EYFS

The Early Years Curriculum is made up of seven areas of Learning and Development:

Prime Areas

Personal, Social and Emotional Development

Self-regulation

Managing self

Building relationships

Physical Development

Gross motor skills

Fine motor skills

Communication and Language

Listening, attention and understanding

Speaking

Specific Areas

Literacy	Comprehension Word reading Writing
Mathematics	Number Numerical patterns
Understanding the World	Past and present People, culture and communities The natural world
Expressive Arts and Design	Creating with materials Being imaginative and expressive

The Prime Areas are fundamental and work together to support children through all other areas of learning. The Specific Areas include essential knowledge and skills for children to be able to participate successfully in society.

Characteristic of Effective Learning

The children also learn through the three "Characteristics of Effective Learning", which are:

Playing and exploring: engagement	Children investigate and experience things, and 'have a go'
Active learning: motivation	Children concentrate and keep on trying if they encounter difficulties, and enjoy achievements
Creating and thinking critically: thinking	Children have and develop their own ideas, make links between ideas, and develop strategies for doing things

These Characteristics of Effective Learning can be used across all Areas of Learning and align well with our Core Values.

Curriculum

In Reception, as per the rest of the school, we teach topics which are based around a Key Question, with humanities learning guided by a series of Big Questions.

Term	Topic	Curriculum Coverage
Autumn 1	What do I know about me?	At the start of this term, there will be a strong focus on settling in, building relationships and helping children feel safe and confident in their new environment. During our 'What do I know about me?’ topic, the children will be learning about their bodies, including naming different body parts, and creating their own self portraits. We will also be talking about how we have changed since we were babies, helping children to reflect on their growth and development. We will explore ways to keep ourselves healthy including discussions about exercise and food. Our key texts for this half term are ‘You Choose’ by Nick Sharratt and ‘Funny Bones’ by Janet and Allan Ahlberg.
Autumn 2	Is everybody's home the same?	This half term, we will be exploring what a home is and how homes can be different. The children will learn about homes from the past, as well as homes in hot and cold countries. We will read the traditional tale ‘The Three Little Pigs’ and ‘Peepo’ by Janet and Allan Ahlberg to support our learning. Towards the end of this half term, we will explore the winter season, including how the weather changes and how we can keep warm. We also investigate what happens to water when we freeze it.
Spring 1	Is Earth the only planet?	At the start of the spring term, we will be exploring the topic of space. The children will learn about planets, what it is like on the moon and whether we can travel to space. We will also learn about the job of an astronaut and find out how we can look after our own planet, Earth. The children get to experience lots of role play by dressing up as an astronaut and pretending to travel to space. We also look closely at the Starry Night painting by Vincent Van Gogh and attempt to create our own using lots of swirly and curvy lines. We will enjoy looking at a range of space non-fiction books as well as the stories ‘Whatever Next’ by Jill Murphy and ‘The Way Back Home’ by Oliver Jeffers.
Spring 2	Where does this story take you?	This half term, children will explore a wide range of traditional tales, including ‘Jack and the Beanstalk’ and ‘The Gingerbread Man’ as well as enjoying the story ‘Handa’s Surprise’ by Eileen Browne. We will plant seeds and learn about the life cycle of a bean, explore how characters differ between stories and create simple maps inspired by our books. Through ‘Handa’s Surprise’, children will also learn about life in Kenya and how it is different from our local area and explore healthy eating, making their own fruit salad to enjoy.
Summer 1	Are all mini beasts scary?	The children will learn what minibeasts are, what they eat, where they live and how they help our planet. They will enjoy taking part in bug hunts and creating their own minibeast hotels, as well as observing first hand as our very own caterpillars grow and turn into butterflies. We also explore the art work of Henri Matisse and create our own snail paintings using different collage materials. Our key texts this half term are ‘The Very Hungry Caterpillar’ by Eric Carle and ‘What the Ladybird Heard’ by Julia Donaldson which will support our learning through stories and discussion.
Summer 2	Who can I ask for help?	During our ‘Who can I ask for help?’ topic, the children will learn about different jobs including dentists, doctors, nurses, fire fighters and police officers, and understand how they help us in our everyday lives. They will explore what the high street was like in the past and learn who to call in an emergency. The children will also enjoy special visits from the police and the fire service with a fire engine and a police car to bring our learning to life! At the end of the summer term, children will start to spend time thinking about going to Year 1, meeting their new teachers, visiting their new classrooms and joining children in the playground for morning break times.

Daily Structure

Children in Reception at Gidea Park learn through a balance of child-led play and adult-led activities. Adult-led activities include short, interactive carpet sessions, which include phonics, maths, topic work, sharing a story and singing songs. We teach three carpet sessions each day, which gradually get longer during the course of the year. Throughout the week children will work with an adult as part of a small teaching group to complete a specific task or activity.

Our learning environment both indoors and outdoors is set up to support your child to play, learn new skills and challenge themselves. Adults are available during this time to observe, interact and add new skills into children’s play.

Assessment

Children are assessed in a range of ways in Reception. Assessment is mostly ongoing and is collected through observations of children in their play. We also collect a range of work in their Learning Journal, which shows progress and the acquisition of new skills across all areas of the curriculum. Children complete a phonics assessment at the end of each half term so progress can be closely tracked.

By the end of the Reception year, children are assessed against statements known as ‘Early Learning Goals’, which show what a child should typically achieve. Across the year we will be teaching your children the skills that will enable them to meet these goals. Below you will find the specific goals for Literacy and Maths:

Comprehension

Demonstrate understanding of what has been read to them by retelling stories and narratives using their own words and recently introduced vocabulary; - Anticipate – where appropriate – key events in stories; - Use and understand recently introduced vocabulary during discussions about stories, non-fiction, rhymes and poems and during role-play.

Word reading

Say a sound for each letter in the alphabet and at least 10 digraphs; - Read words consistent with their phonic knowledge by sound-blending; - Read aloud simple sentences and books that are consistent with their phonic knowledge, including some common exception words

Writing

Write recognisable letters, most of which are correctly formed; - Spell words by identifying sounds in them and representing the sounds with a letter or letters; - Write simple phrases and sentences that can be ready by others.

Number

Have a deep understanding of number to 10, including the composition of each number; - Subitise (recognise quantities without counting) up to 5; - Automatically recall (without reference to rhymes, counting or other aids) number bonds up to 5 (including subtraction facts) and some number bonds to 10, including double facts.

Numerical patterns

Verbally count beyond 20, recognising the pattern of the counting system; - Compare quantities up to 10 in different contexts, recognising when one quantity is greater than, less than or the same as the other quantity; - Explore and represent patterns within numbers up to 10, including evens and odds, double facts and how quantities can be distributed equally.