Reception

Welcome to Reception

In Reception the class teachers are 

Mr Fish-Clark & Mrs Hempstead (Grasshopper Class), Miss Wardale (Dragonfly Class) and Miss Barrans (Ladybird Class).

Our teaching assistants are Mrs Tinsley, Mrs Hall, Mrs Cheseldine, Mrs Smith and Mrs Wilson.

At Sir Francis Hill Primary School Early Years, we work tirelessly to ensure children are happy in school and feel resilient, safe and secure. We will provide quality learning experiences that spark the children’s interests and imagination. We build positive relationships with the child and their family and work together to help children fulfil their protection and prepare for the next step in their educational journey. 

We use a secure online learning journey called Seesaw, which allows parents access to view what their child is doing in school. We encourage parents to contribute to this with any home learning they wish to share with us.

The Early Years Foundation Stage (EYFS) applies to children from birth to the end of the Reception year.  We are very fortunate in our school that we have a Nursery and 3 Reception classes. This allows us to provide quality transition as children move up through the school and deliver a strong start to their school journey. All staff in Reception aspire to give our children the highest quality teaching and play provision. This ensures that children feel comfortable and excited to start their day.

In Reception we aim to provide:

- Quality and consistency so that every child makes good progress and no child gets left behind.

- A secure foundation through planning for the learning and development of each individual child, and assessing and reviewing what they have learned regularly.

- Partnership working between practitioners and with parents and/or carers.

- Quality of opportunity and anti-discriminatory practice, ensuring that every child is included and supported.

EYFS teaching is not guided by the National Curriculum as Y1-6 are. Instead, we follow the Early Years Foundation Stage Curriculum which supports children's learning in a more practical and gradual approach. There are 7 areas within this curriculum, split into 2 sections. The first section covers the 'Prime' areas, which surrounds a child's emotional and physical development. We aim to secure these as a priority in Reception, as a happy and comfortable child will feel excited to start their day and begin learning. The other section surrounds the 'Specific' areas of learning, which are the more subject oriented areas.

The 7 areas of learning are as follows:

Prime areas:

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

Specific areas:

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

We will cover all of these areas continually throughout your child's time in Reception, and we will communicate any concerns or strengths with you.