Reception

Introduction

'Somewhere inside all of us is the power to change the world.' Roald Dahl

Welcome to Reception, the year when the foundations for the future are laid.

In Reception we teach the children how to begin to live out our Mission Statement to 'Let Your Light Shine'. We do this by encouraging them to always try their best in everything that they do and through the positive friendships that they make.

Some good examples of important events in the year are:

Putting on a nativity in school at Christmas that involves every child

Putting on their very first class assemblies

Curriculum Coverage

Our aim is to provide high quality, integrated early learning. The Foundation Stage is designed to help children achieve ‘Early Learning Goals’. These are targets that most children are expected to achieve by the end of the year, and provide the foundations needed for Year 1.

The Foundation Stage develops key learning skills in the following areas:

Personal, Social and Emotional Development

This area focuses on learning how to interact and co-operate with each other and function in a group beyond the family. Children will be helped to become more self-confident, independent and to show respect for others and people of different cultures.

Communication and Language

This area concentrates on developing competence in talking, listening, reading and writing. The children will be encouraged to listen attentively, talk about their experiences and take part in role play.

Literacy

They will begin to follow the stages of ‘emergent’ writing: mark making, meaningful marks, development of letter shapes to represent sounds, phonetic sounds to represent words. The children will also show some awareness of the different purposes of writing. They will begin to read a range of common words leading to the reading of simple sentences and learn how to decode words as their phonic knowledge increases.

Mathematics

This area provides children with practical activities to develop the mathematical concepts of number, shape, space and measures. They will learn the associated language of maths, how to solve problems and record their work.

Understanding of the World

This area develops the children’s knowledge and understanding of their environment including their families, communities, features of the natural world and technology. They will be encouraged to look closely at similarities, patterns and change.

Physical Development

This area focuses on the children’s mobility, awareness of space, and manipulative skills in both large scale and small scale movements. Children will be encouraged to move confidently, imaginatively with increasing control and co-ordination. They will be aware of the factors that contribute to being safe and healthy.

Expressive Arts

This area is relating to the development of the children’s imagination and how they express their ideas and feelings in creative ways. Through art, music, dance, stories and play the children will develop their imagination, listening and observation skills. They will be encouraged to explore sound, colour, texture, shape, form and space in two and three dimensions.

The Importance of Play

Play is the most natural way in which children explore the world around them. As they play, children utilise their in-built learning behaviours and through their actions and interactions, develop an understanding of themselves, their social environment and key aspects of the world around them. They also learn to express their knowledge and understanding, their ideas and feelings. These early play experiences provide the foundations for later learning.

Alongside continuous provision, children are engaged in a variety of daily, teacher led practical activities. In the morning sessions, these activities are focused on the Literacy and Mathematical objectives outlined for children in the Early Years Foundation Stage. During the afternoon sessions the focused activities will include all seven areas of learning.

By the end of the Reception year, the children are fully prepared for the transition from the Early Years Foundation Stage into Year 1 and the National Curriculum.