The Reception children at Wootton Bassett Infants’ School work within the Early Years Foundation Stage Framework (2021).  The teachers plan both adult directed and child-led tasks for the 7 areas of learning: 

• Communication and Language
• Physical Development
• Personal, Social and Emotional Development (PSED)
• Literacy
• Mathematics
• Understanding the World
• Expressive Art and Design.

These areas are linked to the termly topics wherever possible.  This topic-based approach helps to ensure that learning is cross-curricular and provides the children balanced and purposeful exposure to all the areas of learning.  Books, both story books and non-fiction books, are a key part in supporting children’s learning and are used in all areas of children’s learning including writing, ensuring children are working towards the Early Learning Goals.  Our Curriculum Map provides a good oversight of the topics being covered and how these link to each of the areas of learning.  All areas of learning are covered each week and learning through play is at the heart of the curriculum development. 

The Foundation Stage environment are arranged into areas – with a role play area, a writing area, maths focused resources, a reading corner and a creative area.  There is a wide-range of resources available to the children, including messy play areas such as sand and water play, tuff trays, construction toys, small world imaginative play, as well as a wide-range of English, maths and art-based resources such as mini whiteboards, magnetic boards and letters, literacy games, loose natural parts such as conkers and gems, peg boards, threading activities, paints, crayons, coloured paper, playdough.  The Foundation Stage outdoor play area was completely renewed in February 2020 and provides much more opportunities for outdoor play and outdoor continuous provision. Our outdoor learning space contains items support physical development such as a water pump and tunnels, a writing shed and maths resources for the children to explore.

Teaching is delivered either as a whole class, on a one-to-one basis or most often in groups, dependent on the children’s needs at the time. The children are taught phonics explicitly and discreetly using the Unlocking Letters and Sounds Programme and copies of the actions and letter formation are sent home for the children to practise.

Learning is embedded through continuous provision and opportunities are planned for the children to extend and reinforce learning delivered in both child led and teacher directed activities. The staff working with the Reception children will spend time listening to children and engaging with them in their play activities. To enrich the children’s learning, school trips are arranged throughout the term.  These visits usually include a visit to different places within Royal Wootton Bassett and a trip to an animal park towards the end of the year.  In addition usually a variety of visitors come into the school to talk to the children, such people who work in the emergency services and a dentist. 

The children usually take part in whole-school activities and initiatives such as Outdoor Learning Day, Book Week and Diversity Week. The children take part in performances at Harvest and the Nativity at Christmas in which they learn songs and perform for the parents and carers. They take part in the School’s Reading Challenge in which small prizes are awarded for those children who are regularly reading at home.  Usually, we have a Sharing Assembly in which two children from each class are chosen weekly to share their school achievements in assembly.