Early Years Foundation Stage (EYFS)
Reception Class
At Pennington C of E Primary School, our main aim is to give every child the best possible start to their school learning journey and inspire a passion for life-long learning.
In the EYFS, reception class, we strive to give all children a strong foundation to grow, explore and succeed as learners. We want each child to feel secure, safe and happy, in an enabling environment where every individual is respected and valued.
We are committed to developing positive relationships where children’s well-being is paramount. Each child is respected and has a voice to develop a sense of belonging, both within school and the wider community. We also value parents and carers’ knowledge of their child and work hard to establish positive partnership with families. We work closely with our main feeder nursery and offer meetings and transition visits for all children.
All families are offered a home visit which gives the opportunity for parents to discuss each individual child’s development, personality and interests with members of staff. Children are able to welcome staff into their homes and engage in fun activities and build relationships.
In reception, we ensure that the opportunities we provide are inclusive for all. We have high aspirations for all children and believe that every child has the right to achieve their full potential. We believe that the provision we deliver should provide meaningful and purposeful learning experiences.
We aim for these to be exciting, curious and creative and that these should allow children to question, problem solve, collaborate and imagine. We ensure that the continuous provision offered in our learning environment, both indoors and outdoors, is engaging and challenging. Through purposeful play it provides children with opportunities to develop skills alongside knowledge and understanding across all areas of learning.
We recognise that children learn in many different ways and their needs are constantly changing. Long term planning identifies a broad and balanced curriculum, however we pride ourselves that planning is adaptive and responsive to children’s needs and interests. In reception class we ensure planned learning and spontaneous opportunities cover the EYFS Framework (2021).
This covers the seven areas of learning and development:
Prime Areas
- Personal, Social and Emotional Development
- Communication and Language
- Physical Development
Specific Areas
- Literacy
- Mathematics
- Understanding the World
- Expressive Arts and Design
The School Day
Play is central to learning and alongside first-hand experiences, the school day involves a balance of structured and child-initiated learning, alongside high quality adult interactions to support effective scaffolding and teaching.
Underpinning this learning is the structured teaching of basic skills such as phonics, number teaching and communication skills. Children take part in fun, engaging sessions that focus on the key skills that lead into them being able to read, write and perform simple mathematical skills. This may be in sessions involving the whole class or in a smaller group depending on the activity.
Opportunities for outdoor learning are woven through the day, including ‘Opal Play’ playtimes where children are encouraged to explore and connect with the natural environment. Planned activities undertaken in ‘Outdoor Learning Days’ provide children with forest school skills and develop children’s knowledge of the world around them.
We run a well established Buddy scheme, where children in Year 6 are carefully partnered with a reception buddy as they start school. Over the year the children create a special bond through a programme of nurturing and educational activities. Alongside this we have Family Groups across school and the Buddies work alongside children from other year groups. We hold themed Family Days each half term. We also award Family Group tokens, which children receive for demonstrating our chosen Christian values in action. ` “
We recognise that children do not stop learning outside the school gates and see parents and families as key players in a child’s education and encourage them take an active role. Staff are available at the beginning and end of each day to talk about a child’s progress, discuss any issues that may be affecting their learning and/or to celebrate their successes.
At Pennington we are proud of the positive start we give all our children as they are welcomed into our Pennington Family.