Reception - Brambles (Early Years)
Welcome to Brambles! We are a hard working year group and enjoy investigating and exploring all areas of the Early Years Curriculum.
In Reception there are three prime areas of learning and four specific areas of learning. The prime areas are:
In Reception there are three prime areas of learning and four specific areas of learning. The prime areas are:
- Communication and Language,
- Physical Development,
- Personal, Social and Emotional Development.
The specific areas are:
- Literacy,
- Mathematics,
- Understanding of the world,
- Expressive Arts and Design.
Progress and attainment is achieved through on-going observations in the prime and specific areas of learning plus the three characteristics of effective learning:
We provide a happy, safe, caring and stimulating environment both indoors and out, weather permitted. The children enjoy a range of practical learning experiences which encourages their understanding of the world around them and enables them to develop physically, intellectually, emotionally and socially.
Children's ideas and opinions are valued and respected by adults and the other children, creating an environment in which children are not afraid of making mistakes and taking risks. We encourage the children to become independent and self-motivated in their learning, using their interests to lead their learning in a topic based curriculum which is designed by the children.
The children particularly enjoy regular visits to our forest school area and love to visit the different challenges in our indoor and outdoor environment. This consists of areas where the children can experience; mark making, role play, arts and craft, listening station, construction area, water and sand play, board games, working with letters and numbers and of course getting messy!
We aim to give the children in Reception the best start to their education through child initiated and adult led activities. A cross curricular approach is used which enables links in their learning from one area to the next. However, a high emphasis is placed upon all children acquiring a good level of development and progress in reading, writing and mathematics.
To help develop these areas we use child friendly materials including Phonics Shed and The Write Stuff and yearly mental math targets for the children to work towards. These mental math targets move with them through the school, too.
Our links with parents and carers help develop the children's academic abilities and enjoyment of school life. Each term parents have access to their learning journey. This PDF document is sent to parent emails through a secured site and enables the parents to see what their child has been doing and links their experience to the correct developmental outcome. All parents are encouraged to have their ‘own voice’ by responding to their learning journey. We also hold various events throughout the year to involve parents with the children's learning for example, Phonics Workshops.
Children's ideas and opinions are valued and respected by adults and the other children, creating an environment in which children are not afraid of making mistakes and taking risks. We encourage the children to become independent and self-motivated in their learning, using their interests to lead their learning in a topic based curriculum which is designed by the children.
The children particularly enjoy regular visits to our forest school area and love to visit the different challenges in our indoor and outdoor environment. This consists of areas where the children can experience; mark making, role play, arts and craft, listening station, construction area, water and sand play, board games, working with letters and numbers and of course getting messy!
We aim to give the children in Reception the best start to their education through child initiated and adult led activities. A cross curricular approach is used which enables links in their learning from one area to the next. However, a high emphasis is placed upon all children acquiring a good level of development and progress in reading, writing and mathematics.
To help develop these areas we use child friendly materials including Phonics Shed and The Write Stuff and yearly mental math targets for the children to work towards. These mental math targets move with them through the school, too.
Our links with parents and carers help develop the children's academic abilities and enjoyment of school life. Each term parents have access to their learning journey. This PDF document is sent to parent emails through a secured site and enables the parents to see what their child has been doing and links their experience to the correct developmental outcome. All parents are encouraged to have their ‘own voice’ by responding to their learning journey. We also hold various events throughout the year to involve parents with the children's learning for example, Phonics Workshops.
Our Learning
Summer Half Term
Here is our timetable and Knowledge Organiser for this half term. Please note, that this can sometimes change and if it does, we will notify you via Seesaw.
Previous Knowledge Organisers
Please see the links below to see what we have been learning about!
Homework
For full details about our homework, please see our policy attached below.
Homework for Brambles will be set as follows:
Pupils will change their reading books on a Monday, Wednesday and Friday (if appropriate). Pupils are expected to read each night and parents/carers should sign the home reading diary when they have heard their child read. Pupils will complete a smiley face each time they read. When they complete a row of smiley faces they will receive a fluffy award in class. When they have completed their smiley face chart, they will receive a gold token for our book vending machine!
Homework will be set each week on Seesaw by the class teachers. Feedback will be given via Seesaw.
Assessment
Planned learning objectives are drawn from the Early Year Outcomes document and identify the weekly observation focus. The children are then made aware of their next steps of learning through verbal feedback, by looking at the daily ‘I have caught you’ moments (using iPad pictures as a visual stimulus) and small group work sessions.
We provide a curriculum which takes account of, and responds to, the children’s developmental needs and allows them to make progress related to their differing abilities. On entry to reception a child’s age is taken into account and each child is assessed and a baseline is given to see if they are showing a typical level of development for their age.
By the end of the year it is expected that all children should be working within the 17 Early Learning Goal descriptors.
For more specific information please refer to the following document from the Department of Education:
We provide a curriculum which takes account of, and responds to, the children’s developmental needs and allows them to make progress related to their differing abilities. On entry to reception a child’s age is taken into account and each child is assessed and a baseline is given to see if they are showing a typical level of development for their age.
By the end of the year it is expected that all children should be working within the 17 Early Learning Goal descriptors.
For more specific information please refer to the following document from the Department of Education:
The end of year report made to parents will state whether the child is:
- Emerging – working below national expectations.
- Expected – working at national expectations.
As well as assessing the children against the Early Learning Goals, parents will also receive a report on how their child learns based on the characteristics of effective learning.
This report is also given to the Year 1 teacher.
Our Staff
Mrs Fairlamb
Class Teacher
Mrs Hothi
Teaching Assistant
Miss Peters
Teaching Assistant
Other Useful Links and Information