Welcome to Reception!

We are part of the Foundation Stage. Our teachers are Mrs Tempestoso, Mrs Smith and Mrs Maidens and our teaching assistants are Mrs Richardson, Mrs Ramanathan, Mrs Kelly and Mrs O’Neill.

In Reception we love learning new things! We love to get busy in the different areas of learning. We are happy in Reception and we are all good friends! We are encouraged to become independent learners. We have lots of nice things planned this year so please keep checking our website and newsletters to find out more.

Reception Timings

Drop off from 8.40am–8.55am, collection 2.50pm-3.00pm.

Reception Booklet and Welcome PowerPoint

Please read about preparing your child for Reception by opening the documents below.

Statement of Intent

“Love one another as I have loved you.”

 

To support Bishop Terence’s vision for Catholic schools:

‘To make Christ known and loved through the provision of excellent Catholic education and schools intent on finding Christ in their daily lives and sharing that encounter with others.’

In EYFS at St Joseph’s RC Primary School, we want our children to be happy, confident, independent children, with a love for learning.  The intent of our EYFS curriculum is to ensure that our children develop essential skills and knowledge, through our checkpoints so that they build firm foundations based upon the educational programmes. Communication and language is given the highest priority throughout our curriculum. Stories and rhymes are central to our curriculum through our Reading Spine and Nursery Rhyme Progression Document. The children build on their vocabulary through listening to stories and rhymes and quality interactions with adults in carefully planned activities and enhanced provision.  Our curriculum is  sequenced and builds upon prior learning so that the children can know more, remember more and can do more. We believe that children should have the opportunity to learn through play and first hand learning.  Our learning environments are meticulously planned both indoors and outdoors to help all children achieve across all aspects of the EYFS. 

At St Joseph’s School, we believe that every child is unique. We give every child the opportunity to achieve their best in a secure and nurturing environment. We do this by having realistic and challenging expectations that meet the needs of all our children across the areas of learning and development. We endeavour to give the children the Cultural Capital they need for the future. We do this by giving each child the best start and the support that enables them to fulfil their full potential and achieve success.

We respect that parents are the child’s first and future educators. We believe that the positive relationships we build are the key to effective partnerships between all practitioners, parents, carers and families. We are responsive to the needs of our children, our families and our community. 

Implementation

Our curriculum is built around quality texts, stories and rhymes. We understand our crucial role as laying the foundation stones for each child’s journey with us, both in terms of the child’s learning and their development.

The EYFS is based on four overarching principles. The principles underpin all that practitioners are required to do.

The Unique Child.

Principle: Every child is a competent learner from birth who can be resilient, capable, confident and self-assured.

Positive Relationships.

Principle: Children learn to be strong and independent from a base of loving and secure relationships with parents and/or a key person.

Enabling Environments.

Principle: The environment plays a key role in supporting and extending children’s development and learning.

Learning and Development. 

Principle: Recognising the importance of learning and development. Children develop and learn at different rates.

The Prime areas of learning are:

• Communication and Language
• Physical Development
• Personal, Social and Emotional Development

The specific areas of learning are:

• Literacy
• Mathematics
• Understanding the World
• Expressive Arts and Design

Characteristics and effective learning -Playing and Exploring, Active Learning and Thinking Creatively and Critically.

Our learning environments have been developed to meet the needs of our children and are adapted regularly to ensure they are challenging, stimulating and engaging. We ensure these areas are always exciting and accessible to all and succeed, regardless of where children are on their learning journey. We carefully structure our day to balance independent play, short adult-led learning with longer child-led lessons. We understand that all approaches foster the characteristics of effective learning that children need to develop essential knowledge and make progress.

We teach in a variety of different ways in our EYFS.

•   Learning is challenging, motivating and play-based and takes place both indoors and outdoors
•   There is a balance between adult-initiated experiences and child-initiated experiences.

Vehicles for Teaching and Learning

• Come and See
• Jigsaw( PSHE) Life to the Full (RHE)
• Sounds Write
• Mastering Number
• Literacy Spine
• Kinetic Letters
• PE Passport
• First Thing Music
• Nursery Rhyme progression document.
• BLAST
• Early Talk Boost.
• Launchpad for Literacy

We are Inclusive

We believe that every child should feel nurtured and that their individual needs should be met.

All staff work with children who have special educational needs and disabilities. All staff work together to ensure that every child’s needs are met and they make progress educationally, emotionally and physically.

We work in very close partnership with our SENDCO and this ensures that early identification happens and we can engage with parents and outside agencies to support children and their families.

Impact 

At St Joseph’s Catholic Primary School, there is a strong emphasis on the teaching of the Prime areas in Nursery so children have the fundamental skills they need to develop the knowledge and resilience they require for Reception. In Reception all areas of learning are taught to ensure the children have a broad and balanced curriculum so they are confident in the seven educational programmes and are ready to access the National Curriculum in Year 1.

All staff know the children very well and professional dialogue is crucial when discussing assessments and progress. Children’s knowledge and skills across the seven areas of learning are assessed in an age appropriate way. Staff ensure that children have a rich vocabulary and use it across all of the areas. They constantly have high expectations and standards of all pupils.

Children carry with them the knowledge, skills and attitudes that will make them lifelong learners and valuable future citizens. Children know what they need to do and can remember this, having retained it in their long-term memory. Children demonstrate positive attitudes to learning, are engaged and show high levels of curiosity, concentration and enjoyment. Children from disadvantaged backgrounds achieve and do well in their learning journey and children with SEND achieve the best possible outcomes that they can.

At the end of the EYFS, children have the knowledge and skills they need in order to benefit from the curriculum that the school has to offer when they enter Year One.

 

If you have any further questions please do not hesitate to contact us.

Mrs Tempestoso, Mrs Smith, Mrs Maidens