Reception

Welcome to Cherry Class!

Welcome to our Reception class page! The children learn through play and explore the indoor and outdoor provision. We have many different areas of learning; make and create, explore tuff tray, maths, book corner, construction, message centre, sand, water and home shed! All of the adults in Reception are committed to making every day exciting and full of fun and magic to support your children in their learning journey.

Spring Term 2024 Social Justice 

EYFS Connected Curriculum Term Social Justice T3 and T4 2024

ST Helen’s CE Primary School EYFS Curriculum 2023-24

Intent

In EYFS at ST Helen’s CE Primary School strive to enable children to become lifelong learners. We do this through promoting a love of learning in all area. We lay the foundations for a successful lifetime of learning whilst also ensure children are ready for a smooth transition to Year One.

 The Prime Areas of Development:

  • Communication & Language – we provide plenty of opportunity for children to develop their communication skills through speaking in front of others and showing their friends and adults great listening. We also model new vocabulary to the children so they are able to take it on and use independently.
  • Physical Development - developing our control of movements and our bodies. This includes big movements (gross motor) like running and jumping and also smaller (fine motor) movements like writing and using scissors.
  • Personal, Social & Emotional Development - learning how to manage our emotions and feelings, building resilience, make friends and resolve conflicts.

 The Specific Areas of Development:

  • Literacy - learning letters and sounds and using that knowledge to learn to read and write simple words. In phonics we follow the "Essential Letters and Sounds" scheme.
  • Maths - understanding and using number, as well as exploring shape, space and measure.
  • Understanding the World - learning about our world and everything and everyone that makes it so special and exciting.
  • Expressive Arts & Design - experimenting with different media and materials

 The most important thing for us in EYFS at St Helen’s is that all children feel happy and safe at school every day.

Implementation

We implement our intent by being guided both by the Statutory framework of the Early Years Foundation Stage and the children’s specific needs and interests whilst always working towards the ‘Early Learning Goals’.

Phonics is how we learn to read. We follow the ReadWriteInc scheme to teach children through daily inputs in small groups. We learn Set 1 and Set 2 sounds in Reception and all children are sent home reading books tailored specifically for their level of phonics.

We follow the White Rose Maths scheme which is taught in whole class inputs. We always have maths enhancements in our provision which allow children to practise skills taught in the inputs.

The children in Cherry Class spend lots of time during the day learning and exploring independently in both our indoor and outdoor classrooms – we call this our ‘learning activity’ time. The children are set a range of challenges each week which cover many different aspects of learning to ensure that all children are developing in all areas.

Impact

The children in Cherry class are assessed by the teacher on an everyday basis through observations, questioning, adult led activities and playing alongside the children. This continuously updated knowledge of where the children are at allows the adults in Cherry Class to help all children progress onto the next stage of their learning and development in all areas.

At the end of the Reception year, all children are assessed against the ‘Early Learning Goals’. All children will either be ‘emerging’ or at the ‘expected’ level of development. This is a statutory assessment and this information makes up the ‘Early Years Foundation Stage Profile’. This will be shared with both the Year One teacher and the child’s parents.

As well as the academic progress we hope to make a much more meaningful difference to the children in Cherry Class so that they leave as confident, happy children who are ready and excited for the next stage of their learning journey.

Please see the pictures below taken in Term 2 of 2023-24- look at the fun we are having!