Welcome to Early Years
Welcome to Early Years at St Mary's Church of England Academy. Our Early Years has two seperate classes - Star Class and Rainbow Class.
In Rainbow Class we have Miss Bryan, Mr Garrod and Miss Hunt and in Star Class we have Miss Bailey, Miss Stower and Mrs King.
Reception - Our Learning Journey:
In Reception, children learn through a wonderful mixture of play, exploration, stories, conversations and carefully planned adult-led learning. Throughout the year, we help children to become increasingly confident, curious and independent learners.
Our curriculum is built around high-quality books and exciting themes, but we also follow the children’s interests and make the most of those magical moments of curiosity that happen along the way.
Learning Throughout The Year:
Across all three terms, children are continually developing their:
- Communication and language – listening, talking, asking questions and learning new vocabulary.
- Personal, social and emotional development – building relationships, understanding emotions, becoming resilient and developing independence.
- Physical development – running, climbing, balancing, throwing and catching alongside developing the fine motor control needed for drawing and writing.
- Love of reading and writing – through daily stories, Sounds-Write phonics and purposeful opportunities to read and write.
- Mathematical thinking – through practical exploration, games, discussion and problem solving.
- Understanding of the world – exploring nature, communities, cultures, beliefs, places and the past.
- Creativity and imagination – through art, music, dance, construction, storytelling and imaginative play.
Throughout everything we do, children are encouraged to explore, investigate, ask questions, have ideas, make connections and keep trying. We want every child to finish their Reception year seeing themselves as a capable, curious and enthusiastic learner, ready for the next stage of their journey at St Mary’s.
- Autumn Term - Me, My Family and Celebrations
Our themes: Marvellous Me, Me and My Family, People Who Help Us and Celebrations!
The autumn term is all about belonging. We help children settle happily into St Mary’s, build friendships and become confident members of our school family.
Children explore what makes them unique and special, talk about their families and learn about the people who help us in our community. As the term progresses, we explore different celebrations and traditions, including Harvest, Diwali, Bonfire Night, Remembrance, Advent and Christmas.
Through stories such as The Colour Monster, We’re Going on a Bear Hunt, The Little Red Hen, Owl Babies, Stick Man and The Nativity, children develop their vocabulary, imagination, understanding of emotions and love of books.
In phonics and literacy, children begin their Sounds-Write journey, learning letter-sound correspondences and how to blend sounds together to read simple words. They practise writing their names, forming letters and beginning to write simple words and labels.
In maths, children develop a deep understanding of numbers to 5. They learn to count carefully, recognise small quantities without counting, compare amounts and explore how numbers can be made in different ways. They also investigate pattern, shape, size, mass, capacity and the language of time.
Children explore autumn and winter, their own bodies, families and communities. They learn about different cultures and beliefs and begin to understand how life today may be different from life in the past.
Creativity is everywhere! Children paint self-portraits, create family pictures, build models, explore colour, make music, dance, bake and prepare for their very special Nativity performance.
Most importantly, children learn how to be at school – making friends, managing their feelings, developing independence, following routines and discovering that it is good to have a go, make mistakes and keep trying.
- Spring Term - Africa, Minibeasts and Growing
Our themes: Africa Alive, Incredible Minibeasts and A Long Way to Grow
In the spring term, our world gets bigger!
Children travel through stories and learning to Africa, comparing places, cultures, animals and environments with their own experiences in the UK. They use maps and globes, explore African music, dance, art and food and discover some wonderful African wildlife.
Our attention then turns to the natural world. Children investigate minibeasts, plants and life cycles, finding out what living things need in order to grow and survive. We grow plants, hunt for minibeasts, observe creatures carefully and may even welcome some very small visitors into our classroom!
Children continue developing as readers through daily Sounds-Write phonics. They become increasingly confident at blending sounds, reading words and sentences and talking about the books they read.
As writers, children move from words and labels towards captions and simple sentences. They write facts, lists, descriptions, instructions and observations, using their growing phonic knowledge to help them spell independently.
In maths, children deepen their understanding of numbers to 10. They explore number bonds, one more and one less, doubles, odd and even numbers and how numbers are composed. They also investigate 3D shapes, pattern, length, weight, capacity and time.
Children continue developing their independence and resilience. Through our PSHE learning, we explore goals, perseverance, healthy choices, exercise, food, sleep, keeping clean and knowing which adults can help to keep us safe.
Art, music and creativity bring our learning alive through African-inspired artwork, watercolours, observational drawing, dance, music, clay, model-making and our fabulous Ugly Bug Ball.
- Summer Term - Habitats, Animals and All At Sea
Our themes: A Place to Call Home, On the Farm, Animal Habitats, Arctic and Antarctic Animals and All at Sea
By the summer term, our Reception children are becoming confident, knowledgeable learners – and we encourage them to use everything they have learned throughout the year.
Children explore animals and their habitats, discovering how different creatures are suited to different environments. We investigate farms, the Arctic and Antarctic before diving beneath the waves for our final theme, All at Sea.
Children learn about sea creatures, oceans, floating and sinking and the importance of caring for our planet. We explore plastic pollution and think about the small things we can all do to protect our wonderful world.
Reading becomes increasingly fluent and independent. Children apply their phonics knowledge to longer words, sentences and appropriately levelled books. They retell stories, predict what might happen and talk confidently about characters, events and new vocabulary.
In writing, children create sentences, descriptions, facts, instructions, predictions, rhymes and poems. We encourage them to use capital letters, finger spaces and full stops and, importantly, to reread their writing to check that it makes sense.
In maths, children consolidate their understanding of numbers to 10, including number bonds, doubles, odd and even numbers, addition and subtraction. They explore larger sets, patterns and spatial reasoning and develop the confidence to explain their mathematical thinking.
Children continue to develop their physical skills through PE, outdoor learning and preparations for Sports Day. Creative experiences include music, painting, model-making, recycled art and under-the-sea projects.
As the Reception year draws to a close, we celebrate just how far the children have come. We help them recognise their strengths, talk about their feelings about moving into Year 1 and approach their next adventure with confidence and excitement.
