Reception
Clownfish Class - Reception
Welcome to Clownfish Class!
At Dymchurch Primary we firmly believe every child should have the best possible start to school life and so our curriculum and environment are specifically designed to ensure this. Our Reception class follow the Early Years Curriculum and this is broken down into the following areas:
The prime areas:
- communication and language
- physical development
- personal, social and emotional development
The four specific areas, through which the three prime areas are strengthened and applied. The specific areas are:
- literacy
- mathematics
- understanding the world
- expressive arts and design
Our curriculum is designed to cover these areas in a range of different ways including teacher led inputs, adult led activities, enhanced provision and continuous provision. This includes both an indoor and an outdoor area which are specifically designed so that all children can make the most of all learning opportunities across a range of activities and interests. This is so that the unique child is taken into account and all children can therefore learn and increase their language skills through play, investigation and curiosity.
Please see below for this term's topic web.
Environment
Our classroom and outside area are organised into different areas, to reflect the ‘Areas of Learning’ outlined in the Early Years Framework. Our environment will grow with the children, with different challenges introduced every week to reflect children’s development and interests.
The Timetable
P.E will be on a Friday afternoon. Please ensure your child comes in their PE kit on this day.
We will also enjoy 'Forest Friday' on Friday afternoons. As the weather creeps into Autumn please ensure your child brings in wellies as we will be getting muddy! Waterproofs will be provided by the school.
Home learning
Every Thursday your child will come home with a sharing book they have chosen from their visit to the school library. Your child will not be able to read this on their own. This book is for you both to read and enjoy together. Discuss the pictures, enjoy the story, predict what might happen next, use different voices for the characters, explore the facts in a non-fiction book. The main thing is that you have fun!
Every Friday your child will come home with a new Big Cat reading practice book that they have in class during the week. This will be at the correct phonic stage for your child. They should be able to read this fluently and independently. If your child is reading it with little help, please don’t worry that it’s too easy – your child needs to develop fluency and confidence in reading. Listen to them read the book. Remember to give them lots of praise – celebrate their success! If they can’t read a word, read it to them. After they have finished, talk about the book together.
Your child will also come home with a Little Wandle Phonics home learning sheet. This will recap all the phonemes (sounds) they have learnt in school that week.
Further Information
EYFS
The Early Years Curriculum
The Early Years Foundation Stage (EYFS) is how the Government and early years professionals describe the time in your child’s life between birth and the age of 5.
We love learning in Early Years and in Reception we work from the Early Year Foundation Stage curriculum. Children develop through 'exploring', 'active learning' and 'creative and thinking critically'. We call these the Characteristics of Effective Learning.
There are seven areas of learning, which are divided in to Prime Areas and Specific Areas.
The Prime Areas are:
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Communication and language
-
Physical development
-
Personal, social and emotional development
The Specific Areas are:
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Literacy
-
Mathematics
-
Understanding the world
-
Expressive arts and design
These seven areas are used to plan an exciting child led curriculum around your child’s interests.
You can find the full EYFS curriculum below. You can also find additional information in the following document, Birth to 5 Matters below.
Outdoor Learning
The children at Dymchurch are immersed in lots of practical experiences through which they are encouraged to explore and experience. We believe outdoor learning is vital for development. The children use both the indoor and outdoor classroom during teacher directed and child initiated times. We have a love of outdoor learning and come rain or shine the children are exploring our wonderful outdoor environment.
- Please can each child come equipped with a pair of wellies from home which can be left at school.
Throughout the year, children will have the opportunity to engage with and explore a variety of activities that encourage development in each of the seven ‘Areas of Learning’. Children need to meet the Early Learning Goal in each area at the end of the academic year in order to achieve a ‘Good Level of Development’. Each term, we will send home a Topic Map to keep you informed and so that you can support your child’s learning at home.
