Early Years Foundation Stage (Reception) 2024 - 2025

Welcome to Reception!

If your child is in Team RW, their Class Teacher is Mrs Walsh. If your child is in Team RM, their Class Teacher is Miss McDonald. Reception Classes are supported by Mrs Campbell, Miss Francis and Mrs Cooper.

Key Information for This Term

• Children should wear full uniform and black school shoes each day unless they have PE or Forest School, in which case, they should arrive wearing their kit. They will remain in their kit all day.

• Children should not need to bring pencil cases, PE kits or other personal items to school. Children will be provided with their own stationery for use in school.

• Children should bring a water bottle with their name marked on it.

• Children in Reception, Year 1 and Year 2 will be provided with a free meal at lunchtime. There will be a choice of hot food and sandwiches each day.

• Staff will encourage hand hygiene and positive hygiene practices throughout the day.

Our Curriculum

The EYFS curriculum has been strategically planned to lay solid foundations for successful, sequential and progressive learning as pupils move through our school. The experiences and opportunities children engage with in EYFS prepare them to shine brightly in the wider school curriculum in Key Stage 1 and Key Stage 2. Our curriculum is underpinned by communication and language, providing strong links to the National Curriculum.

To find out what your child will be learning this term, please visit our Curriculum page. For more information about the Early Years Foundation Stage, simply speak with your child's Teacher or visit www.gov.uk/government/publications/early-years-foundation-stage-framework--2 or see the Assessment Booklet created by our Early Years Leader below.

In Reception, we learn a lot through our play. We learn to become independent learners and think for ourselves.

We base our planning and topics around different books although this can change based on the children’s interests. The activities set up in our classroom are carefully tailored to these and each individual child's next steps. Our planning considers all areas of the Early Years Foundation Stage Curriculum including: Literacy, Maths, Understanding the World, Expressive Arts and Design, Personal, Social and Emotional Development, Communication and Language & Physical Development.

For more information, please click on the links below to see our Long Term progression Plan and Subject Content Map.

We provide a healthy snack and milk/water every morning. Please provide a water bottle for your child each day and if you prefer to send your child with their own healthy snack, for example, fruit, crackers, cheese, you may do so. 

When your child is settled into school, they will be sent home with a reading book and a reading diary. It is important to listen to your child read every night and record this in their diary. We will also send their Maths and English homework book home weekly. 

If you would like any help on how to support your child’s learning at home, please come and speak to a member of the team who will provide you with lots of ideas on how to do this.

Useful Websites for Additional Learning

www.whiterosemaths.com/homelearning/

www.iseemaths.com/home-lessons/

www.nhs.uk/start4life/baby/learning-to-talk/3-to-5-years/

www.literacytrust.org.uk/communities/better-health-start-for-life/

www.littlewandlelettersandsounds.org.uk/resources/for-parents/

PE

Children will have PE once a week. They will wear their PE kit all day and not need to bring their uniform with them.

In warm weather, children can wear black/navy shorts and a plain white t-shirt. In cooler weather, children can wear grey/navy/black leggings/jogging or tracksuit bottoms, a warm top (school jumper or cardigan) plus a waterproof coat (no football shirts or multi-coloured kits).

Forest School

Children will have a series of Forest School sessions during the academic year. Your child will need suitable outdoor clothing such as a named waterproof coat, hat, gloves and wellington boots from the beginning of the academic year. Children are to wear appropriate outdoor clothes to school, plus their school jumper or cardigan for the whole day, bringing an additional pair of shoes to wear indoors. Please see the timetable above.

We hold the Early Years Quality Mark Award!

We attained the Early Years Quality Mark! Achieving this quality mark celebrates the commitment of our EYFS team to continually improving standards and providing high-quality education and provision for our Reception children. It represents an external validation and acknowledgement of high-quality provision, practice and performance and is also recognised by OFSTED.

The award involved a process of rigorous self-evaluation against the 10 Early Years Quality Mark Elements:

1. A whole setting strategy to improve children’s abilities and achievements

2. An analysis of the assessment of young children’s abilities and achievements

3. Setting appropriately high expectations for young children’s development

4. Planning ‘next steps’ in learning for young children’s development

5. Regular review of progress made by all children

6. A commitment to improving the skills of all practitioners

7. A balanced use of child-initiated and adult-guided play-based activities

8. The use of appropriate environments and resources

9. Partnership working between families, carers, practitioners and professionals in supporting young children’s learning and development

10. An effective procedure for monitoring planning and assessing improvement in practice and provision

All 10 of the Elements were strongly met and strengths within our practice identified and celebrated! The report acknowledges that the Early Years Team are reflective practitioners who actively research different strategies to support young children’s learning and development.