Purpose and aims of the Early Years Foundation Stage

 

(The information below is taken from the publication “Statutory Framework for the

 

Early Years Foundation Stage”, the whole of which can be downloaded from www.standards.dcsf.gov.uk/eyfs)

 

 

Background

The overarching aim of the EYFS is to help young children achieve the five Every Child Matters

 

outcomes of staying safe, being healthy, enjoying and achieving, making a positive contribution,

 

and achieving economic well-being by:

 

·         setting the standards for the learning, development and care young children should experience

 

when they are attending a setting outside their family home, ensuring that every child makes

 

progress and that no child gets left behind; 

 

·         providing for equality of opportunity and anti-discriminatory practice and ensuring that every

 

child is included and not disadvantaged because of ethnicity, culture or religion, home language,

 

family background, learning difficulties or disabilities, gender or ability;

 

·         creating the   framework for partnership working between parents and professionals, and

 

between all the settings that the child attends;

 

·         improving quality and consistency   in the early years sector through a universal set of

 

standards which apply to all settings, ending the distinction between care and learning in the

 

existing frameworks, and providing the basis for the inspection and regulation regime;

 

·         laying a secure foundation for future learning   through learning and development that is

 

planned around the individual needs and interests of the child, and informed by the use of

 

ongoing observational assessment.

 

 

Te EYFS learning is categorised into six areas covered by the early learning goals and educational programmes:

 

A.    Personal, Social and Emotional Development;

 

B.    Communication, Language and Literacy;

 

C. Problem Solving, Reasoning and Numeracy;

 

D. Knowledge and Understanding of the World;

 

E. Physical Development;

 

F. Creative Development.

 

 

A -Personal, Social and Emotional Development

 

Dispositions and Attitudes

 

1.  Shows an interest in classroom activities through observation or participation.

 

2.  Dresses, undresses and manages own personal hygiene with adult support.

 

3.  Displays high levels of involvement in self-chosen activities.

 

4.  Dresses and undresses independently and manages own personal hygiene.

 

5.  Selects and uses activities and resources independently.

 

6.  Continues to be interested, motivated and excited to learn.

 

7.  Is confident to try new activities, initiate ideas and speak in a familiar group.

 

8.  Maintains attention and concentrates.

 

9.  Sustains involvement and perseveres, particularly when trying to solve a problem or reach a satisfactory conclusion.

 

 

 

Social Development

 

1.  Plays alongside others.

 

2.  Builds relationships through gesture and talk.

 

3.  Takes turns and shares with adult support.

 

4.  Works as part of a group or class taking turns and sharing fairly.

 

5.  Forms good relationships with adults and peers.

 

6.  Understands that there need to be agreed values and codes of behaviour for groups of people, including adults and children, to work together harmoniously.

 

7.  Understands that people have different needs, views, cultures and beliefs that need to be

 

treated with respect.

 

8.  Understands that (s)he can expect others to treat her or his needs, views, cultures and beliefs with respect.

 

9.  Takes into account the ideas of others.

 

 

Emotional Development

 

1.  Separates from main carer with support.

 

2.  Communicates freely about home and community.

 

3.  Expresses needs and feelings in appropriate ways.

 

4.  Responds to significant experiences, showing a range of feelings when appropriate.

 

5.  Has a developing awareness of own needs, views and feelings and is sensitive to the needs, views and feelings of others.

 

6.  Has a developing respect for own culture and beliefs and those of other people.

 

7.  Considers the consequences of words and actions for self and others.

 

8.  Understands what is right, what is wrong and why.

 

9.  Displays a strong and positive sense of self-identity and is able to express a range of emotions fluently and appropriately.

 

 

B-Communication, Language and Literacy

 

Language for Communication and Thinking

 

1.  Listens and responds.

 

2.  Initiates communication with others, displaying greater confidence in more informal contexts.

 

3.  Talks activities through, reflecting on and modifying actions.

 

4.  Listens with enjoyment to stories, songs, rhymes and poems, sustains attentive listening and responds with relevant comments, questions or actions.

 

5.  Uses language to imagine and recreate roles and experiences.

 

6.  Interacts with others in a variety of contexts, negotiating plans and activities and taking turns  in conversation.

 

7.  Uses talk to organise, sequence and clarify thinking, ideas, feelings and events, exploring the meanings and sounds of new words.

 

8.  Speaks clearly with confidence and control, showing awareness of the listener.

 

9.  Talks and listens confidently and with control, consistently showing awareness of the listener by

 

including relevant detail. Uses language to work out and clarify ideas, showing control of a range of appropriate vocabulary.

 

 

Linking Sounds and Letters

 

1.  Joins in with rhyming and rhythmic activities.

 

2.  Shows an awareness of rhyme and alliteration.

 

3.  Links some sounds to letters.

 

4.  Links sounds to letters, naming and sounding letters of the alphabet.

 

5.  Hears and says sounds in words.

 

6.  Blends sounds in words.

 

7.  Uses phonic knowledge to read simple regular words.

 

8.  Attempts to read more complex words, using phonic knowledge.

 

9.  Uses knowledge of letters, sounds and words when reading and writing independently.

 

 

Reading

 

1.  Is developing an interest in books.

 

2.  Knows that print conveys meaning.

 

3.  Recognises a few familiar words.

 

4.  Knows that, in English, print is read from left to right and top to bottom.

 

5.  Shows an understanding of the elements of stories, such as main character, sequence of events and openings.

 

6.  Reads a range of familiar and common words and simple sentences independently.

 

7.  Retells narratives in the correct sequence, drawing on language patterns of stories.

 

8.  Shows an understanding of how information can be found in non-fiction texts to answer

 

questions about where, who, why and how.

 

9.  Reads books of own choice with some fluency and accuracy.

 

 

Writing

 

1.  Experiments with mark-making, sometimes ascribing meaning to the marks.

 

2.  Uses some clearly identifiable letters to communicate meaning.

 

3.  Represents some sounds correctly in writing.

 

4.  Writes own name and other words from memory.

 

5.  Holds a pencil and uses it effectively to form recognisable letters, most of which are correctly formed.

 

6.  Attempts writing for a variety of purposes, using features of different forms.

 

7.  Uses phonic knowledge to write simple regular words and make phonetically plausible attempts at more complex words.

 

8.  Begins to form captions and simple sentences, sometimes using punctuation.

 

9.  Communicates meaning through phrases and simple sentences with some consistency in

 

punctuating sentences.

 

 

C-Problem Solving, Reasoning and Numeracy

 

Numbers as Labels and for Counting

 

1.  Says some number names in familiar contexts, such as nursery rhymes.

 

2.  Counts reliably up to three everyday objects.

 

3.  Counts reliably up to six everyday objects.

 

4.  Says number names in order.

 

5.  Recognises numerals 1 to 9.

 

6.  Counts reliably up to ten everyday objects.

 

7.  Orders numbers, up to ten.

 

8.  Uses developing mathematical ideas and methods to solve practical problems.

 

9.  Recognises, counts, orders, writes and uses numbers up to 20.

 

 

Calculating

 

1.  Responds to the vocabulary involved in addition and subtraction in rhymes and games.

 

2.  Recognises differences in quantity when comparing sets of objects.

 

3.  Finds one more or one less from a group of up to five objects.

 

4.  Relates addition to combining two groups.

 

5.  Relates subtraction to taking away.

 

6.  In practical activities and discussion, begins to use the vocabulary involved in adding and

 

subtracting.

 

7.  Finds one more or one less than a number from one to ten.

 

8.  Uses developing mathematical ideas and methods to solve practical problems.

 

9.  Uses a range of strategies for addition and subtraction, including some mental recall of 

 

number bonds.

 

 

Shape, Space and Measures

 

1.  Experiments with a range of objects and materials showing some mathematical awareness.

 

2.  Sorts or matches objects and talks about sorting.

 

3.  Describes shapes in simple models, pictures and patterns.

 

4.  Talks about, recognises and recreates simple patterns.

 

5.  Uses everyday words to describe position.

 

6.  Uses language such as ‘circle’ or ‘bigger’ to describe the shape and size of solids and flat shapes.

 

7.  Uses language such as ‘greater’, ‘smaller’, ‘heavier’ or ‘lighter’ to compare quantities.

 

8.  Uses developing mathematical ideas and methods to solve practical problems.

 

9.  Uses mathematical language to describe solid (3D) objects and flat (2D) shapes.

 

 

D-Knowledge and Understanding of the World

 

1.  Shows curiosity and interest by exploring surroundings.

 

2.  Observes, selects and manipulates objects and materials. Identifies simple features and

 

significant personal events.

 

3.  Identifies obvious similarities and differences when exploring and observing. Constructs in a purposeful way, using simple tools and techniques.

 

4.  Investigates places, objects, materials and living things by using all the senses as appropriate.

 

Identifies some features and talks about those features (s)he likes and dislikes.

 

5.  Asks questions about why things happen and how things work. Looks closely at similarities, differences, patterns and change.

 

6.  Finds out about past and present events in own life, and in those of family members and other people (s)he knows. Begins to know about own culture and beliefs and those of other people.

 

7.  Finds out about and identifies the uses of everyday technology and uses information and

 

communication technology and programmable toys to support her/his learning.

 

8.  Builds and constructs with a wide range of objects, selecting appropriate resources, tools and techniques and adapting her/his work where necessary.

 

9.  Communicates simple planning for investigations and constructions and makes simple records and evaluations of her/his work. Identifies and names key features and properties, sometimes linking different experiences, observations and events. Begins to explore what it means to belong to a variety of groups and communities.

 

 

E-Physical Development

 

1.  Moves spontaneously, showing some control and coordination.

 

2.  Moves with confidence in a variety of ways, showing some awareness of space.

 

3.  Usually shows appropriate control in large- and small-scale movements.

 

4.  Moves with confidence, imagination and safety. Travels around, under, over and through

 

balancing and climbing equipment. Shows awareness of space, of self and others.

 

5.  Demonstrates fine motor control and coordination.

 

6.  Uses small and large equipment, showing a range of basic skills.

 

7.  Handles tools, objects, construction and malleable materials safely and with basic control.

 

8.  Recognises the importance of keeping healthy and those things which contribute to this.

 

Recognises the changes that happen to her/his body when s/he is active.

 

9.  Repeats, links and adapts simple movements, sometimes commenting on her/his work.

 

Demonstrates coordination and control in large and small movements, and in using a range of tools and equipment.

 

 

F-Creative Development

 

1.  Explores different media and responds to a variety of sensory experiences. Engages in

 

representational play.

 

2.  Creates simple representations of events, people and objects and engages in music making.

 

3.  Tries to capture experiences, using a variety of different media.

 

4.  Sings simple songs from memory.

 

5.  Explores colour, texture, shape, form and space in two or three dimensions.

 

6.  Recognises and explores how sounds can be changed. Recognises repeated sounds and sound patterns and matches movements to music.

 

7.  Uses imagination in art and design, music, dance, imaginative and role-play and stories.

 

Responds in a variety of ways to what (s)he sees, hears, smells, touches and feels.

 

8.  Expresses and communicates ideas, thoughts and feelings using a range of materials, suitable tools, imaginative and role-play, movement, designing and making, and a variety of songs and musical instruments.

 

9.  Expresses feelings and preferences in response to artwork, drama and music and makes some comparisons and links between different pieces. Responds to own work and that of others when exploring and communicating ideas, feelings and preferences through art, music, dance, role-play and imaginative play.