1. Autumn/Winter/Christmas
Reception
Prime Areas
Physical Development
In P.E. our focus is travelling over and around climbing equipment. We will develop our fine motor skills in a range of ways, including handwriting sessions.
We will use the ‘Eatwell plate’ to think about eating a variety of food.
Personal, Social and Emotional Development
We will be sharing our interests and opinions with others. We will be asking questions to find out information. We will take part in Buddy Time.
Communication and Language
We will use language in our imaginative play and weekend/half term news. We will join our thoughts and ideas into statements.
We attach equal importance to all our areas of learning in the EYFS curriculum. However, we are also very responsive to the children’s interests and maximise opportunities for spontaneous learning.
Church and Community
We will be looking at Bible stories which lead up to the Christmas story. We will be learning about why and how we celebrate Christmas. We will take part in the Nativity service in church.
Specific Areas
Literacy
We will be continuing with Phonics. We will be thinking about the sounds we hear in words and writing the correct letters. We will continue modelled writing sessions.
We will visit the Library weekly and enjoy a story.
Mathematics
We will continue to practise our counting skills. We will know that total means how many altogether. We will explore common 2D and 3D shapes and use words such as sides, edges, faces and corners.
Understanding the World
We will talk about things that happen to our family and friends. We will look at celebrations: Bonfire night and Christmas. We will use Beebots and IPads in our learning.
Expressive Arts and Design
We will think about different textures. We will make Christmas crafts as part of our celebrations. We will paint our hands and feet and complete our first Fab 50 activity.
All of the EYFS areas are important, however the areas highlighted with a star are the St Francis ‘Golden Threads’.

2. Communication and Language Understanding the World
Personal, Social and Emotional Development
**Can play in a group, extending and elaborating play ideas.
n*Demonstrates friendly behaviour, initiating conversations and forming good relationships with peers and familiar adults.
*Initiates conversations, attends to and takes account of what others say.
*Confident to talk to other children when playing and will communicate freely about own home and community.
*Confident to speak to others about own needs, wants, interests and opinions.
*Aware of own feelings and knows that some actions and words can hurt others’ feelings.
*Understands that own actions affect other people.
*Aware of the boundaries set, and of behavioural expectations in the setting.
Communication and Language
*Maintains attention, concentrates and sits quietly during appropriate activity.
*Beginning to understand ‘why’ and ‘how’ questions.
*Responds to instructions involving a two-part sequence.
*Listens and responds to ideas expressed by others in conversation or discussion.
*Uses talk to connect ideas, explain what is happening and anticipate what might happen next, recall and relive past experiences.
*Questions why things happen and gives explanations.
*Uses language to imagine and recreate roles and experiences in play situations.
*Links statements and sticks to a main theme or intention.
Physical Development
*Can catch a large ball.
*Holds pencil between thumb and two fingers.
*Holds pencil near point between first two fingers and thumb and uses it with good control.
*Can copy some letters.
*Uses simple tools to effect changes to materials.
*Travels with confidence and skill over, under, around and through balancing and climbing equipment.
*Begins to form recognisable letters.
*Observes the effect of activity on their bodies.
*Eats a healthy range of foodstuffs and understands need for variety in food.
Mathematics
*Separates a group of three or four objects in different ways, beginning to recognise that the total is still the same.
*Counts objects to 10, and beginning to count beyond 10.
*Selects the correct numeral to represent 1 to 5, then 1 to 10 objects.
*Uses shapes appropriately for tasks.
*Shows interest in shape by sustained construction activity or by talking about shapes or arrangements.
*Beginning to use mathematical names for ‘solid’ 3D shapes and ‘flat’ 2D shapes, and mathematical terms to describe shapes.
*Uses familiar objects and common shapes to create and recreate patterns and build models.
Literacy
*Shows interest in illustrations and print in books and print in the environment.
*Beginning to be aware of the way stories are structured.
*Recognises familiar words and signs.
*Hears and says the initial sound in words.
*Can segment the sounds in simple words and blend them together and knows which letters represent some of them.
*Links sounds to letters, naming and sounding the letters of the alphabet.
*Ascribes meaning to marks that they see in different places.
*Gives meaning to marks as they draw, write and paint.
*Uses some clearly identifiable letters to communicate meaning, representing some sounds correctly and in sequence.
*Writes own name and other things, such as labels, captions.
Understanding the World
*Knows some of the things that makes them unique, and can talk about similarities and differences in relation to friends or family.
*Enjoys joining in with family customs and routines.
*Comments and asks questions about aspects of their familiar world such as the place where they live or the natural world.
*Can talk about some of the things they have observed, such as plants, animals, natural and found objects.
*Knows that information can be retrieved from computers.
*Uses ICT hardware to interact with age-appropriate computer software.
Expressive Arts and Design
*Experiments to create different textures.
*Captures experiences and responses with a range of media, such as music, dance and paint.
*Creates simple representations of events, people and objects.
*Creates movement in response to music.
*Chooses particular colours to use for a purpose.
*Plays alongside other children who are engaged in the same theme.