Early Years Foundation stage curriculum

At Hampton, we follow the Foundation Stage Curriculum Framework in our Nursery, Foundation Stage Classes and sometimes into the start of Year 1 depending on your child’s development and needs.

The Foundation Stage is how the Government and early years professionals describe the time in your child’s life between birth and age 5. This is a very important stage as it helps your child get ready for school as well as preparing them for their future learning and successes. From when your child is born up until the age of 5, their early years experiences should be happy, active, exciting, fun and secure; and support their development, care and learning needs.

What is the EYFS Curriculum?

The EYFS (Early Years Foundation Stage) Framework exists to support all professionals working in the EYFS to help your child, and was developed with a number of early years experts and parents. It explains how and what your child will be learning to support their healthy development.

How will your child be learning?

Your child will be learning skills, acquiring new knowledge and demonstrating their understanding through 7 areas of learning and development.

Children should mostly develop the 3 prime areas first. These are: ·

Communication and language;
Physical development; and
Personal, social and emotional development.

These prime areas are those most essential for your child’s healthy development and future learning. As children grow, the prime areas will help them to develop skills in 4 specific areas. These are:

Literacy;
Mathematics;
Understanding the world; and
Expressive arts and design

These 7 areas are used to plan your child’s learning and activities. At Hampton, we plan activities which are suited to your child’s unique needs and interests. Children in the EYFS learn by playing and exploring, being active, and through creative and critical thinking which takes place both indoors and outside, and through the 7 areas of learning.

 

At the end of Reception (the Foundation Stage), each child will be assessed against a number of key areas called the Early Learning Goals (ELG). We aim to explain what is expected for each area here:

 

Communication and Language

ELG  - Listening  Attention and Understanding

• Listen attentively and respond to what they hear with relevant questions, comments and actions when being read to and during whole class discussions and small group interactions.
• Make comments about what they have heard and ask questions to clarify their understanding.
• Hold conversations when engaged in back and forth exchanges with their teachers and peers.

ELG  - Speaking

• Participate in small group, class and one to one discussions, offering their own ideas, using recently introduced vocabulary.
• Offer explanations for why things might happen, making use of recently introduced vocabulary from stories, non-fiction, rhymes and poems where appropriate.
• Express their ideas and feelings about their experiences using full sentences, including use of past, present and future tenses and making use of conjunctions, with modelling and support from their teacher.

 

Physical Development

ELG Gross Motor Skills

• Negotiate space and obstacles safely, with consideration for themselves and others.
• Demonstrate strength, balance and coordination when playing.
• Move energetically, such as running, jumping, dancing, hopping and climbing.

ELG Fine Motor Skills

• Hold a grip effectively in preparation for fluent writing - using the tripod grip in almost all cases.
• Use a range of small tools, including scissors, paintbrushes and cutlery.
• Being to show accuracy and care when drawing.

 

Personal, Social and Emotional Development

ELG Self Regulation

• Show an understanding of their own feelings and those of others, and begin to regulate their behaviour accordingly.
• Set and work toward simple goals, being able to wait for what they want and control their immediate impulses when appropriate.
• Give focused attention to what the teacher says, responding appropriately even when engaged in activity, and show an ability to follow instructions involving several ideas or actions.

ELG Managing Self

• Be confident to try new activities and show independence, resilience and perseverance in the face of challenge.
• Explain the reasons for rules, know right from wrong and try to behave accordingly.
• Manage their own basic hygiene and personal needs, including dressing, going to the toilet and understanding 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 others' needs.

 

Literacy 

ELG Comprehension

• Demonstrate understanding of what has been read to them by re-telling stories and narratives using their own words and recently introduced vocabulary.
• Anticipate (where appropriate) key events in stories.
• Use and understand recently introduced vocabulary during discussions about stories, non-fiction, rhymes and poems and during role play.

ELG Word Reading

• Say a sound for each letter in the alphabet and at least ten digraphs.
• Read words consistent with their phonic knowledge by sound blending.
• Read aloud simple sentences and books that are consistent with their phonic knowledge, including some common exception words.

ELG Writing

• Write recognisable letters, most of which are correctly formed.
• Spell words by identifying sounds in them and representing the sounds with a letter or letters.
• Write simple phrases and sentences that can be read by others.

 

 

Mathematics

ELG Number

• Have a deep understanding of numbers to 10, including the composition of each number
• Subitise (recognise quantities without counting) up to 5.
• Automatically recall (without reference to rhymes, counting or other aids) number bonds up to 5 (including subtraction facts) and some number bonds to 10, including doubling facts

ELG Numerical Patterns

• Verbally count beyond 20, recognising the pattern of the counting system
• Compare quantities up to 10 in different contexts, recognising when one quantity is greater than, less than or the same as the other quantity.
• Explore and represent patterns within numbers up to 10, including evens and odds, double facts and how quantities can be distributed equally.

 

Understanding of the World

ELG - Past and Present

• Talk about the lives of people around them and their roles in society.
• Know some similarities and differences between things in the past and now, drawing on their experiences and what has been read in class.
• Understand the past through settings, characters and events encountered in books read in class and story telling.

ELG People Culture and Communities

• Describe their immediate environment using knowledge from observation, discussion, stories, non-fiction texts and maps.
• Know some similarities and differences between different religious and cultural communities in this country, drawing on their experiences and what has been read in class.
• Explain some similarities and differences between life in this county and life in other countries drawing on knowledge from stories, non fiction texts and what has been read in class.

ELG The Natural World

• Explore the natural world around them, making observations and drawing pictures of animals and plants.
• Know some similarities and differences between the natural world around the, and contrasting environments, drawing on their experiences and what has been read in class.
• Understand some important processes and changes in the natural world around them, including the seasons and changing states of mater.

 

Expressive Arts and Design

ELG Creating with Materials

• Safely use and explore a variety of materials, tools and techniques, experimenting with colour, design, texture form and function.
• Share their creations, explaining the process they have used.
• Make use of props and materials when role playing characters in narratives and stories.

ELG - Being Imaginative and Expressive

• Invent, adapt and recount narratives and stories with peers and their teacher.
• Sing a range of well-known nursery rhymes and songs.
• Perform songs, rhymes, poems and stories with others, and (when appropriate) try to move in time with music.
   

Click on the link below to read the FS Framework in full.

https://www.gov.uk/government/publications/early-years-foundation-stage-framework--2