Reception

Why do we teach what we teach?

Our aim is to build strong foundations rooted in academic success as well as moral and spiritual development, so that ultimately our pupils develop into happy, confident learners, who go on to make the most of their abilities and talents as they grow. Everyone in Reception is a learner and our staff are committed to supporting learning in all its forms and will tailor individuals needs accordingly so that all children are capable of achieving their individual potential.

Our staff invest time in providing our children with a welcoming, nurturing, safe, reassuring environment, which at the same time is visually explicit & well-resourced, to enable children to have positive learning experiences. We aim to provide a secure platform from which all children develop physically, socially, emotionally and intellectually.

The majority of our children transition from local nurseries but every child is an individual and arrives at St Nicholas with different life experiences and at varied stages of development. It is our intent to take into consideration their starting points and needs of our pupils as they begin their learning journey with us. With this in mind, we aim to provide a sequential and progressive curriculum, which clearly outlines the knowledge and skills that children will learn and build on as they progress through the Foundation Stage.

Our Reception Discovery Curriculum aims to enable our children to be:

• Competent and creative children; who are curious about the world around them.
• Secure and confident children; who enjoy coming to school to learn new skills and knowledge that builds on their existing learning.
• Skilful communicators; who connect with others through rich language, purposeful play, memorable experiences and awe & wonder.

How do we teach what we teach?

At St Nicholas we follow the statutory Early Years Foundation Stage Framework. The EYFS Framework includes 7 areas of Learning and Development which shape activities and experiences for children in all early years settings. Three of these areas are known as the prime areas - Communication and Language, Physical Development and Personal, Social and Emotional Development and these are recognised as the main focus for learning in EYFS, in order to provide children with the necessary skills to access the curriculum into Key Stage 1. The specific areas are Literacy, Mathematics, Understanding the World and Expressive Arts and Design.

Reading and Communication & Language are at the heart of our Reception Discovery Curriculum and we use books and creative hooks to engage and inspire the children, and to provide exciting, enriching learning experiences that focus on specific areas of learning and development. For example, we use the story In every house, on every street by Jess Hitchman, as a creative hook to learn about where the children live, focusing on skills and knowledge in the areas of learning and development for - Understanding the World, Literacy, Communication & Language and PSED. This approach, we feel, gives our wonderful children the best opportunities to experience a language rich environment which supports language acquisition and development, to share awe and wonder, to promote sustained thinking and active learning, to encourage curiosity and allow the children opportunities to apply knowledge and skills they have learnt. Our Reception Discovery Curriculum overviews can be found on our web page by clicking the link opposite.

How do we know what our children have learnt?

Our Discovery Curriculum meets the needs of all our children, so we use every opportunity to look at and evaluate how children are learning. This is achieved through high quality interactions with staff and children, looking at their work, observing their learning experiences and analysing data and progress. We assess children in all areas of learning and development at the start of the year and then at the end of term using our rigorous assessment process. Evidence of children’s learning can be found on our learning journey displays, assessment folders and writing journals.

During their time in Reception, our children make rapid progress so that we meet the national expectation for GLD at the end of the year. We believe our high standards are due to a rich diet of balanced learning experiences which undoubtedly are the best way to develop happy, curious children that love to learn, which in turn, gives them the best possible start to life at St Nics.

Please find below termly overview of our Reception Autumn curriculum. We hope you find it useful.

How do we support our families starting at St Nics?

Starting school can be a challenging experience for both children and their families. When children transition to our Reception, they and their families will find a welcoming, nurturing & safe environment where all are welcomed and valued. This allows them to become part of the St Nicholas family. We aim to work collaboratively with parents to ensure their child gets a good start to the educational journey with us and beyond. We have an evolving transition process that is flexible and develops with our new cohorts each year. We aim to provide parents with an informative process prior to their children starting with us for example, we invite parents to attend a “meet the teacher” presentation in June. We also visit our new children in their settings, where appropriate to gain insight into the children’s learning experiences and needs. We also have a short staggered start when our children start with us in September so ensure that children settle into life at St Nics quickly but also gently and to establish trusted relationships with the adults in our setting. In October, we hold our Parent’s Evenings and invite our Reception parents to attend. The main focus of our parent’s evening is to discuss how the children have settled into school life. We also hold a Reception Parent Coffee morning during the first time where parent’s are invited to come and meet other parents. Mrs Slack (EYFS Lead) and Mrs Dargie (SENDCO) are on hand to lend a listening ear too!

Making the choice of which primary school you would like your child to attend is a big decision. To support parents in this, we offer series of open mornings and an open evening in the Autumn term so that parents can come and look around our lovely school, talk to staff in EYFS and get a feel for the amazing things we do. Dates and times for our open morning/evening sessions for Autumn 2025 will be added to our website in the Summer Term.