The Early Years Foundation stage covers a child’s education from the age of 24 months to 5 years.
The classes may be divided into:
Group name | Age | Key objectives |
Nursery | 24 months – 36 months | Socialisation, separating from care-giver, fine & gross motor development, English through songs and flashcards, Italian through |
Preschool | 3 – 4 years | Socialisation and sharing, gaining independence, fine motor skill development and manipulation, English immersion through stories, |
Reception | 4 – 5 years | Learning classroom rules, introduction to phonics, reading and writing readiness, number quantity and recognition, supervised play, |
For more information about EYFS class formation criteria, click here
The teaching in all these areas primarily takes place through play and games. The children learn within an area designed to develop their skills, build confidence and ideas, think creatively and interact and communicate effectively with others. The Early Years curriculum will not feel like learning to the child, they will find themselves in an area of fun and play. Throughout this stage however they will be encouraged to develop speaking, listening, singing, movement, counting and story-telling. The play-based learning done in the Early Years setting will enable the child to progress smoothly into Year 1 and the start of Key Stage 1.
The Early Years learning focuses on 7 areas, divided between prime and specific areas of learning.
The prime areas are (click on each item to expand):
Communication and Language (in both Italian and English)
Listening and attention:
Pupils listen attentively in a range of situations. They listen to stories, accurately anticipating key events and respond to what they hear with relevant comments, questions or actions. They give their attention to what others say and respond appropriately, while engaged in another activity.
Understanding:
Pupils follow instructions involving several ideas or actions. They answer ‘how’ and ‘why’ questions about their experiences and in response to stories or events.
Speaking:
Pupils express themselves effectively, showing awareness of listeners’ needs. They use past, present and future forms accurately when talking about events that have happened or are to happen in the future. They develop their own narratives and explanations by connecting ideas or events.
Physical development
Moving and handling:
Pupils show good control and co-ordination in large and small movements. They move confidently in a range of ways, safely negotiating space. They handle equipment and tools effectively, including pencils for writing.
Health and self-care:
Pupils know the importance for good health of physical exercise, and a healthy diet, and talk about ways to keep healthy and safe. They manage their ownbasic hygiene and personal needs successfully, including dressing and going to the toilet independently.
Personal, social and emotional development
- develop a positive sense of themselves and others
- form positive relationships and develop respect for others
- develop social skills and learn how to manage their feelings
- understand appropriate behaviour in groups
- have confidence in their own abilities
Self-confidence and self-awareness:
Pupils are confident to try new activities, and say why they like some activities more than others. They are confident to speak in a familiar group, will talk about their ideas, and will choose the resources they need for their chosen activities. They say when they do or don’t need help.
Managing feelings and behaviour:
Pupils talk about how they and others show feelings, talk about their own and others’ behaviour, and its consequences, and know that some behaviour is unacceptable. They work as part of a group or class, and understand and follow the rules. They adjust their behaviour to different situations, and take changes of routine in their stride.
Making relationships:
Pupils play co-operatively, taking turns with others. They take account of one another’s ideas about how to organize their activity. They show sensitivity to others’ needs and feelings, and form positive relationships with adults and other children.
The specific areas of learning are:
Literacy
Reading:
Pupils read and understand simple sentences. They use phonic knowledge to decode regular words and read them aloud accurately. They also read some common irregular words. They demonstrate understanding when talking with others about what they have read.
Writing:
Pupils use their phonic knowledge to write words in ways which match their spoken sounds. They also write some irregular common words. They write simple sentences which can be read by themselves and others. Some words are spelt correctly and others are phonetically plausible.
Mathematics
- Practice and improve their skills in counting numbers, calculating simple addition and subtraction problems
- Describe shapes, spaces, and measures
Numbers:
Pupils count reliably with numbers from 1 to 20, place them in order and say which number is one more or one less than a given number. Using quantities and objects, they add and subtract 2 single-digit numbers and count on or back to find the answer. They solve problems, including doubling, halving and sharing.
Shape, space and measures:
Children use everyday language to talk about size, weight, capacity, position, distance, time and money to compare quantities and objects and to solve problems. They recognize, create and describe patterns. They explore characteristics of everyday objects and shapes and use mathematical language to describe them.
Understanding the world
People and communities:
Pupils talk about past and present events in their own lives and in the lives of family members. They know that other children don’t always enjoy the same things, and are sensitive to this. They know about similarities and differences between themselves and others, and among families, communities and traditions.
The world:
Pupils know about similarities and differences in relation to places, objects, materials and living things. They talk about the features of their own immediate environment and how environments might vary from one another.
They make observations of animals and plants and explain why some things occur, and talk about changes.
Technology:
Pupils recognize that a range of technology is used in places such as homes and schools. They select and use technology for particular purposes.
Expressive arts and design. This involves supporting pupils to explore and play with a wide range of media and materials. It involves providing pupils with opportunities and encouragement for sharing their thoughts, ideas and feelings through a variety of activities in art, music, movement, dance, role play, and design and technology.
Expressive arts and design
Being imaginative:
Pupils use what they have learnt about media and materials in original ways, thinking about uses and purposes. They represent their own ideas, thoughts and feelings through design and technology, art, music, dance, role-play and stories

