EYFS resources

The EYFS resources have been developed to support early years teachers introduce children to the foundational knowledge of science, included in the Statutory Framework for the Early Years and Development Matters, that they will need in order to be well-placed to access the science National Curriculum in England at Key Stage 1.

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The EYFS resources include:

 

• topic matrices for Nursery and Reception (see further information below)

• Summary of Science in EYFS that provides an overview of the science content within the matrices

• a Progression in Working Scientifically Skills for EYFS that shows how the Development Matters statements, that relate to the PLAN Working Scientifically Skills for EYFS, build across Nursery and Reception and are linked to the PLAN Working Scientifically Skills for Key Stage 1, which are based on the National Curriculum in England. Together, these provide a progression in working scientifically skills from Nursery, through Reception, to Key Stage 1.

 

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Before explaining the content of the EYFS Matrices, it is important to make clear that, though the matrices are linked to the relevant topics from the National Curriculum in England: science programmes of study in order to illustrate the progression of learning from the EYFS to Year 6, this should NOT be taken as an indication that the content should be taught as topics in early years settings, as they might be in Key Stage 1 and 2. The science content in the matrices is from Development Matters and could be included in either continuous provision or typical themes used in early years settings. Unlike the Knowledge Matrices for Years 1 to 6, these matrices are not intended to define content coverage or be used for assessment purposes. They simply provide ideas for how children can be introduced to the foundational knowledge of science included in Development Matters.

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To help early years teachers identify the opportunities for including the science content from the matrices in the more common themes used in early years settings, we have mapped them to those themes in the table below.

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What does each matrix include?

The table below is included at the start of the EYFS Matrices. In the document, the titles of the matrices are hyperlinks to the relevant matrix. This enables early years teachers planning a theme to easily identify the science content from Development Matters that is well-suited to being included in that theme. This is not to say that content from other matrices cannot be included in any theme, merely that the theme represents a good opportunity to include that particular science content.

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There is a matrix for each relevant topic from the National Curriculum for each year-group in the EYFS for which there are statement(s) in Development Matters. There are only 'Electricity' and 'Plants' matrices for Nursery, and 'Seasonal changes' and 'Earth and space' matrices for Reception, because there are no relevant statements in Development Matters for these topics for the other year-group. Each matrix includes the relevant statement(s) from the ‘Understanding the world’ area of learning from Development Matters that link to the topic, as well as any linked statements from the other areas of learning. Each matrix also includes the prior and future learning either from Development Matters or the National Curriculum for that topic.

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There is then a section entitled ‘Creating appropriate experiences to initiate learning’ which sets out what adults might provide and do to facilitate the learning, including encouraging scientific enquiry, as well as vocabulary that children should use and supplementary vocabulary that children might be exposed to but not necessarily be expected to use. Common misconceptions that children may have are identified, texts that support the learning are suggested and linked relevant careers are listed for role-play.

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The final section of each matrix, ‘How the children might show their learning’, provides examples of what children might be doing or saying that would demonstrate their skills or understanding.