Long-term planning

The steps below will help to inform your high-level thinking for the whole year. The examples are based on this downloadable long-term plan template. This template assumes that all your children will be with you across the whole year.

Remember:  Long-term planning happens before you know your children well. It needs to be flexible so that, as you get to know your children better, you can provide contexts for learning that match their interests and needs.

The steps for long-term planning are:

1. Plan your general continuous provision for the year
2. Decide on your themes for the year
   
3. Note teaching and learning opportunities with close links to your themes
   
4. Check curriculum coverage
   
5. Note teaching and learning opportunities that are less closely related to your themes
   
6. Identify extra resources
   

Click on the links within each of these steps to understand them in further detail.