Class Information

Our Ethos for Learning

We offer an engaging and creative curriculum which encourages independent thinking, enquiring minds and enjoyment for learning both inside and outdoors.

The reception timetable and routines, adult interactions and areas of provision inside and outdoors support children to develop their relationships with others, develop their physical skills and increase their knowledge and skills in personal, social and emotional development, communication and language, literacy, maths, understanding the world and creative development. Stories, mathematical knowledge and understanding and the natural world lie at the core of teaching and learning, promoting curiosity, deepening understanding and supporting the growth of knowledge and skills across the curriculum.

Personal, social and emotional development underpins all teaching and learning and is explicitly taught with adult modelling, high expectations for behaviour and relationships with peers and adults in school. Focus lessons like circle time, turn taking during discussions, expectations for how children work and play are all part of our learning journey to develop children's personal, social and emotional development, characteristics of effective learning and understanding of the world.

Our curriculum includes ambitious plans for children based on our knowledge of what they need to know in order to be ready for key stage one. Developing essential skills and effective learning behaviours helps children to love learning and succeed.

We follow the Early Years framework; the long term plans detail our themes for learning across the curriculum. We teach children to share their ideas for learning and to talk about their interests. This informs our planning and ensures the children engage well in their learning.

Reading

At Primrose Hill we believe that a quality English curriculum should develop children’s love of reading, writing and oracy. A key priority is teaching children to read enabling them to both read for pleasure but also learn, understand and unlock the world around them through comprehension. We recognise the importance of nurturing a culture where children are engaged and take pride in their writing, can write clearly and accurately and use vocabulary and ideas from reading to enhance their writing. We recognise the valuable contribution parents make to their child’s reading development. Children at Primrose Hill are taught to read through daily phonics lessons and reading through daily 'Drop Everything and Read' sessions. In time children will bring home individual reading challenges including phonics books. 'Read aloud at home' stories are also loaned to families to support our ethos of reading for enjoyment. They are intended to be shared with your child (either read to your child or with them) to develop their love of reading.

Home Reading

Children in Reception use the Floppy's Phonics scheme which includes picture stories with no words and pictures books and non-fiction texts with words. Books within this scheme are pitched at the child's level, with a strong emphasis on phonics. The vocabulary within these books supports the children to explore new words and encourages them to use this new vocabulary as they talk about events and information in the books they read. In time this vocabulary will feed into their developing writing skills.

The books are systematic in their order and level of challenge. Children progress through the books at a pace which meets their individual needs. We expect children to read books more than once to support understanding, confidence and the development of reading competence. Decoding words through the use of phonic knowledge and beginning to recognise words once the skills of decoding them has been established are key to successful reading. Developing fluency and automaticity are essential reading skills which aid understanding of the words being read. All of this enables new vocabulary to be absorbed and reading confidence and fluency to develop. Teachers are continually assessing children's reading skills to determine when the time is right to move them on to the next level of books.

Please refer to the curriculum information pack your received in October and speak to your child's teacher if you would like further advice and support regarding reading at home, and if you have any questions about your child's reading knowledge and skills.

Children read with adults throughout each week. Please ensure your child has their reading folder and reading diary in school everyday.

PE

Children should wear blue shorts and a white t-shirt for PE. PE kit uniform can be worn to school on the day of your child's PE lesson (you will find out this information via a message from the office and Tapestry). Lessons may sometimes take place outside so we recommend children wear tracksuit bottoms and a jumper during the colder months so that they are prepared to go outside when required.

Outdoor Learning

Children have access to the outdoor classroom every day. Learning through exploration outdoors in an environment where space to move freely and seasonal changes influence play, supports the development of children's physical and social skills, interest in the natural world and vocabulary development. The right clothing is essential in supporting children's continuous access to outdoors. A warm coat, hat and gloves in winter, sun protection in the Spring and Summer and wellies are requested. Please ensure your child's name is clearly labelled in all your child's belongings.

Homework

All teachers at Primrose Hill highly value the positive contribution that parents make and the support they provide for their child’s education. A half termly Learning Log task will be sent home at the end of each half term which provides the opportunity for children to demonstrate their knowledge and understanding of their topic in a creative way. Please also read the home/school phonics book that is sent home with your child at least three times a week.

Literacy

Developing children's confidence and competence in communicating effectively with others is a key focus in Reception. Supporting the development of children's vocabulary and understanding of the English language provides a good foundation for learning across the curriculum. Daily phonics lessons support children in distinguishing sounds and developing effective knowledge and skills for reading and writing. The Floppy’s Phonics programme teaches the letter/s-sound correspondences of the English alphabetic code explicitly and comprehensively for reading, spelling and handwriting. It builds up knowledge of spelling word banks over time where words are spelt with the same letter/s-sound correspondences.

As children learn to read, supporting the development of their understanding of pictures and words is essential. We place great emphasis on talking about events in stories.

We value all attempts at writing as children develop their knowledge, confidence and independence at drawing, writing letters and making words. Making meaningful marks which may consist of drawings and letters, develops into whole words written from memory and words being written based on how they sound. A balance of writing some words from memory and writing words based on how they sound enables children to write words, lists, captions, simple sentences and stories during their learning journey in reception. Drawings play an important role in the development of writing skills and the development of imaginative ideas.

Maths

Maths in Reception focuses on supporting the development of children's knowledge and understanding of number; we call this number sense, Supporting the development of a deep understanding of number value, order, number patterns, the relationship between number values and what it means as we count out loud and say number names are key areas of focus. Learning about non standard ways of measuring and the vocabulary and meaning of shape, size and proportion help children to make sense of shapes and patterns. Solving problems in practical ways linked to number and shape, space and measures helps children to consolidate their knowledge and explore deeper.

Through daily maths sessions, children are taught essential skills alongside the knowledge they need to become competent and confident mathematicians.

Other Areas Of Learning

A significant area of learning in Reception supports children's knowledge and skills linked to the world and creativity. Learning in these areas of the curriculum links with science, geography, history, technology and the arts. Resources and the organisation of areas of provision inside and learning opportunities outdoors support the development of children's knowledge, curiosity and learning behaviours. The themes identified in the long term plan, routines planned for in class and expectations for challenges and open ended learning in areas of provision all support rich learning about the world. A strong emphasis on science and the arts ensures children develop strong foundations to prepare them for learning in key stage one and beyond.

Key Worker Role

The reception teachers oversee teaching, learning and assessment for all children. All reception staff play key roles in supporting children’s development, as they work and play throughout the classroom learning environments. Your childs key worker is their class teacher.

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