Our Story Mapping progression sets out a clear, carefully sequenced journey from Birth to the end of Reception, supporting children to become confident storytellers, communicators and early writers.
Story Mapping is at the heart of our literacy curriculum. It provides children with a visual and oral framework that helps them understand how stories work, organise their ideas and develop the language needed to communicate them effectively.
Across the Early Years, children move from early mark-making and pretend play to independently planning and writing simple narratives.
In the earliest stages, children explore communication through gesture, sound, drawing and imaginative play. As they grow, they begin to recognise repeated story patterns, retell familiar narratives and add simple labels and captions to their maps. By Reception, children understand key story elements such as beginning, problem and ending, and can create their own story maps to plan and write simple, structured stories.
Our progression ensures that children build secure foundations in spoken language before moving into writing, enabling them to communicate ideas clearly, creatively and confidently.
