Reception
RESOURCES TO SUPPORT HOME LEARNING, (click on resource to download):
Grapheme Mat Phase 2 with Capital letters
Autumn Term Pronunciation Guide
Phonics and Early Reading Workshop for Parents (Nov 2023)
'Welcome to Reception' workshop slides 2024 (These are updated each year following the parent workshop)
At Park Hill Infant School our children in Reception are taught using the 2021 Statutory Framework for the Early Years Foundation Stage (EYFS). The Framework is comprised of seven areas of learning which are divided into the ‘prime’ and ‘specific’ areas.
The prime areas are:
• communication and language
• physical development
• personal, social and emotional development
The specific areas are:
• literacy
• mathematics
• understanding the world
• expressive arts and design
The three ‘prime’ areas are crucial for igniting children’s curiosity and enthusiasm for learning, and for building their capacity to learn, form relationships and thrive. They form the foundations for lifelong learning and allow the children to progress through their educations with confidence.
For further information, please click here to download the Early Years Framework.
Our children learn through a combination of developmentally appropriate play, adult and child-initiated learning activities and teacher led lessons. Our Reception teachers use our Reception curriculum, half termly topics and the needs and interests of our pupils to plan and deliver a range of memorable learning experiences both inside and outside the classroom. We aim to develop the knowledge, skills and understanding of each individual child, allowing them to progress from their own starting points and be ready for the next stage in their education. Reception staff make regular detailed assessments of all children to ensure that good progress is made by all children. These observations are recorded in each child's 'Learning Journey' which records a detailed synopsis of each child's progress and achievement in their Reception year.
Our half termly topics are as follows. Please click to download the half termly topic web which explains the learning in more detail.
Autumn 2 2023 - Awesome Adventures
Spring 1 2024 - Traditional Tales
Spring 2 2024 - Creepy Crawlies
Summer 1 2024 - Food Glorious Food
Summer 2 2024 - Our Amazing World
At Park Hill Infant School, we promote five values for life (Kindness, Respect, Courage, Honesty and Positivity). We introduce these values at the start of the year and embed them through real life situations and interactions at every opportunity.
Our ten Super-Skills for Learning are a basis for children to identify which skills an effective learner needs to have and they are taught to recognise these areas in both their own and others’ learning. The Super-Skills include being; creative, confident, curious and taking risks, as well as being able to; make connections, collaborate, communicate, persevere and be reflective.
PRIME AREAS :
COMMUNICATION AND LANGUAGE (Listening, Attention and Understanding, and Speaking) - The development of children’s spoken language underpins all seven areas of learning and development. Children’s back-and-forth interactions from an early age form the foundations for language and cognitive development. The number and quality of the conversations they have with adults and peers throughout the day in a language-rich environment is crucial. By commenting on what children are interested in or doing, and echoing back what they say with new vocabulary added, practitioners will build children's language effectively. Reading frequently to children, and engaging them actively in stories, non-fiction, rhymes and poems, and then providing them with extensive opportunities to use and embed new words in a range of contexts, will give children the opportunity to thrive. Through conversation, story-telling and role play, where children share their ideas with support and modelling from their teacher, and sensitive questioning that invites them to elaborate, children become comfortable using a rich range of vocabulary and language structures.
PERSONAL, SOCIAL AND EMOTIONAL DEVELOPMENT (Self-regulation, Managing Self and Building relationships) – Children’s personal, social and emotional development (PSED) is crucial for children to lead healthy and happy lives, and is fundamental to their cognitive development. Underpinning their personal development are the important attachments that shape their social world. Strong, warm and supportive relationships with adults enable children to learn how to understand their own feelings and those of others. Children should be supported to manage emotions, develop a positive sense of self, set themselves simple goals, have confidence in their own abilities, to persist and wait for what they want and direct attention as necessary. Through adult modelling and guidance, they will learn how to look after their bodies, including healthy eating, and manage personal needs independently. Through supported interaction with other children, they learn how to make good friendships, co-operate and resolve conflicts peaceably. These attributes will provide a secure platform from which children can achieve at school and in later life.
PHYSICAL DEVELOPMENT (Gross Motor Skills and Fine Motor Skills) – Physical activity is vital in children’s all-round development, enabling them to pursue happy, healthy and active lives7. Gross and fine motor experiences develop incrementally throughout early childhood, starting with sensory explorations and the development of a child’s strength, co-ordination and positional awareness through tummy time, crawling and play movement with both objects and adults. By creating games and providing opportunities for play both indoors and outdoors, adults can support children to develop their core strength, stability, balance, spatial awareness, co-ordination and agility. Gross motor skills provide the foundation for developing healthy bodies and social and emotional well-being. Fine motor control and precision helps with hand-eye co-ordination, which is later linked to early literacy. Repeated and varied opportunities to explore and play with small world activities, puzzles, arts and crafts and the practice of using small tools, with feedback and support from adults, allow children to develop proficiency, control and confidence.
As children grow, the prime areas are strengthened and these will help them to develop skills in the four specific areas. These are:-
SPECIFIC AREAS:
LITERACY (Comprehension, Word Reading, Writing) - It is crucial for children to develop a life-long love of reading. Reading consists of two dimensions: language comprehension and word reading. Language comprehension (necessary for both reading and writing) starts from birth. It only develops when adults talk with children about the world around them and the books (stories and non-fiction) they read with them, and enjoy rhymes, poems and songs together. Skilled word reading, taught later, involves both the speedy working out of the pronunciation of unfamiliar printed words (decoding) and the speedy recognition of familiar printed words. Writing involves transcription (spelling and handwriting) and composition (articulating ideas and structuring them in speech, before writing).
MATHEMATICS (Number, Numerical patterns) - Developing a strong grounding in number is essential so that all children develop the necessary building blocks to excel mathematically. Children should be able to count confidently, develop a deep understanding of the numbers to 10, the relationships between them and the patterns within those numbers. By providing frequent and varied opportunities to build and apply this understanding - such as using manipulatives, including small pebbles and tens frames for organising counting - children will develop a secure base of knowledge and vocabulary from which mastery of mathematics is built. In addition, it is important that the curriculum includes rich opportunities for children to develop their spatial reasoning skills across all areas of mathematics including shape, space and measures. It is important that children develop positive attitudes and interests in mathematics, look for patterns and relationships, spot connections, ‘have a go’, talk to adults and peers about what they notice and not be afraid to make mistakes.
KIRFs are quick recall facts that are important for your child's maths knowledge and application. Please practise them at home to further enhance your child's maths learning.
UNDERSTANDING THE WORLD (Past and Present, People, Culture and Communities, The Natural World) - Understanding the world involves guiding children to make sense of their physical world and their community. The frequency and range of children’s personal experiences increases their knowledge and sense of the world around them – from visiting parks, libraries and museums to meeting important members of society such as police officers, nurses and firefighters. In addition, listening to a broad selection of stories, non-fiction, rhymes and poems will foster their understanding of our culturally, socially, technologically and ecologically diverse world. As well as building important knowledge, this extends their familiarity with words that support understanding across domains. Enriching and widening children’s vocabulary will support later reading comprehension.
EXPRESSIVE ARTS AND DESIGN (Creating with Materials and Being Imaginative and Expressive) - The development of children’s artistic and cultural awareness supports their imagination and creativity. It is important that children have regular opportunities to engage with the arts, enabling them to explore and play with a wide range of media and materials. The quality and variety of what children see, hear and participate in is crucial for developing their understanding, self-expression, vocabulary and ability to communicate through the arts. The frequency, repetition and depth of their experiences are fundamental to their progress in interpreting and appreciating what they hear, respond to and observe.