Welcome to Reception Class!

In Reception at St Giles' we learn through exciting and engaging play opportunities, that allow our children to gain independence and grow confidently.  We strive to create an environment that promotes a sense of curiosity in the children through our curriculum that has been carefully curated to match the EYFS framework and the children's needs.  

We support the children in thinking creatively, having their own ideas, and developing confidence to try activities with determination, concentration and a positive attitude to learning. 

Week Commencing 21st March

This week we will exploring the book Jasper's Beanstalk.  This lovely story helps us to secure out learning of days of the week, understanding of length and lots of creative opportunities. 

Jasper's Beanstalk Learning:

Maths: we will be exploring numbers 6, 7, 8 and 9 in detail.  The composition of the numbers using part part whole models, number sentences and how the numbers look on a 10s frame.

In Literacy we will be exploring the idea of what the children would wish to find at the top of the beanstalk and encouraging them to write and draw this.  We will be exploring the story and the structure.  The children will choose their favourite part of the Story and draw it.   The children are encouraged to use 'Fred Talk' (from our RWI scheme), finger spaces and correct letter formation. 

Our PSED Focus will be to explore our different emotions, trying to understand them and how we can convey these different emotions. We will then re visit Zones of Regulation.

Understanding the World and EAD: We will be looking at birthdays around the world.  Exploring the similarities and differences between them and using our globe to identify where these different places are. Links to EAD will be here as the children will be encouraged to create a birthday card.  We will also explore the lifecycle of a bean and start a bean diary.

Communication and Language: The children will be encouraged to ask and answer questions based around our story of the week. We will also play listening games. 

Physical Development: PE will continue with Mr Roberts on Wednesday and the children.  There will also be lots of opportunities to build and strengthen our fine motor skills with beans. 

What will my child learn in reception?

There are three prime areas of learning, which are particularly important for your child’s development and future learning:

Personal, social and emotional development: We will be aiming to give the children a positive start to their school life by helping them form relationships, build confidence and self-awareness. As a school we use the Zones of Regulation and we introduce the children to this to help them learn to regulate their feelings and behaviour.

Physical development: We will explore both fine and gross motor skills.  Exploring balance, jumping, ball control and for all children to be able to hold their body weight on climbing equipment at the end of Reception.

Communication and Language: We will focus on helping the children to communicate though language and other mediums.  Encouraging speaking in full sentences and learning a range of vocabulary. 

There are four specific areas of learning, through which the prime areas are strengthened and applied:

Literacy: At St Giles' we use the RWI programme for teaching phonics, we follow the guidance and have seen the great results this programme has in helping early reading and writing.

Maths: At St Giles'  we use the Mastery approach to maths, ensuring we take small steps and ensure all learning is fully embedded through the use of a range of manipulatives, exploration and activities. The children will gain a deep understanding of numbers to 10, including the composition of each number.  We explore and learn number bonds through practical activities in addition and subtraction, as well as doubles and odds and evens.

Understanding the World: Through exploring different topics the children will learn about different people, cultures and communities, the natural world, history and religions, as well as the past and present.

Expressive Arts and Design: The children will have the opportunity to use a range of different mediums to express themselves.

EYFS Framework Information

There is now a new EYFS framework that all schools and settings now follow. The new framework has incorporated changes to better support all young children’s learning and development.  A key change is there is now a statutory requirement for all children entering reception year to be assessed within six weeks of starting. This is known as the Reception Baseline Assessment or RBA. Children will be assessed in early mathematics, literacy skills and communication and language. 

Teachers will no longer assess children against specific statements from an age band category. Instead, staff will now be able to use their knowledge to monitor if a child is on track for their age. The framework emphasises on improving children’s language and vocabulary through conversations, reading of a wide range of books and holding discussions around topics and areas of interest.