Reception

For information about Reception Class admissions

please click this link:

Admissions

Welcome to Reception with

Mrs Barton and Mrs Green

The Reception Team

Welcome

Hello and welcome to Reception's class page.

The Reception class provides a broad and balanced curriculum which embraces the seven areas of learning in the Early Years Foundation Stage. In Reception we focus on the development of the individual child and, during your child’s time in Reception, he or she will experience a great variety of activities based on these seven areas of learning through structured activities and carefully planned play:

Prime Areas:

Personal, Social and Emotional Development

Physical Development

Communication and Language

Specific Areas:

Literacy

Mathematics

Understanding the World

Expressive Arts and Design

Class Information 2024/25

Our Indoor Classroom

The indoor classroom provides a stimulating learning environment and opportunities for the children to experience activities which reflect the seven areas of learning. The children have access to a wide range of resources in both child initiated and adult led activities. These resources include construction equipment, small world toys, puppets, jigsaws and games.

Indoor Areas

Our Outdoor Classroom

The outdoor environment mirrors the indoor learning environment within Reception and it is used daily within the Reception routine. Children will be able to access resources to develop the seven key areas of learning. Outdoor learning is key to developing children’s independence, physical development and to offer exploration and investigation opportunities.

Outdoor Areas

How can I check my child’s progress?

Continual assessment is carried out on every pupil through observations, annotating their work, questioning and monitoring reading. Assessments are recorded on Tapestry, an online learning journal. Each parent has access to their child's learning journal, see what their child has been doing at school and make positive comments about their learning, as well as contribute any learning which has taken place outside of school.

Children's progress is discussed at a Parent/Carer Consultations in the Autumn and Spring term. A written report is given out at the end of the school year and there will be an opportunity to discuss this report with the Reception class teacher.

Changes in the EYFS Framework

The Early Years Foundation Stage (EYFS) has been reformed and there is a new EYFS framework (introduced September 2021) that all schools and settings follow. The changes have been made to better support all young children’s learning and development. It is also the aim that the new framework will better prepare children for the transition into key stage 1.

Below are some of the key points from the new EYFS reforms that include relevant changes which parents, carers and children may notice or experience:

Staff will be spending less time on large amounts of written observations and assessments for evidence collection. This means they can spend more time supporting and engaging with the children and their learning and development needs.
Children will no longer be assessed against statements from an age band category. Instead, staff will use their experience and knowledge to monitor if a child’s learning and development is on track for their age.
The early learning goals at the end of reception have been changed to become more clear and easier to understand. Staff will use their judgements to assess if the children have met these goals at the end of the EYFS and inform parents and carers.
There is an emphasis on improving children’s language and vocabulary through increasing opportunities for conversations, reading a wide range of books and holding discussions around activities in other areas of learning.
Literacy and numeracy skills focused on in the EYFS have been adapted to better match up with the national curriculum that starts in year 1.
There is no longer an exceeding judgement at the end of reception. Children will instead be challenged to have a greater depth and understanding of ideas.
Safeguarding and welfare of children is still a priority, with the added mention of teaching children about the importance of good oral health and how to keep teeth clean and healthy.

How could you help learning and development at home to support the new EYFS reforms?

Read stories daily to your child and use them as an opportunity to talk about the characters and events in the story. You could also discuss some of the details children have spotted in the pictures, such as the character’s facial expressions.
Have lots of conversations with your child throughout the day. Try and increase their vocabulary by using a wide range of vocabulary.
Practise counting with your child and looking at small groups of items. Explore what happens to numbers when you put these small groups of items together, or split a larger group into two smaller groups.
Support your child’s early reading by practising phonic skills, such as recognising letter sounds and blending them together to read words. Also, support your child with their writing by checking they are forming their letters in the correct way and holding a pencil properly. Always teach your child lower case letters first.
Encourage your child to make healthy food and drink choices, especially related to sugar content and how this can affect teeth. Also, support your child to properly brush their teeth at least twice a day at home.
Plan activities that allow your child to be active and develop their strength through large body movements as well as smaller, more precise movements

Maths

At Longwick we follow the White Rose Maths scheme to support children on their journey to Maths mastery.

It includes opportunities for the children to consolidate prior knowledge, whilst deepening their understanding of the concepts they are taught through problem-solving and reasoning activities.

BBC Numberblocks: these are great short videos to support you child's numerical understanding.

Phonics

At Longwick we follow the Little Wandle scheme to get children off to a flying start in phonics. Please see further information from the Little Wandle website, along with supporting documents to help your children below.