Reception Curriculum Overview

Autumn 2023

Our theme for this half term is ‘Over the Rainbow’. Our learning is guided by the children’s interests and the questions they ask us, as well as by the key skills and knowledge that get passed on through our inputs and provision.

Topic

Topic in EYFS covers a range of subjects – mark making, history, geography, music, science, art and computing. Our topics are half termly and allow for lots of investigation. During ‘Over the Rainbow’, we will be exploring emotions, weather, colours, and harvest festival. We enjoy lots of books during our time at school, but our key texts are Find Out About Feelings by Pat-a-Cake, Elmer's Weather by David McKee, and Elmer's Colours by David McKee.

Maths

In Maths, we follow units of work. This half term our units will be ‘match, sort and compare’, ‘talk about measure and patterns’, and ‘it’s me 1, 2, 3’. The key learning delivered through these are:

Matching objects and pictures and identifying a set of objects from a group.
Sorting according to type and creating sorting rules.
When counting, count out three objects from a larger group, and verbally count to 10 and beyond.
Represent numbers to 3 using a range of resources or written ideas.
Select, rotate, and manipulate shapes for play purposes.
Explore simple patterns, and continue, copy, and create ABAB patterns.
Explore size, mass, and capacity through practical activities.
Explore the combination of numbers to three and beyond.
Begin to recall some number bonds that make 10.
Form the numbers 1, 2 and 3 accurately.

Literacy

In Reception, we have opportunities for development in Literacy in all areas of our learning. We have Read Write Inc. sessions four times a week, regular opportunities for writing, mark making and reading through continuous provision, writing books for special pieces of work, reading escape time to share our love of high quality stories. Our learning is focused on:

Recognising the initial sound of words, recognising most single set one sounds, blending a word when an adult uses Fred talk, and forming cvc words using RWI skills.
Beginning to link sounds to letters when mark making or writing.
Mark making, explaining what my marks mean to an adult.
Beginning to independently write my name.
Showing a dominant hand when writing some recognisable letters.
Fostering a love of a range of books.

Physical Development

In Reception, we have access to lots of opportunities for physical development. We have our garden with a range of physical development resources, weekly physical education lessons, and an intervention programme called ‘Healthy Movers’ which is accessible to all children who choose to participate. This half term’s physical education unit is called ‘An Introduction to PE’ and encompasses key physical skills (running, jumping, catching, rolling, skipping) with important aspects of sportsmanship (safety, communication, honesty, confidence, determination, creative thinking). Our key focuses for this term are:

Showing safety when using bikes and scooters.
Showing refined and fluent walking, crawling, and running.
Choosing the resources needed to complete an activity independently.
Putting on my own PE kit with minimal support.
Managing my own toileting and cleanliness needs.
Using an appropriate pencil grip for forming some letters and drawing.
Showing effective scissor use.
Exploring a range of tools for different purposes e.g. pencils, pens, paintbrushes, scissors, cutlery.

Communication and Language

Whilst we do not complete specific lessons based on this, communication and language filters into all aspects of life in Reception. During their time in Reception, children will be working towards developing an age appropriate level of:

Showing careful listening and understanding why this is important.
Learning a range of new vocabulary from different resources and experiences and applying this new vocabulary to different scenarios.
Asking questions to find out more information, and answering who, where, when and why questions.
Using complete sentences when speaking, using conjunctions to join ideas and actions.
Adding detail to what they are saying for enhancement.
Using talk when solving a problem.
Developing a use of key social phrases including manners.
Listening to, and retelling a range of stories, songs, and rhymes, considering the patterns within them.
Engaging with a range of fiction and non-fiction books, recalling and retelling key aspects.

Personal, Social and Emotional Development

Personal, social and emotional development is another strand of learning which filters into all aspects of life in Reception. During their time in Reception, children will be working towards developing an age appropriate level of:

Identifying the emotions of self and others.
Showing patience, impulse control and regulation of own behaviour.
Following single and groups of instructions.
Showing focus when listening to other children and adults.
Understanding the importance of using the toilet, regular exercise, healthy eating, healthy sleep, and road safety.
Seeing themselves as an individual, showing resilience and perseverance.
Managing own toileting and dressing needs.
Building constructive relationships with other children and adults.
Expressing their own feelings and considering the feelings of others.
Showing sensitivity to the needs of others.
Taking turns when playing.

Understanding the World

Understanding the world is the third strand of learning which filters into all aspects of life in Reception. During their time in Reception, children will be working towards developing an age appropriate level of:

Talking about their family and community.
Discussing different places, their locations on maps and understanding how some places are special to certain people.
Understanding that not everybody celebrates the same special times or believes in the same religion.
Understanding that lives in different countries can be different to our own.
Recognising that the immediate area around our school might not be the same for all children, both in England and in other countries.
Exploring the natural outdoor world including using our senses, recording observations, as well as observing and interacting with natural processes.
Considering the effects of the changing seasons.

Expressive Art and Design

Expressive art and design is the final strand of learning that filters into all aspects of life in Reception. During their time in Reception, children will be working towards developing an age appropriate level of:

Exploring and refining artistic effects to express ideas and feelings.
Showing colour mixing skills to match the colours needed.
Sharing ideas, resources, and skills to create collaboratively.
Defining colours, shapes, textures and smells.
Listening to, moving, and talking about music and dance performances.
Singing and performing nursery rhymes, poems and stories.
Developing storylines in pretend play.
Using props and instruments to enhance storylines.

Spring 2024

Our theme for this half term is ‘Wonderful World'. Our learning is guided by the children’s interests and the questions they ask us, as well as by the key skills and knowledge that get passed on through our inputs and provision.

Topic

Topic in EYFS covers a range of subjects – mark making, history, geography, music, science, art and computing. Our topics are half termly and allow for lots of investigation. During ‘Wonderful World', we will be exploring food, languages, transport, clothing, toys, and Chinese New Year. We enjoy lots of books during our time at school, but our key texts are 'Welcome to Our World' and 'My World, Your World'.

Maths

In Maths, we follow units of work. This half term our units will be ‘mass and capacity’, 'growing 6, 7 and 8', and 'length, height and time'. The key learning delivered through these are:

Understanding the value of 0.
Verbally counting to 20 and beyond.
Subitising amounts to 8.
Linking numerals with their values within 8.
Counting up to 8 items from a larger group.
Selecting, rotating, and manipulating shapes for play.
Demonstrating effective use of balance scales.
Comparing mass using key vocabulary (heavier, lighter, mass).
Comparing capacity using key vocabulary (empty, full, nearly).
Correcting an incorrect pattern.
Completing an AAB pattern.
Understanding composition within 8.
Finding one more and one less.
Finding doubles within 8.
Combining two groups of amounts to find a total.
Beginning to recall the first six number bonds of 10.

Literacy

In Reception, we have opportunities for development in Literacy in all areas of our learning. We have Read Write Inc. sessions four times a week, regular opportunities for writing, mark making and reading through continuous provision. We use writing books for special pieces of work and reading escape time to share our love of high quality stories. Our learning is focused on:

Recognising almost all set one single sounds and digraphs.
Beginning to read a wider range of cvc words.
Linking sounds to letters to form simple words.
Mark making with increasing accuracy and neatness, explaining what my marks mean to an adult.
Holding a pencil effectively.
Writing my own name with accurate letter formation and no prompting.
Writing recognisable letters.

Physical Development

In Reception, we have access to lots of opportunities for physical development. We have our Early Years garden with a range of physical development resources, weekly physical education lessons, and an intervention programme called ‘Healthy Movers’ which is accessible to all children who choose to participate. This half term’s physical education unit is dance and encompasses physical skills (actions dynamics, space), social skills (working collaboratively, respectfully, collaboration), emotional skills (confidence, independence), and thinking skills (comprehension, selecting and applying actions, creativity). Our key focuses for this term are:

Negotiating space around us.
Developing a fluent style when using both small and large apparatus, indoors and outdoors.
Showing a sense of rhythm when moving to music.
Showing fluent movement around obstacles.
Travelling along a narrow platform.
Showing refined jumping and hopping movements.
Getting ourselves changed for PE with minimal support.
Preparing our own snack at the snack station.
Using a dynamic tripod pencil grip.
Forming most set one sounds accurately.
Showing effective use of scissors.
Becoming increasingly accurate when using a range of tools e.g. pencils, pens, paintbrushes, scissors and cutlery.

Communication and Language

Showing careful listening and understanding why it is important.
Learning a range of new vocabulary from different resources and experiences and applying this new vocabulary to different scenarios.
Asking questions to find out more information, and answering who, where, when and why questions.
Using complete sentences when speaking, using conjunctions to join ideas and actions.
Adding detail to what I am saying for enhancement.
Using talk when solving a problem.
Developing use of key social phrases including manners.
Listening to, and retelling, a range of stories, songs, and rhymes, considering the patterns within them.
Engaging with a range of fiction and non-fictions book, recalling and retelling key aspects.

Personal, Social and Emotional Development

Identifying the emotions of self and others.
Showing patience, impulse control and regulation of own behaviour.
Following single step and groups of instructions.
Showing focus when listening to other children and adults.
Understanding the importance of using the toilet, regular exercise, healthy eating, healthy sleep, and road safety.
Seeing themselves as an individual, showing resilience and perseverance.
Managing own toileting and dressing needs.
Building constructive relationships with other children and adults.
Expressing own feelings and considering the feelings of others.
Showing sensitivity to the needs of others.
Taking turns when playing.

Understanding the World

Understanding the World is the third strand of learning which filters into all aspects of life in Reception. During their time in Reception, children will be working towards developing an age-appropriate level of:

Talking about our family and community.
Discussing different places, their locations on maps and understanding how some places are special to people.
Understanding that not everybody celebrates the same special times or believes in the same religion.
Understanding that lives in different countries can be different to our own.
Recognising that the immediate area around our school might not be the same for all children, both in England and in other countries.
Exploring the natural outdoor world including using our senses and recording observations, as well as observing and interacting with natural processes.
Considering the effects of the changing seasons.

Expressive Art and Design

Expressive Art and Design is the final strand of learning that filters into all aspects of life in Reception. During their time in Reception, children will be working towards developing an age appropriate level of:

Exploring and refining artistic effects to express ideas and feelings.
Showing colour mixing skills to match the colours needed.
Sharing ideas, resources, and skills to create collaboratively.
Defining colours, shapes, textures, and smells.
Listening to, moving to, and talking about music and dance performances.
Singing and performing nursery rhymes, poems, and stories.
Developing storylines in pretend play.
Using props and instruments to enhance storylines.

Summer 2024

All classes in Early Years follow the same half-termly topics. This half term we are exploring habitats, which will be followed by an investigation into famous figures. Our learning is guided by the children’s interests and the questions they ask us, as well as by the key skills and knowledge that get passed on through our inputs and provision.

Topic

Topic in Early Years covers a range of subjects such as: mark making, history, geography, music, science, and computing. We allow opportunities for lots of investigative play and language development. As well as the focuses listed below, we take our learning in any direction the children are passionate about.

During our habitat unit, we will be exploring polar regions, birds, minibeasts, life cycles, endangered species, and plastic pollution. Our key texts for this unit are Oi Frog by Kes Grey and Jim Field, Home by Carson Ellis, and Wide, Wide Sea by Anna Wilson and Jenny Lovlie.

When we move onto the famous figures unit, we will be learning about our prime minister, David Attenborough, Emmeline Pankhurst, Martin Luther King, Isaac Newton, and Mary Anning. During this unit we will be looking at ‘Little People,

Big Dreams’ books.

Maths

In Maths, we follow units of work. The inputs and activities that we have are practical based and the children enjoy lots of investigating and problem solving as part of their maths development. Our units of work this term focus on building numbers from ten to twenty, adding and taking away to find how many now, manipulating shapes for a range of purposes, and sharing and grouping amounts. Our learning is focused on:

Verbally counting to 20 and beyond.
Recognising and representing numbers and explaining that there is a ten and an amount of ones.
Subitising amounts to 10, considering pattern and shape.
Linking numerals with their values to 10.
Counting up to 10 items from a larger group.
Selecting, rotating, and manipulating shapes for play, puzzles and problem solving.
Recalling number bonds of 5 and 10.
Calculating how many now when an amount is taken away or added.
Explain if an amount can be shared fairly or unfairly - considering odd and even.
Sharing amounts into a larger amount of groups.

Literacy

In Reception, we have opportunities to develop our Literacy skills in all areas of our learning. We have Read Write Inc. sessions four times a week, regular opportunities for writing, mark making and reading through continuous provision, writing books for special pieces of work, as well as reading escape time to share our love of high-quality stories. Our learning is focused on:

Using set one single sounds and digraphs to read and write words.
Reading cvc words fluently.
Beginning to read some red words.
Attempt to read non-RWI books for pleasure, discussing the images and letters or words we recognise.
Using full stops at the end of our sentences.
Mark making and drawing with increasing accuracy and neatness, explaining what my marks mean to an adult.
Beginning to use capital letters to begin a sentence.
Write longer pieces of writing (i.e. a phrase or a sentence).

Physical Development

In Reception, we have access to lots of opportunities for physical development. We have our Early Years garden with a range of physical development resources, weekly physical education lessons, and the addition of our new trim trail and bikes in the larger playground. Our first unit is games, which encompasses physical skills (changing direction, throwing, catching, striking), social skills (communicating, respect, turn taking and being helpful), emotional skills (perseverance, honesty, determination), and thinking skills (comprehension, selecting and applying actions, decision making).

The second physical education unit is ball skills and this encompasses physical skills (rolling, tracking, throwing, dribbling, kicking), social skills (co-operating, turn taking, working safely), emotional skills (perseverance, independence, determination, honesty), and thinking skills (comprehension, using tactics). Our key focuses for this term are:

Negotiating space safely thinking about myself and others.
Following a group of instructions.
Developing competence and accuracy when using ball skills.
Using more complex moving skills showing balance and co-ordination.
Playing ball games with consideration for the rules.
Persevering when trying new challenges.
Playing games honestly with consideration of the rules.
Showing an understanding of my feelings and regulating my behaviour.
Playing co-operatively and taking turns with others.

Communication and Language

Whilst we do not complete specific lessons based on communication and language, it filters into all aspects of our learning in Reception. During their time in Reception, children will be working towards developing an age-appropriate level of:

Showing careful listening and understanding why this is important.
Learning a range of new vocabulary from different resources and experiences and applying this new vocabulary to different scenarios.
Asking questions to find out more information, and answering who, where, when and why questions.
Using complete sentences when speaking, using conjunctions to join ideas and actions.
Adding detail to what I am saying for enhancement.
Using talk when solving a problem.
Developing a use of key social phrases including manners.
Listening to, and retelling, a range of stories, songs, and rhymes, considering the patterns within them.
Engaging with a range of fiction and non-fictions book, recalling and retelling key aspects.

Personal, Social and Emotional Development

Personal, social, and emotional development is another strand of learning which filters into all aspects of life in Reception. During their time in Reception, children will be working towards developing an age-appropriate level of:

Identifying the emotions of self and others.
Showing patience, impulse control, and regulation of own behaviour.
Following single and groups of instructions.
Showing focus when listening to other children and adults.
Understanding the importance of using the toilet, regular exercise, healthy eating, healthy sleep, and road safety.
Seeing themselves as an individual, showing resilience and perseverance.
Managing own toileting and dressing needs.
Building constructive relationships with other children and adults.
Expressing own feelings and considering the feelings of others.
Showing sensitivity to the needs of others.
Taking turns when playing.

Understanding the World

Talking about our family and community.
Discussing different places, their locations on maps and understanding how some places are special to people.
Understanding that not everybody celebrates the same special times or believes in the same religion.
Understanding that lives in different countries can be different to our own.
Recognising that the immediate area around our school might not be the same for all children, both in England and in other countries.
Exploring the natural outdoor world including using our senses, recording observations, as well as observing and interacting with natural processes.
Considering the effects of the changing seasons.

Expressive Art and Design

Expressive Art and Design is the final strand of learning that filters into all aspects of learning in Reception. During their time in Reception, children will be working towards developing an age-appropriate level of:

Exploring and refining artistic effects to express ideas and feelings.
Showing colour mixing skills to match the colours needed.
Sharing ideas, resources, and skills to create collaboratively.
Defining colours, shapes, textures, and smells.
Listening to, moving, and talking about music and dance performances.
Singing and performing nursery rhymes, poems, and stories.
Developing storylines in pretend play.
Using props and instruments to enhance storylines.

Dovecotes Primary School

"Spread your wings, learn new things, fly as high as you can"