Personal, Social and Emotional Development

Successful personal, social and emotional development is critical for very young children in all aspects of their lives and gives them the best opportunity for success in all other areas of learning. Children are provided all the experiences and support necessary to ensure that they develop a positive sense of themselves. Children are helped to form positive relationships with their peers and their teachers and are provided with positive role models. Children have the opportunity to work alone and in small and large groups on a directed task yet also have the time and space to focus on chosen activities and experiences and develop their own interests. Children are helped to become more independent in a warm and secure environment.

Communication, language and literacy

Communication, language and literacy depend on learning and being competent in a number of key skills, together with having the confidence, opportunity, encouragement, support and disposition to use them. This area of learning includes communication, speaking and listening in different situations and for different purposes, being read a wide range of books and reading simple texts and writing for a variety of purposes. Children are provided with opportunities to:

-communicate their thoughts, ideas and feelings and build up relationships with adults and each other;

-share and enjoy a wide range of rhymes, music, songs, poetry, stories and non-fiction books;

-to link language with physical movement in action songs and rhymes, role play and practical experiences such as cookery and gardening;

-to see adults writing and for children to experiment with writing for themselves through making marks, personal writing symbols and conventional script;

-develop spoken language through conversations between children and adults, both one-to-one and in small groups, with particular awareness of, and sensitivity to, the needs of children for whom English is an additional language.

Mathematical development

This area of learning includes counting, sorting, matching, seeking patterns, making connections, recognising relationships and working with numbers, shapes, space and measures. Children’s mathematical understanding is developed through stories, songs, games and imaginative play, so that children enjoy using and experimenting with numbers, including numbers larger than 10. Children experience many different activities, some of which focus directly on mathematical development and some of which draw out the mathematical learning in other activities.

Knowledge and Understanding of the world

In this area of learning, children develop essential knowledge, skills and understanding that help them to make sense of the world. This forms the foundation for later work in science, design and technology, history, geography, and information and communication technology (ICT). Children participate in activities that are based on first-hand experiences that encourage exploration, observation, problem solving, prediction, critical thinking, decision making and discussion.

Physical development

Physical development in the foundation stage is about improving skills of coordination, control, manipulation and movement. Physical development has two other very important aspects. It helps children gain confidence in what they can do and enables them to feel the positive benefits of being healthy and active. Effective physical development helps children develop a positive sense of well-being.

Creative development

Creativity is fundamental to successful learning. Being creative enables children to make connections between one area of learning and another and so extend their understanding. This area of learning includes art, music, dance, role play and imaginative play.

All extracts are taken from the QCA document ‘Curriculum Guidance for the Foundation Stage’.