I got tired of rifling through Development Matters every time I needed to assess children! I created this Excel spreadsheet that features all 17 areas of learning from the Early Years Foundation Stage curriculum. You can click on an age band to view that age band’s characteristics immediately - it has saved us so much time during assessment periods. All age bands, from birth-11 months, through to Early Learning Goal and Exceeding statements are included.

An editable script for a space-themed assembly for younger pupils. Features two songs for children to sing and 30 separate speaking parts (though these are easily combined should you have children who do not wish to speak). The basic premise of the assembly is that two children in the class want to go on holiday to space and so listen to some facts about the eight planets to help make their decision. They don’t want to stay on planet Earth because it’s too messy! In the end they realise that the other planets would not be great holiday destinations because they’re too hot/too cold/too rocky/too smelly! They choose to stay on planet Earth but realise that they have to help to look after it to keep it a nice place to live. We had great success with this assembly in Reception last year - the children (and parents) loved it - and it’s easily edited to make it work for other classes.

A Powerpoint presentation featuring over 25 different ‘morning task’ activities. We’ve found this really useful to display first thing in the morning – to keep children busy learning as they sit on the carpet during Register time. Children study the scenes independently before we come together and discuss them as a whole class. Also great for those times when you find yourself with a spare five minutes and a classful of children! A selection of activities is provided, including: *Reading Tasks – children read words and find the corresponding objects hidden in pictures *Number Hunts – children find hidden numbers in a variety of scenes (1-10/1-20) *Tricky Word Wordsearches – children hunt for the tricky words hidden (always left > right) *2D Shape Hunts – children search for examples of 2D shapes in pictures *Spot the Difference – great for Listening and Attention, Communication and Language skills Some scenes are more challenging than others, and words in the Reading tasks are fully editable so you can make them more complex as children’s reading skills progress.

A set of A4 cover sheets for the Teaching Standards. Each standard comes on its own A4 sheet with an outline of the standard, as well as examples of how to evidence each standard. Useful for PGCE or BEd students on school placements who need to provide evidence for meeting each teaching standard. Good luck with your training!

We have used Talk Homework in my Early Years setting with great success. We send home this template each week with a different question for parents to discuss with their children. Questions may be related to something we have done in class that week, gathering prior knowledge for a new topic or an opportunity to discuss life at home. For example, “We made pancakes in class this week! Can your child tell you how/why we made them? Can they tell you about any other special occasions that people celebrate?” The template features a graphic outlining the ‘rules’ of Talk Homework for parents - e.g. turn off the TV, write down exactly what your child says, give them thinking time etc. It includes an editable text box for your own questions, and further space for parents to write down their child’s response.

A simple Powerpoint animation for use as a timer in the primary school classroom. Children must complete an activity before the jar fills up with marbles (5 minutes). Great for tidy up time in the Early Years, simple classroom activities or for building an understanding of time.

A simple Powerpoint animation for use as a timer in the primary school classroom. Children must complete an activity before the jar fills up with marbles (2 minutes). Great for tidy up time in the Early Years, simple classroom activities or for building an understanding of time.

A simple 1 page tidy-up checklist for children to complete independently. We laminated these for my Reception class and they took turns being the ‘Tidy Up Officer’ each day. Useful for encouraging early reading and mark making.

A one page Reading Record for Reception aged pupils, featuring the ‘Development Matters’ reading statements for 30-50 months, 40-60 months and the Early Learning Goal. There is space for teacher comments and logging the dates and books read each week. In my Reception class we have a reading folder for the whole class. Every child gets one of these sheets either half-termly or termly, to document their progression and to support assessment. Practitioners write comments by the side and date when steps are achieved. Having the Development Matters statements easily to hand helps prompt practitioners to further children’s learning and plan for their ‘next steps’.

Editable tray labels that can be easily personalised for your class - simply click ‘Change picture’ to add your children’s photographs to each label, and edit the text for the names of your pupils. Change the font to suit your preferences. 36 labels included. A simple back to school resource to support classroom setup.

Editable peg labels that can be easily personalised for your class - simply click ‘Change picture’ to add your children’s photographs to each label, and edit the text for the names of your pupils. Change the font to suit your preferences. 36 labels included. A simple back to school resource to support classroom setup.

A one page PDF parent questionnaire to support parent contributions to Learning Journals. Asks about child’s interests, their ability to use technology, celebrations of special occasions and where the family is from, as well as providing space to add further information.

A simple one page PDF document for parents that outlines the End of Reception expectations for Reading, Writing and Mathematics, with examples from the Early Years Exemplification materials. Useful to give to parents during parents’ evenings as a reminder of what to aim for.

A Powerpoint presentation and separate PDF handout notes that explore how to take high quality observations in the Early Years. Useful for staff training or INSET sessions, particularly for teachers new to EYFS or Early Years Practitioners that could benefit from extra guidance. The presentation details what makes a good quality observation and how observations can reliably inform assessment and provision. Real examples of EYFS observations from Learning Journals are included with photographic evidence. These observations are then analysed - what makes them good observations? How could they be improved?