Early Years Foundation Stage Curriculum Information

Communication and Language

This underpins all areas of learning and development in Early Years. Children develop their listening, attention and understanding skills in a variety of situations, such as one-to-one interactions, small group work and whole class teaching. Speaking skills are developed through activities such as role play, small world play, sharing stories and poems – and two-way conversations!

“I like dressing up and making up stories.”

“We are going under giant leggy chairs.”

Personal, Social and Emotional Development

This area supports children to learn to understand and talk about feelings, get on with others and make friends, learn about 'right' and 'wrong', develop independence and, ultimately, to feel good about themselves. We teach children strategies for collaboration and resolving problems, and to consider situations from each other’s point of view. Our playful environment offers many opportunities to enhance these skills.

We also support children to develop independence in managing their personal hygiene and understanding the importance of healthy choices, including the importance of a healthy diet, hydration and being active.

“I try to sort things out myself before I ask a teacher.”

“If you hurt someone by accident, you need to say sorry and make them feel better.”

Physical Development

Physical Development is a crucial part of children’s learning in the Foundation Stage. Children need to develop gross and fine motor skills in order to move confidently and manage small tools including pencils for writing. As well as PE lessons, we offer a wide range of activities in continuous provision to develop different physical skills, including a variety of bikes, small and large scale construction, craft activities and woodwork.

“I love riding the bikes outside. My favourite is the one with three seats.”

“Swimming lessons are really fun!”

“I like using the hammers. You have to be really careful.”

Literacy

It is important to us that we give children a real love of reading at this early stage. We treasure book time by selecting high quality texts, enriching stories and by discussing vocabulary and information with the children. Daily Phonics teaching gives children the building blocks they need to become confident readers and writers. Children read weekly with an adult in school and are encouraged to apply their new reading skills purposefully in their play. Writing is made as practical as possible, with opportunities to apply their writing skills in their play and for real-life purposes, such as writing labels and messages.

“I like it when we use the dice to read words.”

 “I really like writing stories. I like to challenge myself.”

For further information about Early Reading, please visit our Reading page. Reading | Archdeacon Cambridge's Church of England Primary School (archdeaconcambridges.richmond.sch.uk)

Maths

Through lessons and practical activities children develop a deep understanding of numbers to ten. They develop subitising and counting skills and explore the composition of numbers. We place great emphasis in using mathematical language to explain our work (I know that it’s 6 because double 3 is 6). In our provision children explore numerical patterns, comparing quantities to identify more or less than, doubles, odd and even numbers. Daily whole class maths input provides an opportunity to develop mathematical knowledge and skills which children then apply in their play. A popular element of our provision is the Snack Shop, where children are given a quantity of coins to ‘pay’ for a special snack, providing a purposeful opportunity to apply problem solving skills.

“I like the Snack Shop because I can buy a biscuit… it costs 8 coins so you only have 2 left.”

“When we made cakes and we had to use the balance scales to weigh the flour.”

For further information about Maths in the Early Years, please visit our Maths page. Early Years | Archdeacon Cambridge's Church of England Primary School (archdeaconcambridges.richmond.sch.uk)

Understanding the World

This area is about children making sense of their physical world and their community. We support children to draw information from personal experiences, photos, the internet, celebrations and special visitors to increase their understanding of different people, culture and communities and to talk about past and present events. As a Church of England school, RE has a high profile and children enjoy exploring the Christian faith, as well as other religious festivals such as Hannukah or Eid. We are lucky to have an Outside Learning Area and a Wildlife Area which provide the perfect environment for child-initiated investigation and to develop an understanding of the natural word. We also use a range of technology in school, including Interactive Whiteboards, tablets, cameras and BeeBots which children are encouraged to use purposefully.

“I like learning about Jesus and God.”

"We can draw pictures on the big whiteboard."

"I love collecting snails in the Wildlife Area. We make homes for them."

Expressive Arts & Design

Creativity is an important part of children’s early learning experience. We support this through our environment, ensuring children explore and create with different materials. We teach drawing, painting and printing skills and ensure children have access to different resources to make models, including blocks, construction kits, and ‘junk’ resources. In our Outdoor Learning Area, children enjoy making music, dancing, performing and applying the aspects learnt in our Music lessons. Children are encouraged to develop their own ideas and think of ways to improve and enhance their work.

“I like making different things in the Making Area. My favourite is making robots.”

“We can play instruments and do shows on the stage.”