At St Mary's Primary School we value the importance of the Early Years Foundation Stage (EYFS) in providing a safe and secure foundation for future learning and development of your child. We are passionate about ensuring that each child has an enjoyable and positive start to their school life in which they can build a foundation for a love of learning. We ensure that every child learns and develops to the best of their ability and is kept healthy and safe.

We promote teaching and learning through a child-led curriculum to ensure children's readiness for the next stage of their education. We provide our children with a broad range of knowledge and skills that give the best possible foundation for future progress throughout their school and life.

 

Reception setting

Reception setting comprises of a spacious, open-plan classroom, with an ample outdoor play area, which includes flower and edible garden, sandpit, water tray, construction, music and role-play areas, mud kitchen and sports equipment, climbing frames, bikes and trikes. Our classroom can accommodate up to 30 children aged 4 and 5 years old per session. Additionally, children in Reception have daily access to our new 'Sensory Room' situated in the Nursery building. 

What makes St Mary's Reception special?

Our highly qualified, dedicated and experienced Reception team encourage the children's enjoyment of learning and their desire to investigate and question, whilst ensuring the safety and welfare of all children.

• Our well- resourced indoor and outdoor environments are designed to inspire the development of lively and enquiring minds, stimulating language and communication, creativity, problem-solving, critical thinking and collaboration. 
• Our broad, stimulating and balanced curriculum follows the principles and guidance of the Early Years Foundation Stage (EYFS), where children are able to select and choose activities for themselves supported by the guidance and directions of our staff team, to allow and facilitate the best outcomes.
• Our approach to early education focusses on identifying individual strengths and needs as early as possible and tailoring learning targets to ensure accelerated progress. It gives lasting benefits to all our children and lays the foundation for the rest of their education, fostering a positive mind set, 'can do' attitude to learning and developing each child's unique and individual potential.

 

Reception Curriculum Overview

In Reception, we teach a broad and balanced curriculum following the Early Years Foundation Stage framework alongside children's interests and passions.

This includes the following seven areas:

• Personal, Social and Emotional Development
• Communication and Language
• Physical Development
• Literacy
• Mathematics
• Understanding the World
• Expressive Arts and Design

We deliver the curriculum through a combination of focused whole class learning, small group activities and 'Explore and Learn' (children's free play). We believe that every moment counts in our children's learning. We foster the children's learning using an engaging, child-friendly, stimulating environment, where the children are provided with engaging resources. If you would like further information regarding Reception curriculam, please speak with your child's class teacher.

 

Assessment

We monitor children's progress daily. The assessments made inform daily and weekly planning and ensure each child is challenged appropriately. They also help us identify any pupils who may need additional support or challenge in a particular area. We use 'Tapestry', an online platform to record observations of the children's progress. We recognise the importance of positive relationships between adults and children in the classroom and work hard to get to know every child, their families, cultures, languages and backgrounds.

Parents support

We recognise the importance of parent/carer impact on a child's education and communicate with parents as often as necessary. We value our PTA (Parents and Teachers Association) helping us in the EYFS with additions to our provision through their fundraising, school events and community days.

We value the offer of support from parents in any way. Parents have supported the school by hearing children read, volunteering in the classroom and for school trips, helping at whole school events, managing the library and many other fantastic ways. Additionally, parents have offered their time and specialised skills as musicians, by decorating the school playground for the Summer Fair or organising the school disco. If you would like to support our class in any form, please speak to Ms Bensoussan. 

 

Local Links&Trips

We are immensely proud of our community at St Mary's and in the past made the most of the local gems around our school, taking the children to provide excellent learning experiences. We plan our local trips and visits depending on the children's interests and our relevant topics.

In Reception we are hoping to book the following experiences over the year. Information about these will be provided to parents once bookings are confirmed.

Autumn: Holland park Autumn walk/'Forest school', Westfield Cinema, Fire Station, Hammermisth Care Home

Spring: Wetland Centre, Hammersmith/Westfield Library

Summer: Bishops Park toy Museum, Kew Gardens

 

Reception

Reception staff team

Hello and Welcome!

We are so excited to be teaching Reception. We believe this is such an important year for your child as it is the start of their learning journey in Primary School. Our overarching aim is to ensure that all pupils feel happy, supported and challenged.

In Reception, children learn from a play-based curriculum with daily, short focus whole class and small group sessions and 'Explore and Learn'. The play-based ''Explore and Learn' (free play), helps children to develop at their own rate and explore their interests across all seven areas of the Early Years Framework.

From the very beginning, we aim to empower children with resilience; giving everything a go and knowing that our 'marvellous mistakes' help us learn. Throughout the day, we include regular story times to develop children's love for books and reading and circle times to support their Personal, Social and Emotional Development.

We additionally have weekly computing sessions, music, drama, visual arts, play dough/pen disco, cooking, Lego therapy, gardening and buddy reading with Year 5 and Year 6 children.

By the end of Reception, we are confident our children will have had an enriched experience, developed their characteristics of effective learning and started their journey to becoming a lifelong learner. 

Home learning

To get your Reception child school ready, we encourage you to read with your child daily. At first, you may start looking and listening to sounds and numbers in the environment. Establishing a routine before your child heads off to school such as brushing their teeth at a set time and getting dressed into their school uniform, will help them feel more confident and independent during their time away from you. 

On 'Tapestry', our secure online Learning Journal with photographs, videos, observations, assessments and comments, we regularly share with parents and carers what the children have been learning. Via email 'Communication with paretns' we also inform parents and carers about our class focusses and suggest any additional home learning.

For reading, Reception children receive a weekly phonics book, reading record and a library book for 'reading for pleasure'. We ask all children to bring their reading folders to school every day and read at home daily for about 10-15 minutes.