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Early Years (Reception)

In Reception we follow The Early Years Foundation Stage (EYFS) Curriculum. Play, your child's interests and independent learning is at the heart of the curriculum, and your child’s day will include large parts of self-initiated time, where they will select activities and learning from our carefully set up indoor and outdoor environments. Adults are carefully placed to question and support your child in cementing key skills, as well as moving their learning and thinking forward.  


The EYFS is split into 7 areas of learning. These are:
  • Personal, Social and Emotional Development.
  • Communication and Language.
  • Physical Development.
  • Literacy.
  • Mathematics.
  • Understanding the World.
  • Expressive Arts and Design.
 
One way your child's learning is captured is through 'Evidence Me'. We use this to capture aspects of your child's learning, through photos and videos. When your child starts with us, we will invite you to sign up to this, so you can receive some of these observations over the year. Your account also allows you to upload your own photos/videos of your child's learning and achievements at home, which we always love to see!
 
The Characteristics of Effective Teaching and Learning
These are:
- Playing and Exploring
- Active Learning
- Creating and Thinking Critically
 
By developing these skills they allow the children to engage in their environment, as well as underpinning their learning and development across all areas of learning. It supports your child to become an effective, motivated, independent and confident learner.

Outside the Reception classroom is a Parent’s/Carer’s board. This is updated weekly/daily about what the children are learning in class, how you can support them at home and any other important information, such as dates.

The Prime Areas of Learning

Communication and Language

Children's development of language underpins the whole of the Early Years Curriculum and allows them to build on a range of skills and knowledge. Back and forth interactions from an early age, lay the foundations for children's development, and are vital in developing language skills. High quality conversations and a language rich environment are central to our day in Reception class. Every opportunity is taken to extend the children's vocabulary in a range of ways, as well as modelling sentences back to children. This ensures that your child's language is built on effectively. Reading and book talk also has a big focus within Reception. 

Personal, Social and Emotional Development (PSED)

PSED skills are vital for children to be happy and healthy in their everyday lives. By developing a range of crucial skills, allows children to make positive interactions with others and support them in decision making. Through planned PSED sessions and during choosing times, we ensure that we are supporting your child's interactions and friendship building, so they can engage in all parts of school life, and be happy and confident in Reception and beyond. 

Physical Development

During choosing times and planned PE sessions, your child will have the opportunity to learn and develop a range of skills, which will lay the foundation for a range of sporting disciplines. Alongside this, they will learn about the importance of teamwork and resilience, as well as making healthy choices. The development of gross (big movements) and fine (small movements), are vital for children's all-round development, especially in writing. Our physical equipment, fine motor activities and dough disco, help support your child develop these skills and help them on their way to become proficient writers. 

The Specific Areas of Learning

Literacy

Carefully linked to Communication and Language, our literacy sessions incorporate and build on this area, and look at teaching your child to read and write. We do this through using a range of carefully chosen books, both fiction and non-fiction, to continue developing an enjoyment of reading. Alongside this, we use Ruth Miskin's 'Read, Write, Inc' programme to teach your child phonic sounds, and focus on how to apply this to their reading and writing. Alongside word reading, it is crucial to develop children's comprehension skills, so they have understood what they have read. This is built into our everyday teaching, interactions and one to one reading sessions with your child. 

Mathematics

Our mathematics curriculum develops early number and shape, space and measure skills. We develop children's deep understanding of number by spending time focusing on specific numbers over a week, thinking about what they look like as numerals or amounts, how they relate to each other, spotting patterns and how they can be made; developing their reasoning skills alongside this. By taking the time to talk about their thinking, not just the answer, allows our children to explore a range of ways of arriving at a solution and support them in applying this to a range of mathematical concepts. Children are encouraged to use a range of manipulatives and work practically to embed their understanding and develop a secure foundation of knowledge. 

Understanding the World

Within the EYFS curriculum, Understanding the World incorporates science, religious education, history and computing. Through our topics, we support your child in making sense of the world around them and their community, drawing on their own experiences, as well as reading a wide range of texts. By developing their cultural, social, technical and awareness of ecological issues, children are able to extend their knowledge base and apply this across their learning. 

Expressive Arts and Design

Within the EYFS curriculum, Expressive Arts and Design incorporates design technology, art and music. We strongly believe that by engaging in these art forms, supports your child's creativity and imagination. Through building in a range of times for your child to explore instruments, media and materials, develops their self-expression, understanding of art concepts and their vocabulary; being able to apply this across their learning and interactions.