Reception Curriculum Meeting 2017 Welcome to Reception Curriculum Meeting 2017

What is the Early Years Foundation Stage? The Early Years Foundation Stage (E.Y.F.S.) is the stage of education for children from birth to the end of the Reception year. It is based on the recognition that children learn best through play and active learning. This is a very important stage as it helps your child get ready for school as well as preparing them for their future learning and successes. From when your child is born up until the age of 5, their early years experience should be happy, active, exciting, fun and secure; and support their development, care and learning needs.

“Adults who help children to play are adults who help children to learn.”

Children should mostly develop the 3 prime areas first. These are: Your child will be learning skills, acquiring new knowledge and demonstrating their understanding through 7 areas of learning and development Children should mostly develop the 3 prime areas first. These are: 1. Communication and language 2. Physical development 3. Personal, social and emotional development. As children grow, the prime areas will help them to develop skills in 4 specific areas. These are: 1. Literacy; 2. Mathematics; 3. Understanding the world; and 4. Expressive arts and design.

Personal, Social and Emotional Development The children will be learning to: become confident to talk about their needs, wants and interests; have awareness of their own feelings and feelings of others; negotiate with their peers; Be willing to try something new; tell the difference between right and wrong.

Communication and Language The children will be learning to: confidently initiate conversations; maintain attention and concentration when listening to others; demonstrate understanding in their conversations with others by responding appropriately; ask questions and make comments; follow instructions with two or more parts.

Physical Development The children will be learning to: move confidently in a range of ways; Adjust speed and direction when moving handle one handed equipment with control; manage their own basic hygiene and personal needs including dressing and undressing independently.

Literacy The children will be learning to: Talk about what they have read showing some understanding; hear and say sounds, and link them to the alphabet; read and write familiar words and sentences; learn to use a pencil effectively.; write for different purposes

Mathematics The children will be learning to: know about numbers to 20, counting, ordering and recognising one more and one less ; understand measuring and use comparative language such as ‘heavier’, ‘longer’, ‘full’, ‘taller’; explore 2d and 3d shapes and use mathematical language to describe them.

Understanding the World The children will: explore and find out about the world around them, asking questions about it; find out about past events in their lives and their families' lives; find out about different cultures and beliefs; know about everyday technology and learn what it is used for

Expressive Arts and Design The children will explore: different types of art and art resources; designing and making objects; drama and role play; making music and singing songs.

Monitoring Progress Each of the 7 areas of learning has its own set of Early Learning Goals which determine what most children are expected to achieve by the end of Reception Class. We use i-pad’s and an assessment programme called Early Excellence Assessment Tracker (EExAT) to help to monitor and track your child’s progress . We will send you your child’s ‘learning journal’ each term via email.

How you can contribute Link to Early Excellence Assessment Tracker to show learning journals and that parents can upload photos at home to share with us.

Curriculum Planning We are trying to plan specifically linked to the children’s interests and this is obviously hard to plan for in advance. These are a few topics we generally cover each year; Autumn 1: All about me & Autumn and Autumn Festivals Autumn 2: Celebrations and Christmas Spring 1: Winter and Winter Festivals Spring 2: Book week, Spring and Spring Festivals Summer 1: Animals – Farm trip Summer 2: Summer and Summer festivals

Uniform Please ensure that your child’s name is in all items of clothing, including shoes! Please make sure they have a warm, waterproof coat, hats and gloves for their outdoor play. “ There’s no such thing as poor weather just poor clothing. ”

Homework Weekly letter sent via email with suggestions to support their learning. Phonics book – new sounds taught that week. ‘Magic moments’ sheet each half term. ‘WOW’ sheets

Dates Parents Evenings; Weds 18th Oct 3.30 – 7.30, Thurs 19th Oct 3.30 – 5.30 INSET day Monday 31st Oct Christmas Fair Sat 25th Nov Making day - Friday 1st Dec Nativity performances Dec 6th - 2.00pm, 6th - 9.15pm, 7th - 9.15am

If you have any concerns or questions, we will be happy to help you. Please remember…. If you have any concerns or questions, we will be happy to help you. Please see your child’s Class Teacher or Teaching Assistant in the first instance. More serious concerns may be referred to me; Miss Hobby - Assistant Head Teacher and Foundation Stage Leader