WELCOME TO RECEPTION CLASS   

PARENT'S GUIDE TO THE EYFS

EYFS AT ST MICHAEL'S

SCHOOL READINESS

YEAR 1 READINESS

BRITISH VALUES

 

EYFS POLICY - UNDER CONSULTATION

QUIZ ME QUESTIONS SUMMER 1

CURRICULUM NEWSLETTER SUMMER 1

QUIZ ME QUESTIONS SPRING 2

CURRICULUM NEWSLETTER SPRING 2

QUIZ ME QUESTIONS SPRING 1

CURRICULUM NEWSLETTER SPRING 1

QUIZ ME QUESTIONS AUTUMN 2

CURRICULUM NEWSLETTER AUTUMN 2

QUIZ ME QUESTIONS AUTUMN 1

CURRICULUM NEWSLETTER AUTUMN 1

WELCOME TO RECEPTION

STARTING RECEPTION

 

Science Week 2025

This year’s theme for Science Week was ‘Change and Adapt’.

We took part in a whole school investigation – How does our height change over time?

 

We lined up in order of height and then in order of age. We found out that the tallest person is not the oldest but that the smallest person in reception is also the youngest.

We measured how tall we were using books – the average height of a child in reception is 5 books tall (105cm).

Rocket Reach

We also took part in an activity where we had to think about the Earth and the Moon and how far apart, they are. We designed and built paper rockets to fly between scale models of the two and changed and adapted our rockets if we needed to.

  

It is important that EYFS (Early Years Foundation Stage) participate in Science Week, in order to foster curiosity, encourage exploration, and develop early scientific thinking skills, aligning with the EYFS framework's principles and areas of learning.

 

World Book Day 2025 

Every year, at St Michael’s School, we celebrate World Book Day by dressing up as our favourite book character. This year in reception we had several Disney princesses, Rupert the Bear, Angelina Ballerina, Percy the Park-keeper and the witch from Room on the Broom, to name a few.  To finish off an exciting day all of the pupils and parents/ grandparents, in the school, were invited to our ‘Reading Café’, where we shared books and activities and ate delicious cupcakes.  

 

If you go down to the woods today! 

Reception class received an invitation to join the teddy bears, at their picnic, in the woods.  When they got into the woods there was no sign of the bears; they listened to the ‘Teddy Bears Picnic’ song (by Henry Hall) before searching for the missing bears, who were hiding amongst the trees! While they listened to the song again, they shared jam sandwiches with the teddies.  Afterwards they enjoyed exploring the woods; climbing, hiding, swinging, digging and making before having hot chocolate and marshmallows and crispy cake. 

In school the reception class have been thinking about ‘musical stories.  In the woods the children listened carefully to the lyrics and moved to the music, with their bears.  Music is a vital part of the Early Years Foundation Stage (EYFS) curriculum. It helps children develop in many ways, including their language, communication, and social skills. 

The reception teacher at St Michael’s Primary School is a level 3 trained Forest School Leader and the reception class get to experience Forest School on a weekly basis.  Forest School in the EYFS framework refers to an educational approach where children learn primarily outdoors in a natural environment, often through hands-on exploration and activities, which aligns well with the EYFS principles by supporting development across various areas like communication, physical skills, and social-emotional well-being, all while encouraging risk-taking and a connection with nature; essentially, it's a way to incorporate outdoor learning into the early years curriculum, fostering holistic development through nature-based experiences.  

    

 

Understanding the World

Reception have just started a new topic all about forces. Over the next half term, they will be exploring different types of forces and talking about what they notice.

To begin the topic, we have been exploring pushes and pulls. We focused on tractors and how they are used on farms to pull heavy machinery, such as ploughs and trailers. We talked about tractors having powerful engines and very big wheels to make them good at pulling. We also explored tractor tyres and looked at the heavy treads which help them move across muddy fields.

The reception children enjoyed exploring our toy tractors in the outdoor area before farmer Sam brought his real tractor for us to look at. The children couldn’t believe how big it really was.

Forces make things move, change shape and balance. Children experience forces from the day they are born and will have experimented with their effects. Understanding the World (UW) is one of the four specific areas of learning in the EYFS framework. It involves guiding children to make sense of their physical world through opportunities to explore, observe and find out about people, places and the environment.

  

 

Wheelchair Basketball

Nate Pattinson, from Carlisle, who is a world champion basketball player, annually visits our school. Every child throughout school has the opportunity to have a go in the purpose-built wheelchair.

All of the children in reception thoroughly enjoyed the experience and they all managed to manoevre the wheelchairs with ease. They particularly enjoy bashing into each other (and their teacher!)

  

 

Our School Field

At St Michael’s School we are very lucky to have extensive school grounds. Reception love to take time to spend out on our school field. Everyday we take part in the ‘daily mile’ – some of the children can run six laps (which is almost a mile). We also enjoy climbing, balancing and exploring the play equipment, also used for OPAL.

In the EYFS (Early Years Foundation Stage), "climbing" refers to a play activity that is crucial for young children's development, as it helps them build essential physical skills like balance, coordination, strength, and spatial awareness, while also promoting problem-solving and confidence through navigating different climbing structures; it is considered a key part of gross motor development within the EYFS framework.

   

 

Outdoor Environment

The Early Years Foundation Stage (EYFS) emphasises the importance of outdoor play for children’s development and at St Michael’s we take every opportunity we can to play outside.

Being outdoors has a positive impact on children’s sense of wellbeing and helps all aspects of children’s development. It offers opportunities for doing things in different ways and on different scales from being indoors and gives children first-hand contact with weather, seasons and the natural world.

Our outdoor environment offers children freedom to explore, use their senses, and to be physically active and exuberant.

    

 

PE

PE lessons are the highlight of the week in reception. In the Spring term our focus was on gymnastics. We learned to jump and land safely, create different shapes with our bodies and were able to use a range of small and large equipment safely.

Physical Education (PE) is important in Early Years Foundation Stage (EYFS) because it significantly contributes to a child's overall development, promoting not only physical health and fitness but also essential skills like coordination, balance, social interaction, and cognitive abilities, laying the foundation for a healthy active lifestyle later in life.

  

 

Susan’s Farm

Twice a year reception class visit Susan’s Farm.  Susan’s Farm is an organic farm, in Houghton near Carlisle. 

As part of our curriculum, we learn about ‘what happens on a farm?’.  We find out why farms are important and we learn about some of the features of a farm. 

When reception visited Susan’s Farm,  for a morning in February, it was a very wet and windy day.  All of the children showed great resilience despite the muddy conditions and enjoyed exploring the space by running and jumping through puddles.  They got to meet Runrig the bull and the other long horn cattle, they fed the chickens, explored a variety of objects including a marvellous barn owl and drank hot chocolate and ate flapjack! 

We are looking forward to returning for a full day in May. 

A farm visit in the EYFS (Early Years Foundation Stage) covers many parts of the curriculum including understanding the world; through hands on interaction, sensory experiences, vocabulary development, physical development and social and emotional development.  

  

   

  

 

Drawing Club -

In ‘Drawing Club’ this week Reception have been watching the animation ‘Tom and Jerry’.  Today they had to draw what they thought the inside of Jerry’s mouse hole might look like.  They used their imaginations to create some wonderful drawings. 

In reception ‘Drawing Club’ is one of our favourite times of the day.  After listening to a traditional tale, a well-known story or and animation from the past, the children are taken on an adventure with words, actions and descriptive drawings.

  

 

Forest Work - Bear Hunting

Today we’ve all been on a bear hunt! We found lots of mud - we couldn’t get over it or under it - we had to go through it!!! 

 

Forest School - 

Happy days at forest school today.  We made our own paintbrushes and paints then we had hot chocolate - a perfect afternoon for everyone.

On one of our other visits we played hide and seek, followed by toasting marshmallows and then a story.

We have certainly had lots of happy faces on our visits to the forest. 

 

 

PE - Parachuting

It was a parachute kind of day in PE today. We all really enjoyed working together as part of a team.

 

New Beginnings - Start of term

This picture was the beginning of a new chapter for the children. I'm sure they will all look back at this day and remember the friendships and memories they made whilst at school.