Please see below our Curricular goals designed and implemented by our whole staff team. These goals in line with the Early Years reforms 2021 will help to support children to learn and develop effectively. Each goal we have made is broken down into milestones so that we can see the progress being made by the children and also allow staff to know where each individual child is and what they need to work towards. We are very excited to implement all these new changes here at The Learning Tree.
Our Curricular Goals
1. To be Emotionally Secure
2. To become Independent Learners
3. To follow a recipe to make Playdough
4. To be able to create and manoeuvre around your own obstacle course.
5. Be an active part of group time.
6. To be able to make up their own story
7. To be able to draw a self-portrait
TO be emotionally secure
First Milestone: Children make strong attachments with their key person and feel settled and secure, using the key person as a ‘secure base.’
Where children need individual and additional help, this will be offered and supported with from our SENCO eg: TAC meetings to support parents with moving forward, early help support, My Plans…
As the children build up their well-being and confidence in the setting their involvement in nursery activities will become higher. They will play and engage for longer periods of time. They will play alongside other children. They will start to play with their peers and develop their ‘pretend play.’
Second Milestone: Children feel secure to transition within the building forming new friendships and attachments. Children will start to be aware that they have different emotions and start to express these
Children are able to explore different emotions and being to understand how they can control these emotions. Children will be shown different emotions by adults using different activities to support this developing their knowledge of these.
Third Milestone: Children are able to understand and value their own and others feelings. They are able to follow the nurseries rules/boundaries.
Children will be more confident in expressing and reflecting on their emotions. Children can reflect with an adult learning more in-depth about their emotions.
Final Milestone: Children reflect on their learning with their key person and comment on their thinking and the ways they go about their learning. They can reflect on what helps them when they find things difficult.
2. TO become independent learners
As a child becomes more familiar with the setting and environment they will show willing to explore a wider range of resources using the adult to supply these.
Children will be asked and shown by adults when it’s time to use the bathroom (either nappy or potty)
Children will be supported by adults to feed and drink independently.
First Milestone: Children will be able to indicate what toys they want. They will know what their belongings are. Children will show some understanding that they need their nappy changed. To be able to use a handled cup and spoon independently. Children start to become involved in their play.
Second Milestone: Children will be able to use a non-handled cup, fork and spoon independently.
Children will be able to recognise and select their own coats and shoes. Children can indicate when they are wet or soiled. Children can take part in pretend play, communicating and negotiating with their friends.
As the children grow their perseverance with being independent will continue to develop.
As the children’s engagement grows they develop more of a sense of self they are more confident to challenge themselves within activities. They are also happy for an adult to challenge them. Children will continue to develop their ‘pretend play.’
Third Milestone: Children are able to independently put on their own shoes and coats. Children are aware of when they need the toilet and can use this without the aid of an adult most of the time. Children preserve with difficulties and lead their own learning.
Children will play and learn more collaboratively, over longer periods of time taking part in more challenging activities. They will talk and reflect on their own learning.
Children will show pride in being independent eg: putting on their own coat and shoes.
Final Milestone: Children can reflect on their independence by looking through their individual learning journals, they can reflect in what helped them to get to the stage they are at.
3. TO follow a recipe to make playdough
First Milestone: With adult support, children mix different ingredients, including sand and water and flour and water to create simple playdough. They are able to use the following tools: wooden spoons, sieves, scoops, rolling pins, cookie cutters.
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 buckets, spoons and resources. Children become confident in using tools at the snack table to prepare their own snack eg. spreading butter on crackers
Second Milestone: In a small group and with adult support (drawing the children’s attention to the recipe card) children use measures and tip the ingredients to make playdough. With adult help they roll the playdough and flatten it. They can use cookie cutters to make shapes with the playdough.
As the children become more used to making the recipe, the adult reduces their support. Children also mix other ingredients together carefully, with the adult there to support/guide.
For example (flour, eggs and sugar)
Third Milestone: Children are able to follow the steps in making playdough with an adult. They independently fill measures carefully to the top (teaspoon, cup..) They recognise the numerals on the recipe card. When they count out the quantities they say the numbers in the correct order (1-2-3) and they know that the last number is the total number of measures they have added.
As the children get more independent, there is less support from adults as they follow the recipe cards.
Final Milestone: Children follow the steps of a recipe independently. They measure ingredients, mix them and create their own playdough ready to use.
4. TO be able to create and manoeuvre around your own obstacle course
First Milestone: Children are able to crawl/ manoeuvre around. Children can pull themselves up using furniture to help. Children are aware of their spatial awareness and know to duck to go under objects.
Children develop their spatial awareness and enjoy moving to music. They start to be aware of how-to maneuverer their bodies to go up and down furniture.
Second Milestone: With the help of an adult children can climb stairs going up and down. Again, with the help of an adult children can balance on uneven surfaces. Children will start to navigate challenges when moving around.
As the children’s interest and understanding of their body movements develop they begin to assess risks with an adult, balancing, jumping…
Third Milestone: Children are able to think about resources they will use to create an obstacle course and balance around it with some support from an adult.
As the children become more confident in themselves and the space, they can think about creating a mini obstacle course with guidance from an adult, they also have a go at this course.
Final Milestone: Children choose resources to create their own obstacle course in a small group. Children are aware of the space around them and can balance parts of the course.
5. be an active part of group time
Children are given the opportunity to be part of a circle time such as song time where they can join/leave as they want. Activities and provocations are set up for children to join in with and explore.
First Milestone: Children are introduced to together/group time and can independently choose to join in with this.
Second Milestone: Children enjoy joining in with group times and will start to focus on this adult-led activity for a short period of time.
Children start to join in more with the circle times offered and show an interest in what is happening (from singing to creating)
Children show more interest with group times and engage with the activities and their peers during these times for a short period of time.
Third Milestone: Children actively join in with group times and are able to sit and listen for most of this period of time.
Children choose to join in during group times and feel confident to take part. During a circle time the children are able to concentrate and engage with what is happening.
Final Milestone: Children actively take part in circle time and are able to focus and recall parts of what they are learning.
6. TO be able to make up their own story
First Milestone: Children take part in pretend play, making up or developing a story. (using small world toys)
Children may begin by pretend-playing on their own with small world toys like farm animals, people. They may put on a costume to become a superhero or another character. Over time their play becomes more complex. They are able to play alongside and start to play with their peers, developing their play together. (who will play roles e.g. mum/dad)
Second Milestone: Children take part in the interactive reading. They respond to the features of the story. Children engage in number rhymes with props and join in with the actions.
As children become more used to interactive reading, they start to ask questions and make links between what happens in the story and their own experiences.
Children will join in with rhymes and songs (repeating refrains or following actions.)
Children play with props to retell/ make up their own stories, including the use of Active story-making.
Third Milestone: Children take part in telling a story with adult help using active story making or can create their own story using this method. They begin to become familiar with the way stories are structured.
As children become more used to using the Active story making approach, they can start to tell their own stories, or use props to create a story.
Final Milestone: Children use the active story making approach to develop their own stories with characters, finding a problem and solution for their stories. They also tell their story to one or more people.
7. be able to draw a self-portrait
First Milestone: Children can start to make big movements using the muscles in their hands and arms and bring together hand and eye movements to fix on and make contact with objects.
Children start to build up their large and fine motor skills. They can grasp different objects and focus on what they are doing e.g. build a tower with blocks, thread large beads onto the string.
Where children need individualised and additional help, this will be offered promptly. Help will include individual support from key people, small group work and discussions with parents for moving forward.
Second Milestone: Children can make random marks with their fingers and some tools. Children will engage in a variety of ways to make marks e.g. make marks in dough/clay/sand holding a paintbrush to make marks or using chalk on the group in the garden.
As children become more confident in making marks they begin to talk about the marks they are making giving them meaning.
Third Milestone: as children’s mark-making develops they make more small controlled movements and can draw lines and circles. They can distinguish between these marks. They can label their own work and may start to use anticlockwise movements and retrace vertical lines. Children are also familiar with the language of directionality such as up, down, round and round.
As children continue to develop their mark making skills they are able to distinguish between lines and circles and start to retrace lines.
Some children will begin to form recognisable representations of faces.
Final Milestone: Children hold their pencil/pen with a comfortable grip. They are able to confidently draw and talk about the features of their self-portrait.