Nursery and Reception Classes (EYFS)
Early Years Foundation Stage
At Wroughton, we have two Reception classes. Our School Nursery opened in September 2022.
Four guiding principles that shape our practice in early years are:
- Every child is a unique child, who is constantly learning and can be resilient, capable, confident and self-assured.
- Children learn to be strong and independent through positive relationships.
- Children learn and develop well in enabling environments with teaching and support from adults, who respond to their individual interests and needs and help them to build their learning over time. Children benefit from a strong partnership between practitioners and parents and/or carers.
- The importance of learning and development. Children develop and learn at different rates.
This is achieved through a curriculum focused on seven areas of learning The Statutory Framework for the EYFS states that “All areas of learning and development are important and interconnected.
Three areas are particularly important for building a foundation for igniting children’s curiosity and enthusiasm for learning, forming relationships and thriving.
These are the prime areas:
- Communication and Language
- Physical Development
- Personal, Social and Emotional Development
The four specific areas through which the three prime areas are strengthened and applied are:
- Literacy
- Mathematics
- Understanding the World
- Expressive Arts and Design
During the day the children will take part in activities covering all aspects of The Early Years Foundation Stage curriculum, sometimes individually, in small groups or as a whole class. The curriculum will be taught both indoors and outdoors.
We also develop the Characteristics of Effective Learning which help children to be successful learners throughout life:
- playing and exploring – children investigate and experience things, and ‘have a go’
- active learning – children concentrate and keep on trying if they encounter difficulties, and enjoy achievements
- creating and thinking critically – children have and develop their own ideas, make links between ideas, and develop strategies for doing things
Phonics
Children in Nursery and Reception all engage with our very structured and rigorous ‘Read Write Inc’ Phonics Programme. As well as regular teaching of the necessary decoding skills to read, we also regularly assess children, move their groups based on prior attainment and ensure they are working towards a national level of achievement.
More information for parents can be found at http://www.ruthmiskin.com/ or https://www.oxfordowl.co.uk/for-home/
English Curriculum
We have a wonderful English curriculum at Wroughton Academies, which has a clear structure for children to learn how to develop their spoken language, understanding and comprehension into written work. We follow the ‘Read to Write’ scheme in Reception, which uses rich texts to develop the skills needed to become successful writers. It allows us to teach writing through children’s high-quality literature (Vehicle Texts). The units of work centre on engaging, vocabulary-rich texts, with a wealth of writing opportunities. Several of these carefully selected Vehicle Texts have strong thematic links to other curriculum areas.
Maths Curriculum
We use the ‘White Rose’ scheme. We ensure that there is a focus on mastery principles and an early focus on number and place value. It is also important that children are able to calculate and reason at a more complex level as their knowledge develops.
