Our Reception class, as well as our Nursery class, makes up our amazing Early Year Foundation Stage (EYFS). Our Reception class are taught by their class teacher, Mrs Lewis. Because they share areas with our Nursery class, the children are also supported by Mr Harrington, our Nursery Class Teacher, as well as Mr Oddy, Mrs Gorman and Mrs Andrews, our Teaching Assistants across EYFS.

The EYFS starts from birth and continues to 5 years old. After our Nursery class has supported children to make the transition from home to school, we then support their transition into Reception. Before the children start their time in our Reception class, we begin thorough processes to support them and their families as they begin this important stage of their learning journey. We know that this is crucial for ensuring a smooth and successful transition.      

To guide our pupil’s learning, we follow the Early Years Curriculum (Development Matters). The curriculum is divided into three prime areas; PSED (Personal, Social and Emotional), PD (Physical Development) and C and L (Communication and Language) and then four more specific areas; Literacy, M (Maths), UW (Understanding the World) and EAD (Expressive Arts and Design). You can find more information about the Early Years Curriculum (Development Matters) here.

Phonics is such an important factor to a child’s whole learning. This begins in our Nursery class and continues throughout Reception through a scheme called Little Wandle. You can find out more information about this here. 

They also learn through Cornerstones topics and, each week, the learning is based around a book which is linked to the current topic. These topics are:

'Let’s Explore'

This main project teaches children about the environments that they share with others, including their homes, school and places in the local community.

'Build It Up'

This mini project teaches children about structures and materials and gives them the opportunity to work in groups to create collaborative structures.

'Marvellous Machines'

This interest-led main project teaches children about the technology that is part of their daily lives and how machines help us. The project gives children the opportunity to build and create marvellous machines.

'Puppets and Pop Ups'

This creative mini project explores puppets and pop up books and gives children the opportunity to make puppets and use them to tell exciting stories.

'Long Ago'

This main project teaches children about how they have grown and changed since they were babies and how life in the past was different from today.

'Stories and Rhymes'

This mini project teaches children about traditional stories and rhymes and gives them the opportunity to play with words and learn new vocabulary.

'Ready Steady Grow'

This main project teaches children about food and farming and explores themes, including where food comes from, what plants and animals need to grow and survive and what constitutes a healthy lifestyle.

'Signs of Spring'

This mini project teaches children about the changes that happen during the spring, including weather and the festivals that are celebrated at this time of year.

'Animal Safari'

This main project teaches children about the animals that live around the world, how to look after animals and the importance of caring for our local and global environments.

'Creep, Crawl and Wriggle'

This mini project teaches children about invertebrates that live in their gardens and local environment.

'On the Beach'

This main project teaches children about the plants and animals that live at the seaside. It also explores holidays in the past and the importance of keeping safe in the Sun.

'Move It'

This mini project teaches children about the importance of exercise, sleep and a balanced diet, and explores outdoor, summer games and activities.

'Moving On' 

This mini project celebrates the children’s successes throughout their Reception year. It explores how they have grown and changed and supports them with the changes to come as they move into Year 1.

Each and every day, the children have the opportunity to learn and explore both inside our engaging classroom environment and our fantastic outdoor area as they develop each area of the EYFS curriculum.  We support the children in their play as well as gradually introducing them to more formal types of lessons. Throughout the year, the children work towards the Early Learning Goals and, in the Summer term, we prepare them for the transition into our wonderful Year 1 class.

Our Reception class have their PE session on a Tuesday. You can find out more information on our PE sessions here. 

They spend time in our beautiful school library on a Thursday as we continue to embed our love of reading throughout the EYFS stage. We encourage you to promote this love of reading at home also by listening to your child read as often as possible.

On a Friday, our Reception class take part in an exciting outdoor learning session. You can find out more information about our outdoor learning sessions here.

Upon their admission, each child is provided with a complementary school water bottle and book bag which we asked is brought to school with them each day with their reading book and journal inside. We understand that accidents do happen and, whilst we do have some pre-loved clothing in school, we ask that spare clothes are provided each day if possible. Furthermore, we ask that weather appropriate items are provided; a coat if it is cold and/or raining and suncream and a sun hat in warmer weather. We advise that the children wear wellies for their outdoor learning sessions and they will definitely come in handy for exploring the mud kitchen! The children are welcome to leave their wellies in school but, as with everything, please ensure that they are named!

Each day, we provide the children in EYFS a healthy morning snack and the choice of milk or water alongside this.  If you wish to provide your child with a healthy snack yourself, you are more than welcome to do so. However, please be mindful that we are a nut free school.

Children in Reception, just like children in Years 1 and 2,  are entitled to a free school dinner each day as part of the government's UIFSM (Universal Infant Free School Meal) programme. You can find out more about this programme here. Further information on our school dinners can be found here.

Across our EYFS classes we use Tapestry, an amazing online journal that allows us all to celebrate the children's learning and achievements.  Both staff and Parents/Carers are able to contribute to the journal once set up to allow us to, together, 'weave' beautiful stories of each child's EYFS stage. This can then be downloaded at the end of the year.

We would be delighted to hear from you if you are interested in your child joining our wonderful Reception class. You can contact our school office via emailing office@bungayprimary.co.uk or via telephone on 01986 892 209.