There are 2 Early Learning Goals in this area: 

Listening, Attention and Understanding: 

Children at the expected level of development will: 

• 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; 

• Make comments about what they have heard and ask questions to clarify their understanding; 

• Hold conversation when engaged in back-and-forth exchanges with their teacher and peers. 

Speaking: 

Children at the expected level of development will: 

• Participate in small group, class and one-to-one discussions, offering their own ideas, using recently introduced vocabulary; 

• Offer explanations for why things might happen, making use of recently introduced vocabulary from stories, non-fiction, rhymes and poems when appropriate; 

• Express their ideas and feelings about their experiences using full sentences, including use of past, present and future tenses and making use of conjunctions, with modelling and support from their teacher. 

At Grace Cook Primary School, we believe that the ability to communicate effectively is based on good listening and understanding. Children should be confident to communicate fluently in a range of situations and with a range of people. They need to be able to listen to the views of others, responding appropriately by questioning or commenting. Good listening and speaking underpins all areas of the Early Years Foundation Stage Curriculum.  

In Reception specific skills are taught and opportunities planned for children to rehearse their oracy to ensure development. Talk Tuesday and Talking Trios provide weekly experiences of sentence stems and children are introduced to new vocabulary each week through the class text. Effective listening and pronunciation is vital for learning phonics and time is spent supporting the correct sounding of phonemes. Parents are invited to attend phonics meetings in order to support their children’s literacy development at home.