The Foundation Stage Curriculum
The experiences and activities provided in the Reception classes are based on the Early Years Foundation Stage framework. This curriculum consists of seven main areas;

• Communication and Language
• Physical Development
• Personal, social and emotional development
• Literacy
• Mathematics
• Understanding the world
• Expressive arts and design

Within the Reception classes these seven areas are planned for through cross-curricular topics as well as planned and child initiated play activities. Indoor and outdoor play and activities are provided to enable the children to learn in different environments. The children also experience Forest School activities on the school grounds which inspire and develop their interest in the environment.

The Importance of Phonics
The teaching of phonics is a priority within the early years of school. Children experience daily phonic sessions where they follow a programme involving;

• Hearing and identifying sounds around them
• Learning the individual sounds (phonemes) that letters in the alphabet represent
• Learning phrases which help them to remember the letters and the sound that they represent
• Sounding out and then blending back together the individual letters from a word to read it
• Learning that some sounds are represented by more than one letter eg; sh, ch, th
• Using their ever developing phonic knowledge to read independently

The 'Read, write inc' resources and teaching methods are used to teach the children in phonic sessions.

A resource to help with the sounds (phonemes) taught can be found at https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=W3HRX2ywbog&feature=youtu.be