Reception is all about building upon and creating opportunities for fundamental skills and knowledge to be learnt so that our children become inquisitive, happy, and confident learners. We encourage this through a variety of learning opportunities linked to stories and topics such as space or animals around the world. We instil a love for future learning through collaborative play, small group work and challenges that encourage perseverance, problem-solving and team-work.

Prime Areas of Learning in EYFS
 

Personal, Social and Emotional Development

• settle into school and join the school family
• share and take turns
• engage enthusiastically in classroom learning activities
• recognising that we are different but special
• learning to work collaboratively and negotiating with peers

Physical Development

• hold a pencil correctly in a tripod grip (using 3 fingers)
• move in a variety of ways and can stop, start and change directions on a given signal
• can use space safely with an awareness of others
• can show balance and co-ordination
• using scissors and cutlery correctly most of the time

Communication and Language

• take turns in conversation
• show good listening skills towards adults and other children – to look at the person speaking, to listen to all of the words and respond appropriately to what they hear
• using story telling vocabulary
• ask questions to clarify their understanding
• express their ideas and feelings using full sentences

 

Specific Areas of Learning

Literacy

• learn and practise letter sounds and diagraphs
• write their own names and form most letters correctly
• writing a short sentence with finger spaces

Mathematics

• recognise and begin to write numerals to at least 20
• consistently count accurately to at least 20
• describe and recognise 2D and 3D shapes

Understanding the World

• be aware of the changing season and weather changes
• ask questions and investigate what’s around them in the natural world
• talking about the past and present for both them and others, for example the first men on the moon
• know that everyone is unique but we are all special to God and each other

Expressive Arts and Design

• recognise how sounds can be changed – using both voice and instruments
• sing some familiar songs independently
• experiment with paint and a range of other media
• use their imagination in music, art, role play and construction

Religious Education

Using the Religious Education Curriculum Directory (RECD) to engage the children with the teachings and life of Jesus. We begin with the story of creation and go through the key events in Jesus’ life and how we can respond to his teaching and lead the way for others.

What is a Good Level of Development in EYFS?

GLD stands for 'Good Level of Development'. This refers to a summative assessment judgement which is made for each EYFS child at the end of the Reception year. It is a measure of attainment, not progress. Achieving a good level of development will help a child to make a good start in Year 1.

 

How is GLD (Good Level of Development in Children) Defined?

Children are defined as having reached a Good Level of Development at the end of the EYFS if they have achieved at least the 'expected' level within:

• Prime Area: Personal, Social & Emotional Development (PSED)
• Prime Area: Physical Development (PD)
• Prime Area: Communication and Language (CL)
• Specific Area: Literacy (L)
• Specific Area: Mathematics (M)
• There are two further Specific Areas of Learning:
• Expressive Arts & Design (EAD)
• Understanding the World (UtW)

These two further areas are evaluated in the EYFS Profile but are not required to achieve a GLD.

 

Exciting things that happen in Reception

• We grow and observe the life cycle of a caterpillar turning into a butterfly
• We grow beanstalks and flowers
• We visit our parish church, St Barnabus and meet with Father Richard
• We explore a working farm to learn more about the animals and machinery
• We bake biscuits and make our own paper

 

Home learning expectations

Weekly home learning will be set on a Friday afternoon on Tapestry. This will be a maths focus and will link to that week's learning so the children can practice the new skills they have learnt.

We ask that you upload an image of the task by the next Friday so that we can share the children’s achievements and reflect on our learning.

Each half term we will set a challenge for the children to complete such as retelling their favourite story using their own props and story-telling language.