Communication and Language

We strongly believe that for children to succeed they need to have good communication skills.  This is an area that is at the heart of all our learning.  Children need to be able to speak confidently and fluently in a range of situations.  They need to have the skills to listen to each other and adults, thinking about what they have heard and responding appropriately through comments and questions.  They also need to understand what they have heard and be able to respond or act accordingly.  Children take part in sessions where specific skills are taught they are then rehearsed in every area of learning.  Children also need to be able to pronounce sounds and words correctly as this has a direct impact on their phonic development.  Time is taken to support children correctly pronouncing new words and sounds when they are introduced.

There are two Early Learning Goals in this area:

Listening, Attention and Understanding:  Children listen attentively and respond to what they hear with relevant questions, comments and actions when being read to and during whole class discussions and small group interactions. They make comments about what they have heard and ask questions to clarify their understanding. Children hold conversation when engaged in back and forth exchanges with their teachers and peers.

Speaking:  Children participate in small group, class and one-to- one discussions offering their own ideas, using recently introduced vocabulary. They offer explanations for why things might happen, making use of recently introduced vocabulary from stories, non-fiction, rhymes and poems where appropriate. Children express their ideas and feelings about their experiences using full sentence, including use of past, present and future tenses and making use of conjunctions, with modelling and support from their teacher.