Reception (Kusama and Nelson)

Reception is the name given to a child’s first year at school. It is part of our Early Years Foundation Stage (EYFS). Children turn 5 years old during this academic year. Our two Reception classes are Kusama and Nelson, named after artists: Yayoi Kusama and Kristin Nelson.

“The earth, moon, sun and human beings all represent dots; a single particle among billions.”

-Yayoi Kusama

“I just want to paint.” Kristin Nelson

The children in Reception have a staggered start in September to ensure a smooth transition into their new surroundings. Once all children have started, they quickly enjoy their full time education. Their day is made up of structured teaching and small group time and there is lots of opportunities for free flow time where the children enjoy a range of activities of their choice, both inside and outside of the classroom. This structure allows the children to develop their learning at an age appropriate pace and supports them in their development of key areas such as social skills, communication and language and physical development.

We have developed our exciting curriculum to work around fun and engaging texts, which mirrors the whole school literacy approach.  Our new curriculum will allow lots of opportunities for child led learning, where the class teachers and nursery nurses can adapt activities so they work alongside the interest of our children.

Our classrooms are designed to support children’s engagement in a wide range of activities to support their fine and gross motor, writing, reading and creative development. Children are encouraged to explore their surroundings and take ownership of their classroom and learning. We encourage children to take risks and celebrate their achievements on an individual basis, class basis and as a whole school.

In Reception we start our phonics lessons in October - once the children have settled. We learn 4 sounds a week and introduce high frequency words alongside new sounds. We teach the children new sounds using Read Write Inc (RWI) and also use Makaton to help support different learning styles. 

Click here to read more about phonics at King Athelstan

It is really important that parents and carers support us and their children with reading. We encourage you to read to, or with your child every night and we deliver a reading workshop at the start of the school year, to give you the information you need to help your child at home.    

We have a daily maths session and maths areas within our environments that the children can access throughout the day. In maths we will be focusing on each child’s number sense to build up their fluency and confidence with number. We will then build upon this for adding taking away and comparing quantities. We will be learning about patterns with colours, shapes and numbers. We will be exploring different measures including length and height.

Children in Reception love sharing their WOW moments with us and we work very closely with families to provide an exciting and meaningful start to school.

Click here to see our EYFS video tour (September 2020)