EYFS

Our Reception Class

Acorns  

When children start school they begin their journey in our Reception class. (Acorns) When In Reception, we follow the Early Years Foundation Stage Curriculum.

“Every child deserves the best possible start in life and the support that enables them to fulfil their potential. Children develop quickly in the early years and a child’s experiences between birth and age five have a major impact on their future life chances. A secure, safe and happy childhood is important in its own right. Good parenting and high quality early learning together provide the foundation children need to make the most of their abilities and talents as they grow up.” (Statutory EYFS Framework)

There are seven areas of learning within the Early Years Foundation Stage Curriculum:

Prime Areas:

·       Personal, Social and Emotional Development (self-regulation, managing self and building relationships)

·        Physical Development (gross motor skills and fine motor skills)

·        Communication and Language (listening, attention and understanding and speaking)

Specific Areas:

·        Literacy (comprehension, word reading and writing)

·         Mathematics (number and numerical patterns)

·        Understanding the World (past and present, people, culture and communities and the natural world)

·       Expressive Arts and Design (creating with materials and being imaginative and expressive)

Our Ethos:

In our classroom each area of learning and development is implemented through planned, purposeful play, and through a mix of adult-led and child-initiated activities. Staff respond to each child’s emerging needs and interests, guiding their development through positive interaction. Our outdoor provision mirrors the opportunities available to the children in inside offering a mix of adult-led and child-initiated learning. The children learn through following and developing their areas of interest while being challenged to try out new experiences and learn new skills. Further opportunities are planned daily for the children to work on next steps and areas of development.

Our Outdoor Environment

We are very proud of our learning environments, both inside and outside of the school building. Reception children have access to two purpose built outdoor areas. The first one is an extension of the classroom where the children have access to it at any point in the school day. Part of this area is covered to ensure the children can be outdoors in all weathers. Here, the children have access to sand and wate play, a construction area, ride on scooters, small world play and plenty of other games and activities that support Physical development. The second area is our wooded area that is situated at the bottom of our outdoor classroom. In this wooded area, the children have access to a mud kitchen with mud pit, a large covered sand pit, musical frame and log seating for story time.  The children have access to the outside areas during their independent learning time. They are encouraged to wrap up warm and go out in most weather conditions. Reception children join the rest of the school at lunch time on our main playing field, which has a large green field space, wooded area and climbing frame. As well as all this, Reception children will also have the opportunity to experience Forest School sessions with our school’s Forest School Leader and Reception TA, Miss Francis. Just a short walk away from the school, the children will explore another wooded area, where they can climb trees, den build, hunt for wildlife and much more.

We hope this information has given you an insight about our Reception class. Please do contact the school should you wish to find out more about us.

EYFS Statement of Intent