1 minute read
The Curriculum
from St Nicolas
The Foundation Stage
The Reception year has its own distinct curriculum tailored to the needs of these young children, which sets out Early Learning Goals for:
-personal, social and emotional development communication and language
-physical development
-literacy
-mathematics
-understanding the world
-expressive art and design
Our Reception children work in stimulating, creative and secure environments which are well-resourced and carefully organised. We believe in ‘playful learning’, a play-based approach in which our children learn through a balance of purposeful play, teacher directed work, and activities that the children initiate themselves. There is a strong emphasis on meeting individual needs.
Much emphasis is also placed on the children’s social and emotional development, on settling into school life, on learning to be part of a larger group, on developing independence and on building positive relationships with their peers and adults around them. Staff take a highly positive, consistent approach to behaviour management. Year groups mix regularly in a range of contexts across the school and our older children delight in becoming ‘buddies’ to the younger.
Close handover with feeder settings and careful, ongoing assessment of children’s abilities during the first few weeks they are in school allows us to establish and then build on what they already know, understand and can do. Assessment of progress in learning continues on an on-going basis throughout the year.. We value parents’ views and knowledge of their children and work closely together to ensure a highly positive start to school life.
By the end of the school year, we ensure that the children in Reception are ready to make the transition into Year 1 through a carefully planned handover. The children visit their new class and meet their teacher towards the end of their last term in Reception, and of course, being a smaller school, the children already have the advantage of being familiar with the other classrooms and adults around.
