Welcome to Reception; below you will find an overview of the children’s learning for the year in the seven different areas of learning.
Communication and Language Milestones
Expressive Arts & Design (EAD) Milestones
Personal Social and Emotional Development (PSED) Milestones
Physical Development Milestones
Understanding the World Milestones
Details regarding half termly projects and further information about phonics, religious education, sports and PSED can be found below.
Book List
Reception Book List – a selection of books from this list will be studied in English lessons in reception.
Autumn 1 Learning: All About Me
Our first project provides us with lots of wonderful opportunities to get to know our children really well. We will be learning all about the children’s interests, families, homes and hopes and dreams for the future. WOW experiences will include an exciting ‘Careers Day’ where we will be dressing up and inviting lots of visitors into school to tell us about their jobs. We will also be participating in exploratory walks around our school building and grounds to find out more about our school.
| Phonics | Religious Education | Physical Development |
| Physical Development | PSED |
Each class has Forest School block 1 for one half term in either Autumn 1, Autumn 2 or Spring 1.
Autumn 2 Learning: Celebrations
This half term will focus on a range of exciting celebrations that many of our children may have experienced with their families. We will be learning about Bonfire Night, supported by a visit from the fire brigade. We will be holding a special ‘Diwali Day’ to find out more about this special Festival of Light and we will be making our own diva lamps, as well as designing mehndi and Rangoli patterns. Christmas will provide a big thread through our learning as we prepare for our Christmas performance, as well as making Christingles and even welcoming a friendly Christmas elf into our classrooms!
| Phonics | Religious Education |
| Physical Development | PSED |
Spring 1 Learning: To Infinity and Beyond
This project explores the theme of space with an exploration of the solar system, the galaxy and the universe! We will be tasting some actual space food and baking some ‘asteroid rock cakes’, as well as enjoying turning some household junk into wonderful space ships and control panels. We are especially excited about inviting a real astronomer into school to help us with our learning
| Phonics | Religious Education |
| Physical Development | PSED |
Spring 2 Learning: The Land Before Time
This half term we will be learning about how the earth has changed since the dinosaurs were alive. We will be investigating the things we can see when we look out of our classroom window and comparing this view to what may have been there 65 million years ago (this will also include a little look at how the school building has changed since it was first built). We will learn about lots of different dinosaurs and children will participate in a fossil hunting workshop, whereby we will be digging and dusting for real fossils. A particular highlight of the project involves the dissection of some dinosaur poo!
| Phonics | Religious Education | Physical Development |
| Physical Development | PSED |
Each class has Forest School block 2 for one half term in either Spring 2, Summer 1 or Summer 2.
Summer 1 Learning: How Does your Garden Grow?
Our summer learning begins with an exploration of where our food comes from. We will be planting seeds in different environments and observing them as they grow. We will be learning about the different parts of a plant, as well as what happens when seeds get scattered. A trip to Smithills Farm will support us with our investigation into where our food comes from and will give us the opportunity to feed and stroke the animals. This will be followed by a walk to Westbrook Orchard to learn more about pollination and germination.
| Phonics | Religious Education |
| Physical Development | PSED |
Summer 2 Learning: All Around the World
Our final project of the year will involve an imaginary trip around the world, learning all about our favourite countries, including a special focus on the United Kingdom and Hong Kong. We will be tasting foods from around the world, trying on multi cultural clothes, learning about famous landmarks and even practising speaking in some new languages! We also look forward to inviting some members of our local community into school to talk to the children about life in different countries.
| Phonics | Religious Education |
| Physical Development | PSED |