Welcome to Acorns and Birch Class! We are the Reception children (Acorns) and Year 1 and 2 (Birch). Our teachers are Mrs Gilman and Mrs Billing. 

How do we support the learning of our EYFS children and those in Key Stage 1?

The Early Years Foundation Stage refers to provision in school for the preschool and Reception classes. We follow the EYFS Framework which explains how and what children will be learning from birth to 5 years old. This curriculum provides the foundations that children need in order to develop and make the most of their abilities as they grow. Children’s early years experience should be happy, active, exciting, fun and secure; and support their development, care and learning needs. Every child deserves the best possible start in life and the support that enables them to fulfil their potential. Children develop quickly in the early years and a child’s experiences before the age of five will have a major impact on their future life chances.

Children will learn skills, acquire new knowledge and demonstrate their understanding through 7 areas of learning and development.

Children should mostly develop the 3 prime areas first. These are:

• Communication and language (Listening, Attention and Understanding, Speaking)
• Physical development (Gross motor Skills, Fine Motor Skills)
• Personal, social and emotional development (Self Regulation, Managing Self, Building Relationships).

These prime areas are those most essential for a child’s healthy development and future learning.

As children grow, the prime areas will help them to develop skills in 4 specific areas. These are:

• Literacy (Comprehension, Word Reading, Writing)
• Mathematics (Number, Numerical Patterns)
• Understanding the world (Past and Present, People, Culture and Communities, The Natural World)
• Expressive arts and design (Creating with Materials, Being Imaginative and Expressive)

All 7 areas of learning are used to plan children’s learning and activities. The professionals teaching and supporting your child will make sure that the activities are suited to your child’s unique needs. Where appropriate, the EYFS curriculum is adapted to dovetail with the KS1 curriculum. See the example below.

It is designed to be really flexible so that staff can follow your child’s unique needs and interests.

We have recently held a workshop for parents of children in Reception and Year 1, exploring how to support early reading at home and how we teach it in school.