Early Years - Reception

Welcome to Reception class area.

Mrs Adams, Miss Ridsdale and Mrs Kauser work in Reception.

On the pages below, you will be able to find details of all the exciting work we complete in Reception.

 

At Bankfoot Primary we are mindful of our responsibility for children's welfare and the delivery of the curriculum. We combine the experience, knowledge and expertise of our staff with the expectations of the Early Years Foundation Stage and our knowledge of children's prior experience and interests to ensure we explore all possible directions of learning with the aim to provide every child with the best possible start to their learning journey.

We adopt a topic based approach to deliver a creative curriculum to stimulate and enthuse children's natural desire and inclination to learn and also to create explicit links with any previous knowledge which has be proven to help facilitate embedded learning.

In Nursery and in Reception we follow the Early Years Foundation Stage Curriculum.

The Early Years Foundation Stage consists of seven areas of learning that are unpinned by the four principles highlighted above. They are:

 

Prime Areas:

  • Personal, Social and Emotional Development
  • Physical Development
  • Communication and Language

Specific Areas:

  • Literacy
  • Mathematics
  • Understanding the World
  • Expressive Arts and Design

 

Prime Areas

 

Personal, Social and Emotional Development

This area focuses on developing children's self esteem and a positive attitude to learning. Children are encouraged to show respect for others and develop an understanding about the beliefs and cultures of others. Social skills are developed through games and group activities.

 

Physical Development

This area focuses on both fine motor skills, such as pencil control and gross motor skills, such as jumping. Children are provided with opportunities to develop co-ordination, balance and body control. This is supported by an understanding of the importance of exercise and making healthy food choices.

 

Communication and Language

This area focuses on developing children's understanding and speaking and listening skills. Children are provided with opportunities to develop confidence in communicating and listening. A language rich environment provides children with a wide range of vocabulary.

 

Specific Areas

 

Literacy

This area includes reading and writing. Children develop an understanding of the link between letters and sounds and how this can be extended into reading and writing.

 

Mathematics

This area includes number and shape, space and measure. Children's mathematical understanding is developed through rhymes, songs and games. Problem solving skills are encouraged by the use of real-life experiences.

 

Understanding the World

This area focuses around supporting children in developing knowledge and skills that develop their understanding of the world around them. Children are encouraged to use all their senses and through first hand experiences, children are provided with opportunities to explore, investigate, observe, predict and discuss.

 

Expressive Arts and Design

This are includes art, music, dance and imaginative play. Children are encouraged to develop their creativity and share thoughts, ideas and feelings through various art media, movement to music and role play.

As the children have just moved from nursery we still provide plenty of opportunities for them to access play-based learning. Children develop new skills and knowledge through play and with adult support these skills and knowledge can be extended.

Use this opportunity to look at the photographs with your child and talk about what they have done in that area.

Outdoor:

The outdoor environment provides the perfect opportunity for children to develop their large motor skills, such as running, jumping and skipping, but it also has lots of other learning potential. During the day when continuous provision is available, children are free to choose to play outside or inside. The outdoor classroom provides many of the same opportunities as indoors. We have a writing area, maths area, reading area, construction, water area, role play area and music area.

Role play:

In the role play area children are encouraged to develop their imaginative skills. They are provided with resources that allow them to pretend and act out the roles of others. The theme of this area is changed each half term to enhance the topic and maintain interest. As children play together they, develop social skills and learn how to co-operate with others.

Writing area:

In the writing area, children are provided with a range of resources to encourage writing, such as pencils, felt tip pens and crayons. They are encouraged to write for different purposes: lists, letters and invitations. Children's first attempts at writing may not be legible but this is how they first demonstrate an understanding of the difference between pictures and words. With praise and encouragement children become confident to make further attempts at writing. Vocabulary to support reading and writing is displayed around the classroom. This includes letters of the alphabet, days of the week, months of the year and high frequency words.

Maths area:

The resources provided in the maths area develop the children's knowledge and understanding about number recognition, number sequence and counting. Their knowledge of shape and pattern is developed through activities such as threading and peg boards. There are lots of opportunities for children to play games and learn in a fun way. Resources used by teachers during focus activities are left out the following week to give children an opportunity to consolidate and extend their learning.

Reading and listening area:

In the reading area children are provided with a wide range of books. Books help children to understand the difference between pictures and words and to know that print carries meaning. Once children are confident with letter sounds they can start to blend sounds together to read words. Through reading books and listening to stories children learn about characters, settings and story structure. Non-fiction books provide children with knowledge and understanding and information related to their interests. In addition to books we have a storyboard where children can use pictures to retell stories in their own words. This helps them to put stories into the correct sequence. The listening area allows children to listen to stories and hear expressive language being modelled to enhance the story.

Creative area:

By providing basic resources such as paint, collage and junk modelling materials, children are encouraged to use their imaginative and creative skills. They learn about the consistency of paint - how it runs down the paper at the easel but not if they paint at the table. We provide opportunities for the children to mix their own paint so they can experiment with different consistencies themselves and observe colour change. The use of junk modelling helps children develop mathematical skills, such as 3D shape and estimation and measuring. Design technology skills are developed through experimenting with different joining and fastening techniques. We regularly enhance this area by providing activities such as leaf printing and marble rolling.

Investigation area:

Children are naturally curious and the investigation area provides them with the opportunity to explore and investigate. They are encouraged to use all their senses to find out about things. This helps them to build a greater knowledge and understanding of materials and processes and learn how things work. Children are given support to discuss what they have discovered and are encouraged to make links with other related experiences.

Construction:

Through the use of construction equipment children can experiment with different ways of joining. Children learn to evaluate their own models and develop their ideas, making changes to them such as making their structures stronger. Mathematical skills such as 3D shape, spatial awareness, length and height are developed. Children often play imaginatively with their models and this can involve other children, developing co-operation and social skills.

 

Malleable area:

Children are encouraged to develop their tactile skills in this area. We usually provide playdough which helps children to develop rolling, stretching, squeezing and moulding. Children often model activities they have seen at home in this area. They enjoy making chapattis and cakes and share into halves and quarters. These activities help children to develop maths skills. Children have the opportunity to work with clay, to compare the texture with playdough and how it can be manipulated. With adult support they are encouraged to talk about their actions and use descriptive vocabulary to develop their speaking and listening skills.

 

Water:

In the water area children learn about capacity by filling and emptying containers. With the support of adults they can be introduced to vocabulary such as full, empty, half full, half empty and overflowing. Being introduced to this vocabulary while exploring the concept first hand helps the children to understand and remember. They can also develop their imaginative skills through the provision of animals, such as fish and other sea creatures. We regularly enhance the water by changing the colour of the water or adding glitter.

 

Sand:

Through filling and emptying containers children learn about capacity and weight. With the support of adults they can be introduced to vocabulary such as full, empty, half full, half empty, heavy, heavier, heaviest, light, lighter and lightest. Being introduced to this vocabulary while exploring the concept first hand helps the children to understand and remember. The children are offered opportunities to work with wet or dry sand to compare the different textures and investigate what they can do with it. Children can make tracks and patterns with cars and trucks. Imaginative play is encouraged by providing children with resources such as people and animals.

Help us to celebrate your child’s achievements…

At Bankfoot Primary School, we enjoy watching your child grow and develop and would like to celebrate all their achievements - whether they happen at school or at home. We would love to hear from you about the things your child enjoys or achieves. It helps us to create a ‘well-rounded’ picture of your child.

Your contributions can tell us about anything of interest that you’d like to share with us. For example, your child’s favourite bedtime story, a special occasion, how they built a tall lego tower, and many more besides.

Over the next few weeks we will be writing to you to share with you details of our exciting new observation program called 'Evidence Me'. This will enable you to share photos and documents with us easily through a dedicated learning app and it is as easy to use as any other social media app. Please ask staff for more details.

  • http://www.oxfordowl.co.uk/for-home/

  • www.phonicsplay.co.uk/freeIndex.htm

  • https://www.bbc.co.uk/cbeebies

  • www.bbc.co.uk/schools/websites/eyfs/

  • www.bbc.co.uk/cbeebies/stories

  • www.topmarks.co.uk/Search.aspx?Subject=37

  • www.crickweb.co.uk/Early-Years.html

 
Credentials