- Show independence, resilience and perseverance.

- Explain the reasons for rules and know right from wrong.

- Manage their own basic hygiene and personal needs, including dressing, going to the toilet.

- Understand the importance of healthy food choices.

Building Relationships

- Work and play cooperatively and take turns with others;

- Form positive attachments to adults and friendships with peers;

- Show sensitivity to their own and to others’ needs.

Physical Development

Gross Motor Skills

- Negotiate space and obstacles safely.

- Demonstrate strength, balance and coordination when playing;

- Move energetically, such as running, jumping, dancing, hopping, skipping and climbing.

Fine Motor Skills

- Hold a pencil effectively in preparation for fluent writing – use tripod grip in almost all cases;

- Use a range of small tools, including scissors, paint brushes and cutlery;

- Begin to show accuracy and care when drawing.

Literacy

Comprehension

- Retell stories using their own words.

- Use recently introduced vocabulary when discussing stories, non-fiction, rhymes, in role-play.

Word Reading

- Say a sound for each letter in the alphabet.

- Know the two letter (digraph) sounds.

- Use phonic knowledge for reading by sound-blending.

- Read aloud simple sentences and books.

Writing

- Write recognisable letters, most of which are correctly formed;

- Spell words by representing sounds with a letter or letters;

- Write simple phrases and sentences that can be read by others.

Mathematics

Number

- Have a deep understanding of number to 10.

- Subitise (recognise quantities without counting) up to 5.

- Number bonds up to 5 and double facts.

Numerical Patterns

- Verbally count beyond 20.

- Compare quantities up to 10 in different contexts (greater than, less than or the same as).

- Understand patterns within numbers up to 10, eg. evens and odds, double facts.

Understanding the World

Past and Present

- Talk about the lives of the people around them.

- Similarities and differences between things in the past and now.

People, Culture and Communities

- Describe their immediate environment.

- Similarities and differences between different religious and cultural communities.

- Similarities and differences between life in this country and life in other countries.

The Natural World

- Make observations of, and draw pictures of animals and plants.

- Similarities and differences between their natural world and contrasting environments.

- Understand processes and changes in the natural world, eg. the seasons.

Expressive Arts and Design

Creating with Materials

- Use a variety of materials, tools and techniques.

- Experiment with colour, design, texture, form and function.

- Share their creations and explain the process they have used.

Being Imaginative and Expressive

- Invent, adapt and recount narratives and stories.

- Sing a range of well-known nursery rhymes and songs.

- Perform songs, rhymes, poems and stories with others.

- Try to move in time with music.