Early Years Foundation Stage

Reception 2022

Welcome to our Early Years Foundation Stage (EYFS) page. We are a unit of Nursery (3 and 4 year olds) and Reception (4 and 5 year olds) children. Here you can find out all about our Reception classes and the learning that takes place. 

 

In our EYFS unit we intend for children to be ready, respectful and safe. Ready for the next stage in their learning journey. Ready to be challenged and to challenge themselves. 

 

We teach children to be respectful of others and of the many wonderful differences that make each child unique. We support children to feel safe through our positive relationships and our stimulating environment. We aspire for all children to feel safe to explore, manage their own risks and to make safe choices. 

 

We are determined for our children to be confident, independent and to believe in themselves. 

Miss Marley

EYFS lead and class teacher

Miss Walker

Class teacher

Mrs Capewell

Teaching assistant

Mrs Tofil-Potocka

Teaching assistant

We are very lucky to have a large learning area for the children to use.  The photos on the left are of our ‘big room’ and our two classrooms and the photos on the right are our outdoor area. All of these areas are where the children will choose their independent learning through play.  

Every class has at least one school councillor to help share their classes’ views and make changes across the school. 

Georgie

Ardern

Every class has at least 1 dojo master. The dojo masters help show visitors around school and explain what they are/have been doing in class.

Meghana

Kejti

Click on the tabs below to find out more information about each topic. Throughout the year we will also add pictures of memorable experiences and hooks! 

In this topic the children will learn all about traditional tales and how stories are structured. We will read 2 stories using our Talk for Writing skills. The children will learn to orally retell the story, draw a story hill, innovate/change the story and then retell their own version of the story. 

Also during this half term our topic work will include talking about feelings, changes in seasons and our families.

Quality Text

For this half term we will be focusing on characters and how to change them in the story.

This week we made a very exciting discovery. we had vegetables growing in the garden! We couldn’t believe our eyes. We dug and pulled the vegetables out of the soil. We found some carrots, celery, leeks, parsnips, potatoes, two small turnips and an enormous turnip! Once we had pulled them out of the ground, we decided to wash them to make sure they were nice and clean before putting them in the fridge ready to eat!

Memorable experience

This week, we used our vegetables that we have pulled out of the garden to cook in a soup.

We carefully peeled and chopped onions, carrots, parsnips, potatoes, tomatoes, pumpkins and, of course, some enormous turnips.

We then put the vegetables into a slow cooker along with 1 and a half litres of vegetable stock and left it to cook all day.

Finally, we all tried the vegetable soup. Most of us thought it was delicious.

This half term we are continuing with our topic – Will you read me a story? This is so the children continue to develop their understanding of how stories are structured.

We will look closely at characters and begin to describe them, labelling their attributes as well as focusing on problems and solutions to help develop the children in their own story-telling.

We will also learn about important dates and different celebrations during this half term including Remembrance day, Diwali, Children in Need, Bonfire night and Christmas.

Quality Text

Our text for this half term is The 3 Billy Goats Gruff. While we are reading this text we will be learning about problems and solutions. This will help us to develop our own story telling and add exciting parts to our stories.

Hook

You won’t believe what Miss Walker and Miss Marley had found it the garden!

Over half term, we noticed that some of the strawberry plants in the garden had been eaten! When we checked the cameras, we discovered that there was a lonely goat in the garden! We could not believe our eyes. We showed the children the camera footage straight away, and we decided that the goat must have been hungry.

It reminded us of a story we were going to learn about…

Memorable Experience

For our memorable experience we built bridges for the three Billy goats to cross. The bridge had to hold the goats for 10 seconds without squashing the troll. If we were successful we got to take our troll home. See the pictures below in Autumn 2 experiences to see how well we did.

Twinkle, twinkle, little star. Why are there stars in the sky at night? Does everyone go to bed at the same time? It’s time to find out more about night time.

This half term, we’ll be entering virtual space and talking about what we can see. Snuggling up with comfy cushions and blankets, we’ll listen to bedtime stories and nursery rhymes. Zzz… Wide awake once more, we’ll learn about people and services that work at night, the Hubble Telescope and nocturnal animals. We’ll also find out more about how good bedtime routines can have a positive impact on our health, and take part in a series of bedtime challenges. Ready, steady, brush your teeth! In our mathematics lessons, we’ll play with the shape and size of star patterns, and create moons of different sizes out of sparkly play dough.

Quality Text

In Reception we are learning the story – How to Catch a start by Oliver Jeffers. From this text we  look at problems and solutions, this will help us to develop our  own story telling skills.

Hook and Memorable Experience

We had the most exciting start to the year! The Planetarium came to visit our school! We came to school in our pyjamas and had a trip into the space dome.

We first looked at stars. We talked about different facts and discovered that the blue stars are even hotter than the sun! The red stars are less hot than the blue which really surprised us.

Next we looked at the solar system, then we looked at the sun through a telescope!

We then looked at the order of the planets and finally constellations.

We learnt about where constellations came from and why we have them. We learnt that there were 88 constellations that could be seen at different times of the year, but only at night!

We then went into more detail about the story of Orion’s belt.

Old Macdonald had a farm, e-i-e-i-o! Do cows drink milk? What are baby pigs called? It’s time to find out more about life on the farm and the animals that live there.

This half term, we’ll be recounting our trip to Bluebell farm. Talking about the different farm animals, crops and vehicles we saw.

We’ll create songs about the farm to sing as we play music instruments.

In our mathematics lessons, Reception will be learning all about the number 10. We will find one more and one less, begin to explore the number bonds to 10 as well as adding and subtracting with digits to 10.

.

Quality Text

In our Talk For Writing lessons, Reception will be writing instructions linked to our story ‘What the Ladybird Heard.’

Hook

While we were tidying up we found a strange box. We were very excited as we knew it was a treasure chest. Inside there were two sets of instructions. One for Miss Marley’s carpet and one for Miss Walkers. We followed the instructions and found a bag with bread, chocolate spread and a knife inside.

We gave our teachers instructions to follow so they could make a sandwich. We soon learned that our instructions needed to be clearer. Miss Marley found making a sandwich quite tricky.

Memorable Experience

Bluebell’s farm coming soon!

Incy wincy spider climbed up the waterspout! Why do ladybirds have spots? Why do spiders spin webs? It’s time to find out more about minibeasts and their habitats.
This half term, we’ll look under logs, leaves and stones for creatures that wriggle, crawl or fly. We’ll find out about minibeast habitats, features and colours, and compare them. Observing caterpillars and some other creepy crawlies too,  we’ll think about how they move. Can we move like that too?

Quality Text

For Talk for Writing this half term we are reading the poem ‘I love bugs’. We are learning all about different bugs and their features to help us innovate our own poem and talk about our favourite bugs.

Hook

Over the Easter holidays, we had a very exciting delivery… caterpillars! We are looking forward to watching them eat lots and grow even more. Soon they will turn into a chrysalis where they will grow into their adult stage, a butterfly!

Memorable Experience

Coming soon!

There’s an exciting world just below the surface of the rock pool. Which creatures live near the sea? Why do crabs have shells? We’ll find out the answers to these questions and more in this project about the seashore.

This half term, we’ll use our imagination to travel to the coast to visit the fascinating world of the British seashore. We’ll explore rock pools and collect ‘treasures’. We’ll use our senses to investigate man-made and natural seashore objects, including litter and pollution.

We’ll listen carefully to stories and poems about the seashore. By reading non-fiction books, we’ll find out lots of interesting facts, discovering which animals live in a rock pool and what they eat.

Using our mathematical skills, we’ll count jellyfish, solve problems and order shells. We’ll also measure handprints and footprints in the sand.

Using our art skills, we’ll make sculptures, create beach art and decorate shells and pebbles. It might get messy when we explore the texture of sand and create a fantastic sand art display!

Quality Text

For Talk for Writing we are reading ‘Billy’s Bucket.’ We will be using our knowledge of rock pools and the sea to innovate and use our imagination of what we might find in our bucket.

Hook

Coming soon!

Memorable Experience

Coming soon!

Experiences and opportunities 

This half term, our lovely parents came in to do some Autumn crafts which linked to our harvest festival.

The children performed their song they composed themselves about harvest festival. The children used a glockenspiel to create a melody.

They children also performed their talk 4 writing story ‘The Enormous Turnip’ using Makaton signs.

This was followed by lots of different craft activities.

Our parents joined us this half term so we could share our learning about ‘The 3 Billy Goats Gruff.’ We told them our story then we were set the challenge of building a bridge. We had to follow certain rules to be successful.

We had great fun building the bridges with our grown ups. Look how fab our bridges are!

This half term our parents came to see us perform our Talk for Writing story ‘How to catch a star.’ They then stayed to take part in some topic craft.

Things you need to know.

Please check Class Dojo for your child’s home learning. Also remember that reading with your child is part of their home learning. We would like you to read with your child at least three times a week.  

Our PE sessions are every Tuesday. The children enjoy learning different skills through gymnastics, dance and games. PE is led by Miss Marley and Miss Walker.  

 

As part of the curriculum children need to develop their independence when changing. Therefore children are currently removing their jumpers, socks and shoes. This will continue to happen until October half term. 

 

After October half term children will be changing into their PE kits. They will need a white t-shirt, black shorts/joggers or leggings and black pumps. All items will need to be labelled with your child’s name and placed into a PE bag also with their name on. 

Contact Us

Firs Primary School
Raven Street
Derby
DE22 3WA
Telephone: 01332 346230
Fax: 01332 200782
admin@firsprimary.derby.sch.uk

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