EYFS - Reception Class

At Thorogate School the Early Years Foundation Stage is covered in our Reception class.

Children join us from a range of Nursery providers, depending on the choices parents have made.   There is no "feeder" setting and all admissions to our Reception class are via the Rotherham MBC admissions process.  

In Reception our ethos is to ‘nurture hearts and inspire minds’, giving our children the best start to life, by providing them with skills, knowledge and understanding in order to thrive today and throughout their life.

Effective teaching and learning in the Reception class identifies children’s needs and interests and helps them learn and develop in all seven areas of learning.

Children learn best when they are happy, secure and actively involved in their own learning - our strong focus on relationships personal development ensures children have every opportunity to flourish.

Practitioners regularly discuss and review children’s learning and development with each other, and with parents, ensuring children are involved and enjoying their learning. These discussions help us to review children’s development and ensure that they are prepared for their next step in their learning journey.

Children learn at different rates, every child can progress well, with the right support.

Every child is on their own unique learning journey and can thrive.

What are we trying to achieve through our curriculum?

Our curriculum is broad and balanced, which has three elements:

1. Teaching and learning based on our children’s interests.

2. A regular cycle of learning based on themes, stories, songs and rhymes.

3. Our curriculum intentions.

Learning within the Early Years is play-based, being an essential part of children’s learning, and takes place indoors and outside. Children choose their play through high-quality resources which have been carefully selected to ensure rich potential learning. There is a balance between child-initiated experiences and adult-guided learning.

Through support and scaffolding, every child can access the curriculum. We recognise that every child will progress and achieve the goals at different rates, however all children will participate in the curriculum. Where children progress quickly, we will deepen their learning, applying the skill to another context or supporting other children.

Our curriculum intentions are:

1. Every pupil is a Reader.

2. Every pupil is a Mathematician.

3. Every pupil is a Communicator.

4. Every pupil is proud of themselves.

5. Every pupil is Global Citizen.

6. Every pupil is Digitally Accomplished.

How is our curriculum being delivered?

Our curriculum is implemented through purposeful play, where we respond to each child’s needs and interests, guiding their learning and development through warm and positive interactions.

Through a ‘Planning in the Moment’ approach we identify any teachable moments and support children in the moment. We observe children’s play, assess what we see, plan how to respond and teach next steps immediately in a way that is uniquely suited to them and in that particular moment.

Experiences or activities are planned carefully and purposefully to enhance children’s learning and provision, providing challenging and enjoyable experiences to enable children to develop effectively.

Children will access provision indoors and outside, through enabling environments, engaging in valuable interactions with their peers and adults. The balance of activities planned and taught gradually shifts to help children prepare for their next step in their learning journey, including more formal teaching in Year 1.

Children make a strong start to phonics in Reception and we start this from day 1, using the RWI programme for phonics.  Children learn new sounds daily; learn to blend, read words and stories; and learn to spell words. Children's vocabulary grows through role-play, discussion, building sentences and using productive questioning. We place huge emphasis on developing children’s love of reading through enticing story and poetry times. 

Maths is interlinked within all areas of learning. Within provision children are encouraged to talk about number, shape, space and measures, in order to develop these early mathematical skills. We use ‘White Rose Maths’ schemes of learning for teaching mathematics. It is a mastery approach which enables all children to understand, enjoy and succeed in Maths. This is done by developing children’s understanding. By truly understanding each mathematical concept and by mastering learning one step at a time, everyone can do Maths! Children develop the right growth mindset, by solving problems using concrete resources, pictorial representations and abstract thinking.  

We provide enhancements to our provision, linking to children’s interests, events and religious celebrations throughout the year.