Starting Reception

Welcome to Reception at Polperro Primary Academy

We are delighted that your child has been offered a Reception place at Polperro Primary Academy for September.

For those of you whose children already attend our Nursery; thank you for continuing your journey with us, and for those who are new to our school; we welcome you. We are a thriving community and we are very excited to welcome you to our school. We look forward to getting to know your child when they start with us in September.

As a school, we are committed to smooth and timely transitions that allow the children to settle in, get to know their teachers and make new relationships with their friends. We fully believe that parents and carers play a key role in this transition. We will be holding this year's transition sessions on 28 June and 6 July.

Meanwhile, please have a look at the rest of our website where you can find out more about our school.

We are really excited about seeing you all at our transition sessions and in September.

Mrs Anthea Hillman

Head of School, Polperro Primary Academy

EYFS (Early Years Foundation Stage) at Polperro School

Early Years Foundation Stage Statutory Framework We follow the Early Years Foundation Stage (EYFS) Statutory Framework, a government document that all schools and Ofsted-registered early years providers in England must follow. It sets standards for the learning, development and care for your child from birth to 5 years old. The standards ensure your child will learn and develop well and is kept healthy and safe.

The EYFS Framework outlines seven areas of learning and development and educational programmes. There are 3 Prime areas of learning which are particularly important for your child's development and future learning: Communication and Language; Personal, Social and Emotional Development; Physical Development.

There are 4 specific areas of learning, through which the prime areas are strengthened and applied: Literacy; Mathematics; Understanding the World; Expressive Arts and Design.

The EYFS Framework identifies 3 characteristics of effective teaching and learning: Playing and Exploring; Active Learning; Creating and Thinking Critically.

Communication with Parents and Carers At Polperro Primary Academy we recognise that parents are children’s first teacher. We will have parent consultation sessions each term. Parents are always able to speak briefly to Penhallow class staff in the mornings but if you have any questions or concerns that need a bit more time please make an appointment with us for a longer talk.

Class Blog On our school website we have our own Class Blog - we update this regularly with class news, photos and messages. We will provide information on current topics, suggestions on how you can help at home and future events.

Learning Journeys - Tapestry To communicate and celebrate and share your child’s learning with you, we use a safe, online programme called Tapestry to record your child’s learning and development. You will be able to access the photos, videos and write ups of the observations we have made on your child and add some of your own. We may also have books in class for writing and recording your child’s other work, such as paintings and drawings.

Learning in Penhallow Class We follow the EYFS Development Matters Curriculum and children continue to work within this framework through developmentally appropriate stages leading to the Early Learning Goals at the end of their Reception year.

Learning is play based and learning objectives are clearly planned for all children to develop to their full potential in all 7 areas of learning. We will regularly talk with your child and feedback about their learning. This is an approach that focuses on open ended activities, individual needs and next steps for learning. During their time with us, the children develop their social and emotional skills and learn to work purposefully in large and small groups. We plan challenges and learning activities which allow children to develop physically, emotionally and build on their communication and language skills. We make links in their learning and encourage independence through structure in a safe and welcoming environment. We use indoors and outdoors for our learning. Children can access our small playground through the whole day. Children spend focussed time learning in Maths and English with grown-ups in small groups, 1:1 and whole class. They build on and develop new skills while accessing the play provision which has been planned specifically to meet the children’s stage of development. Playing with the provision enables children to explore, investigate and make sense of the world around them. Play allows children to be challenged in their thinking and helps them to practise and rehearse skills and to be motivated in their learning. Children are inquisitive and curious and we wish to build upon this in a fun, positive and enjoyable manner. The adults monitor and observe children and then assess and plan for new learning opportunities, enhancing the play activities based on the children’s interests and likes.

Outdoor Learning We use the outdoor space that we have available as much as possible, this includes our school garden, field and other outdoor areas we are lucky to have around our school. We take our learning outside whatever the weather! Outdoor play also supports child problem-solving skills and nurtures their creativity, as well as providing rich opportunities for their developing imagination, inventiveness and resourcefulness.

Phonics We have a Phonics session every morning which lasts for 20-25 minutes where we follow the Twinkl Phonics systematic synthetic phonics programme. During this this time we revisit previously taught sounds and learn new sounds and tricky words each week. Linked to this, we send home an information sheet about this week’s learning, weekly phonics mini-books and decodable reading books.

Trips and visitors Where we can, we try to enhance your child’s learning by providing exciting extra experiences. In previous years, have we baked bread with a professional chef, visited Liskeard Fire Station when we were learning about The Great Fire of London and visited Penhallow woods when we went on a ‘Bear Hunt’.

We hope you have enjoyed finding out about learning at Polperro Primary Academy. We look forward to seeing you soon and cannot wait to start learning with you.