Curriculum Goals for 3 and 4 year olds

learn how to self-regulate and become a confident learner

Why?	Children thrive when they feel safe, valued and loved. Executive function includes the ability to hold information, focus attention, regulate behaviour and plan what to do next. The development of self-regulation is essential to support children’s academic ability and to develop children’s emotional and intellectual well-being.
First milestone: Increasingly, children separate from their parent as they grow in confidence and develop relationships. Children identify and begin to name their emotions and regulate their behaviour with support. Children will learn to use the zones of regulation.	As children grow in confidence, their involvement in nursery activities deepens. They explore a wider range of activities. They play for longer periods of time. Adults co-regulate with the children supporting them to bounce back when things get difficult and be patient for what they want.
Component:	Children manage their strong emotions and regulate their behaviour with support.
Second milestone: Children regulate own strong emotions by monitoring and managing their feelings and the way they make them behave. Children learn to comment about their learning. They begin to hold information in their mind, focus their attention and plan what to do next.	Adults support children to think of solutions to issues that cause them to feel strong emotions, choosing the best solution for the situation and putting it in place. As children’s engagement and perseverance grows, they either challenge themselves with more difficult activities, or they respond positively to adults challenging them. Adults model, narrate and explicitly teach metacognitive strategies. With adult support they begin to engage in a plan, do review cycle.
Component	Most of the time children manage their strong emotions and behaviour independently. They begin to think and talk about their learning processes.
Third milestone: Children organise and effectively manage their learning independently. Children talk about and reflect on what they and others are learning and thinking.	As children play and learn more collaboratively, over long periods of time, and take part in more challenging activities, they talk about and reflect on their learning. As the plan, do, review cycle is embedded children think flexibly, plan and prioritise and use their working memory.
Component	Children independently self-regulate so they can persevere, challenge themselves and focus for sustained periods of time.
Final milestone: (Composite) Children reflect on their learning and comment on their thinking. They work through problems and solutions through a plan, do, review cycle. Children self-regulate and use metacognitive skills as they learn.

talk about and celebrate differences and similarities in our diverse world

Why?	We want all children to feel secure, accepted and have a sense of belonging. We want all children to value and celebrate difference and be free from stereotypes.
First milestone: Children talk about a range of story books where gender roles are challenged and in which children from all backgrounds, especially those from black and minority ethnic (BAME) backgrounds, see themselves represented in the characters.	Ravi, our Personna Doll is introduced. A wide range of children’s books which reflect our diverse society without gender stereotypes are read and discussed.
Component	Share and talk about a range of story books
Second milestone: Children can notice and celebrate differences and similarities between themselves and value their uniqueness.	Sophia, our second persona doll is introduced. Group Times are planned to incorporate Ravi and Sophia’s colour and gender to challenge prejudice. Learning about our diverse community is shared through stories of Ravi and Sophia’s experiences, celebrations through our children’s home experiences and visitors to Nursery.
Component	Take part in Group Times celebrating diversity and be able to talk about differences and similarities between us.
Third milestone: Children explore the feelings of others and think of ways to help including gender and racial bias as a teaching focus.	Through our Personna Doll, help children to explore the feelings and issues she experiences, such as gender and racial bias. Use the problem, solution model to help her share and resolve conflict and use this model with our own conflicts. Books incorporating diversity, special needs and disabilities are shared.
Component	Begin to talk about how others may feel by relating to a problem that doesn’t directly affect them.
Final milestone (composite): Be able to share and discuss our feelings and find solutions to problems
Vocabulary:Similar, different, problem, solution

Build and use a Collaborative Obstacle Course

Why?

We want our Children to gain social and communication skills by collaborating on a project whilst gaining confidence through reaching physical milestones that focus on gross motor skills.

First milestone: with adult support, children identify ‘safe’ for building with the larger equipment outside and respond to the question ‘does it feel safe?’ and begin to explore their own physical capabilities.

The children can begin with smaller resources such as wooden blocks. Larger equipment can be introduced and explored as the children become more confident and capable and their core strength and balancing skills develop. Adults use the scaffolding technique ‘I do, we do, you do.’ The Trim Trail can be used to build climbing and balancing skills.

Children begin to communicate to an adult about what that they are doing with adult support.

Component

Use part of the trim trail independently and communicate what they are doing to an adult.

Second milestone: with at least one other friend gather equipment to build a structure/ obstacle course and demonstrate to others how to use to it.

Adults ask questions and verbalise thinking, modelling the process of 'what should we do and how should we do it?'

Adults verbalise the process of making and using the equipment to scaffold to children.

Component

Build with one other child or more.

Third milestone:

in a small group, use larger construction, developing their ideas and focussing on ‘does it feel safe?’

Begin to plan and communicate their ideas more independently.

Children are encouraged to explain their thinking, first to adults and then to 'tell your friend.' Children then start to communicate with each other as they design and build.

Component

Build and use an obstacle course with others. Talk about what they are doing and why.

Final milestone (composite): children demonstrate strength, balance and co-ordination when climbing independently. Children build a safe, solid structure which is planned for and built collaboratively from a range of equipment where the children must use a variety of physical skills to move around the course.

Vocabulary: design, structure, collaborate, communicate, stable, secure, teamwork, safe

Create an artwork using a range of stimuli

Why?	Creative play allows young children the freedom to be able to explore their thoughts and feelings and come up with new and original ideas. We want to foster a love of art and creativity in our children. We want children to learn to express their own ideas and express themselves using their curiosity and imagination.
First milestone:Children learn how to use and look after the creative area. With adult support children experiment with a variety of resources.	Group times will be planned to introduce specific skills and materials. Children are shown where they access the creative resources and how to use them. Children will be able to experiment freely with the range of resources, There is no need for a planned end outcome, rather an opportunity to experiment and learn what everything does, how it feels and how it can all work together to produce a piece of art.
Component	Access resources in the Creative Areas to produce a piece of art with adult support.
Second milestone: Children become more independent at accessing creative resources during free flow. Children build up their experience of using a range of materials so that some may begin to plan for an end outcome and consider how they may want their art to look. Children will be shown how to join card and plastic modelling materials together to begin to build 3D art.	Children will choose to use our creative areas independently. Areas will be well stocked and organised. Children will be taught how to use the scissors and tape dispenser
Component	Join 3D art materials together with tape.
Third milestone: children will be exposed to a variety of artists and their work, highlighting the techniques that the artists use. Children will experiment with those techniques and media and with adult support will begin to use the influences in their own art work.	Every child will have an opportunity to experiment with various artistic styles during Group Time and artist’s art work will be available to the children during free flow to inspire and talk about. Children will plan, do and review their work.
Component	Talk about what you want to make and create it.
Final milestone (composite): children independently use a variety of techniques they have learnt to create pictures or models.
Vocabulary: technique, artist, style, create, materials

Able to notice and talk about the natural world

Why?

Being in touch with nature is important to our well- being and having knowledge of the natural world is an essential part of our lives as humans. We want our children to notice, value and investigate the natural world around them.

First milestone: children will notice and be fascinated by what they find or experience. They can name living things in the environment such as worm or snail.

Adults will help children to explore the natural environment and provide opportunities to observe things closely through a variety of means, e.g., magnifiers and photographs and iPad to listen to and recognise birds. We will use non-fiction books to reference aspects of the natural world that the children have experienced, providing opportunities to extend vocabulary by naming living things.

Component

Can name some living things in the environment.

Second milestone: children will be able to notice and talk about materials using specific language such as wet/dry or textures such as rough/soft. Children will be able to notice and talk about the features of minibeasts e.g. wings, legs, shell.

Adults will teach skills and knowledge in the context of practical activities, e.g. learning about the characteristics of liquids and solids by involving children in melting or making porridge, bread, or ice. Adults will support children in developing their knowledge of living things in the environment by close observation and opportunities for lots of discussion using all our senses.

Component

Extend vocabulary to be able to describe and compare living things/ materials

Third milestone:

children can notice the similarities and differences between living things, materials and growth.

We will provide first-hand experiences to support children in making sense of micro-environments, the specific conditions which enable each plant or animal to live and thrive.
We will explore different habitats outdoors looking particularly at changes throughout the seasons.
Children will have opportunities to record and creatively represent findings by, e.g. drawing life cycles, mark making.

Component

Name changes in materials/record findings.

Final milestone (composite): children can notice and talk about the similarities and differences between living things, materials and growth. They can predict what may happen and why.

Vocabulary: predict, similar, different, habitat, seasons, environment

Use a range of Woodwork tools to construct

Why?	We want children to be able to plan, construct and learn to handle tools confidently and safely. We want then to be able to take measured risks, to explain their choices and talk about what they have made and how they have made it.
First milestone:Children undertake woodwork induction with 1:1 support.	Children will learn the rules of the woodwork area. They will learn how to stay safe by wearing safety glasses and using a magnet for nails. They will see where things are kept and how to store them safely. Children will be taught how to hammer a tee into a pumpkin or a nail into a piece of wood.
Component	Children know what they need to do to use the woodwork area safely.
Second milestone:Children independently use a hammer to tap a nail successfully into wood.	Children access the woodwork bench and explore using the hammer and nails when an adult is close by.
Component	Control a hammer and nail safely.
Third milestone: Children have repeated experiences at the woodwork bench.	With support children use tools safely and with increasing confidence. They talk about what they are doing.
Component	Use a variety of tools and resources independently.
Final milestone (composite): Children make decisions about the tools and resources that they want to use and manage the resources as independently as possible to design their own piece of wood.
Vocabulary: safety, hammer, screwdriver, hand drill

follow instructions

Why?

We want to instil a love of cooking in our children whilst developing the ability to work independently and follow instructions in sequential order.

First milestone: With adult support, children mix different ingredients, including; sand and water, and flour and water to make simple playdough. They talk about measures for example full, not full, empty and they follow simple recipes in areas such as the mud kitchen.

As children take part in these activities, they become more precise in using scoops (filling the scoop carefully to the top); they use a wide range of different-sized containers. Children become confident in using tools at the snack table to prepare their own snack

Component

Use containers to measure

Second milestone: In a small group, children follow the steps to make porridge with an adult. The adult draws children’s attention to the recipe card. With adult help, children use measures e.g teaspoon, tablespoon, cup etc and check that they are full, stir and use the microwave to cook the porridge. They reflect on the process and talk about the changes.

As children become more used to cooking, the adult reduces their support for the group. Children also mix other substances together carefully, with adult guidance, e.g. mixing water and powder paint.

Component

Follow all the steps in the recipe card with support.

Third milestone:

in small group cooking activities, children follow the steps in making a bread roll with an adult. They independently fill measures carefully to the top (teaspoon, tablespoon, cup etc.) They recognise the numerals in the recipe card. When they count out quantities (e.g. 3 teaspoons of salt) they say the numbers in the correct order (1-2-3) and

they know the last number they say (3) is the total number of spoonfuls they have added.

As children become more used to following the instructions the adult reduces their support.

Component

Follow all the steps with minimal adult support

Final milestone (composite): Children follow the steps independently.

Vocabulary: recipe, predict, instructions, sequence, knead, measure

make up a story and act out others

Why?

‘Reading and writing float on a sea of talk’. We want our children to understand story structure so that they can make up, perform and tell stories. We want them to ignite their interest in stories to build a firm foundation for their literacy learning.

First milestone: children join in with role-play and play imaginatively with ‘small world.’ Children join in with repeated refrains with well-known stories.

The Nursery environment has lots of opportunities for children to play imaginatively. Stories are read for children to join in with, repeating phrases and ‘acting out’ parts using facial expressions and hand movements.

At Group Times, adults read Core Books over the term so that the children know these stories really well and begin to know how stories are structured.

Component

Join in with repeated refrains/ actions in a well-known story.

Second milestone:

The Tales Toolkit structure is introduced. Children act out a short story as part of a group.

The structure and specific vocabulary of Tales Toolkit in introduced and children begin to create a collaborative story using character, setting, problem, solution.

Helicopter Stories are introduced.

Component

Contribute to creating a story. Join in with acting out a story.

Third milestone:

children tell stories that they have made up and well-known stories using props/ picture books.

Children become confident at telling their own stories which adults scribe.

Children act out stories together both in Group Times and in Free Flow.

Adults begin to scribe stories that the children have started to make up. This can be continued in Group Time and during Free Flow.

Stories are discussed using the Tales Toolkit structure. The Tales Toolkit language goes beyond story-telling and into our everyday problem solving.

Component

Make up a story using the Tales Toolkit structure.

Final milestone (composite): Use Tales Toolkit inside and out at Group Times and during free flow.

Vocabulary: characters, setting, problem, solution, audience, act out.

Write with a purpose in mind

Why?

We want children to see themselves as writers and use mark making, symbols and letters in their play as a way of communicating to others.

First milestone: Children begin to use mark-making equipment independently.

Adults use group time and play opportunities to model writing every day, highlighting its meaning. Adults make sure that print, books, and mark-making resources are everywhere.

As children watch adults modelling writing for a purpose, are read to and see print around them that is read to them; when they have exciting resources with which to mark-make, they will begin to really value writing and will want to have a go themselves.

Component

Use mark making equipment independently

Second milestone: children will have access to a variety of paper and our pen collection to mark-make and draw special messages to each other and hide them for their friends to find. Children’s messages may also take other forms such as chalk outdoors – using arrows to lead children to a message at the end of a trail.

Adults will model writing for different purposes and read writing from left to right and top to bottom, running their finger under the words. Adults will show print has value and meaning and will support children’s own writing attempts.

Component

‘Write’ a message to others.

Third milestone:

Children develop an increasingly wide range of purposes for mark making and early writing to support their play such as making signs, letters, cards, tickets and maps.

Children will begin to imitate adult’s writing by producing continuous lines of shapes and symbols.

Adults plan activities that focus on collaborative and purposeful mark-making and early writing. Children will start to use vertical lines, circles and zig zags to imitate writing from left to right and ‘read what it says.’ If a child is starting to write letters, we will support the correct letter formation on an individual basis using instruction such as ‘up, down, round and back.’

Adults support children in taking their learning into their own play.

Component

Use writing type marks independently

Final milestone (composite): Children choose to write in a range of play situations with a purpose in mind, making letter-type marks.

Vocabulary: message, write, symbols, meaning

explore numbers using a variety of resources

Why?

We want children to develop a deep understanding of number to 5, the relationships between them and the patterns within them. The skill of subitising and 5 Frames builds up children’s knowledge of number and number patterns. We want to lay firm foundations in Cardinality and Conservation, Comparison and Composition and Subitising. We want children to experience bigger numbers and begin to relate their knowledge to them to build up firm foundations in our number system.

First milestone:

Adults introduce, model and children join in with a range of number rhymes with props e.g. Five Green and Speckled Frogs, Five Little Ducks, One, Two, Three, Four Five. Children learn to subitise up to 3 counters and know that they are subitising when they can see how many without counting. Adults do lots of noticing with children – mathematical vocabulary is used.

Component

Join in with a Number rhymes. Can subitise to 3. Children talk about Number.

Second milestone:

Children use counters on five frames and use maths vocabulary about what they see.

Children explore larger groups of objects – and can talk about what they see within a larger group (part/whole) They build up a picture of what totals look like using a variety of resources. Children recite numbers past 5.

Component

Children explore number within 5 and build up a range of number skills.

Third milestone:

Children are given learning opportunities to see what totals are made up of e.g. 5 is 4 and I and 3 and 2, 2 and 1 and 1 and 1. (Part, whole) This is done through 5 frames and resources for 5 Green and Speckled Frogs, 5 Little Ducks for example.

Children experience moving objects in different ways and realise that the number stays the same even though the resources have moved. (Move it to prove it) Children represent 5 in a variety of ways.

Component

Children start to use their Number knowledge throughout the Nursery, seeing connections with what they have learnt at Group Times.

Final milestone (composite): Use, talk about and apply knowledge of cardinality and conservation, comparison and composition in different play/real life situations.

Vocabulary: examples include ‘what do you see? How do you see it?’ Noticing, subitising, pattern