Author: Smith2, Lucy

Lawley Primary School
Reception
“This is how we do it”
Handbook
2023—24

Guiding Principles:
All adults in Reception are there to support children to feel happy, safe and confident so that they can explore, learn and play independently.
Children will achieve their full potential so long as all the petals below are in place. If one or more are missing then success will be harder to achieve.

Organised systems of observation and assessment

Partnership with parents

Sustained periods of play

Ground rules to ensure all are safe

We must
always have in place

Accessible and well-organised resources

Enthusiastic, consistent and flexible staff

Supportive management

Routines:
Start / End of Day
An adult will greet the children and parents warmly as children enter in the morning.
Pass on any messages either verbally or as a written note to class teacher/adult in charge. Nb. This is NOT for anything confidential, just parent/child’s name and brief comment if needed. Ensure the parent knows you will do this. If they have an issue that needs addressing immediately this should take priority.
Children should enter by themselves.
A member of staff should be on hand standing in the corridor to support less confident children and ensure they are behaving appropriately.
At home time an adult will stand at each class door and another adult will supervise the children in the line.
Do not let children go home unless you are sure that they have been collected by the correct person. If you are unsure send a message to the office.
Any parent needing to be told about first aid administered to their child will also be told at this point.

Ground rules:
Ground rules, which are underpinned by the school golden rules, must be established and be consistent from day 1:
Everyone must be respectful towards each
other—this will be taught by example and intervention wherever unkindness is observed.
Everyone must walk and talk indoors—running and shouting is for outside play.
Everyone must take care of everything in the classrooms and outside.
Conflict Resolution:
A vital part of our teaching is conflict resolution.
Each time a child ‘tells a tale’, or we observe conflict occurring, we view it as a teaching opportunity.
Children are encourage to solve problems in their own words e.g. ‘Can I play with that in a few minutes?’ ‘Please stop doing that it’s making me feel unhappy. ‘
Only when children have tried to resolve a conflict but are still not listening to each other should an adult step in.

The curriculum:
The Reception curriculum is split into 7 key areas of learning. There are 3 prime areas, which are the most important. These are Communication and Language, Personal, Social and Emotional Development and Physical Development. The other 4 specific areas are: Literacy, Maths, Understanding the World and Being Creative.
Children’s learning is planned for using our long term progression document, workshop plans and skills in continuous provision overviews. These are based on the statutory EYFS framework, the non statutory documents: Development Matters 2021 and Birth to 5 Matters 2021 . The EYFS Manager has also taken into account any expertise we have in school to include value added opportunities to the curriculum.
Maths
Maths is planned using Click4Teaching materials.
Consistent number formation prompts in resource boxes in classrooms and across writing to go boxes in continuous provision.
Incorrect number formation to be addressed by CTG in maths books – focus on one number especially if it has been taught previously.
Numbers to 100 displayed in both bases and shared / outside areas.
Literacy
Phonics is delivered daily in groups of no more than 20 following Phonic Bug scheme.
Phoneme flashcards and Tricky word cards at least 3 x per day whole class.
Guided reading is taught through Bug Club which is an extension of the Phonic Bug Learning.
During the course of the week each child will take part in an adult lead planned activity for literacy and maths with the Class Teacher, an independent activity and 1x indoor and 1x outdoor activity facilitated and lead by the Teaching Assistants.

Managing Behaviour:
We use positive behaviour strategies inline with the whole school policy.
CPOMS is used for logging behaviour issues. Along with any other safeguarding concerns. When completing this please alert the DSL’s in school which are; Carol McQuniggin, Ingrid Wolf, Katie Robbinson, Clair Pollitt Sam Hill and Cheryl Jauncey.
House points are rewarded for following the golden rules.
Children are put on the wow wall for going above and beyond or for an excellent piece of work. A star of the week is selected each week and is rewarded by taking the class bear home for the weekend.
Each week a child is selected for displaying Building Learning Power in each class. Certificates are handed out in key stage assemblies.
Violent behaviour:
Parents of all children involved are notified of any incidents as soon as possible on the day it occurs.
Each situation is dealt with by taking into account the context e.g. children playing dogs, children falling out and using biting as a strategy to show that they are upset.
Consequences are put in place based on the context. Children may miss their playtime and their parents/carers will be informed.

Observing Learning:
Why?
Ongoing observation of children participating is the most reliable way of building up an accurate picture of what children know, understand, feel, are interested in and can do.
What?
We observe children in a range of contexts throughout the setting. Some observations are child led and others are adult directed. Observations are both planned for and spontaneous. They are conducted in the context of individuals/groups of learners.
How?
We use our online observation platform ’Evidence Me’ to record observations and we also encourage parents to contribute by adding wow moments photos and examples of learning relating to their child’s learning and development at home to their Showbie account or in their child’s home/school learning book.
When?
Children are observed during independent learning time when they are seen doing something out of the ordinary for them. They are also observed completing adult directed tasks, these are recorded in 2 formats. Children that met the Learning objective set for that task, and children that require further intervention to meet the LO.

Child Initiated Activities
Enhancements (Adult directed activities) are linked to: needs of cohort, theme, consolidation of skills, awe/wonder – a minimum of 4 each week (indoors, outdoors, class 1 and class 2)
All staff should make observations using ‘Evidence Me’ but ensuring that most recording is done at the end of the session if practicable, so that they can interact and move children’s learning on using the facilitate/question and model principles.
Focus pupils are identified on planning – 5 per base and any with additional needs as appropriate.
Staff notice board and clip boards to provide: EYFS progression document/Vocab flowers/recent data to personalise targets and planning which will include ideas for questioning.
Adults to capture their impact on children’s progress through specific teaching phrases, recorded and underlined in observations on ’Evidence Me’.

SEN
Weekly Makaton word introduced and added to a display to remind and prompt staff and children to use regularly.
Early identification - complete cause for concern record in September using nursery / parents’ information.
Visual timetable for all pupils in both bases.
Now and next boards for individual pupils when appropriate.
Staff alter communication e.g. break instructions down / simple questions for children who need it.
Individual Workstations for pupils who may benefit from this.
Individual behaviour strategies based on equitable principles and whole school behaviour policy.
School Support maps are set up to support children who require additional support. These are shared with parents/carers and are evaluated and updated each half term.

Managing Risks
Specific EYFS risk assessment in place
All staff to alert EYFS Leader/ SBM regarding health and safety issues.

Health and Hygiene:
If a child has a toilet accident we can provide a change of clothes. These are kept in boxes in the cloakroom.
Member of staff must wear gloves and support the child to clean themselves as much as possible.
Once the child has changed put their soiled clothes in a bag and hang on their peg.
Each change will be logged in a record book and a slip will be sent home informing the parents.
If the child is very messy / looks like illness then the child’s parents should be contacted to come and collect them from school.
Children must wash their hands before eating (snack table/break/lunch).
Children are encouraged to drink at least 1 bottle of water during the day—however this should not be during whole class teaching. We build time into the timetable, at the start and end of sessions, to actively encourage children to have a drink.

Inside Areas Expectations:
Children and adults are expected to talk calmly and not call across the room to gain attention.
Children and adults are expected to walk at all times.
If sitting on chairs ensure children are sitting safely ie 4 legs on the floor and explain why they need to do this. Model doing this with your own chair talking to the children about your actions e.g. Ooh I need to put my chair legs down so I don’t fall off and hurt myself.
Ensure chairs are pushed under tables when not in use. Make sure children do this.
Children are encouraged to access resources freely and move them in the setting if they have a clear purpose to. However it must be instilled that whatever they get out they put away once they have finished.
Resources in labelled containers, with photos to support children in knowing where to put things back.

Outside Area Expectations:
Children must always be in sight or hearing, but ideally both.
Clearly defined areas to include: reading, writing and maths opportunities & access to writing resources in all areas
4 children to use sand tray.
4 children to use water tray.
4 children to use mud kitchen.
Children can self select resources from the resource sheds but must be encouraged to tidy their own resources away before moving on.
Aprons to be worn in wet/messy areas.
Tidy up times – same across both classes:
Adults reinforce tidying as we play and re-set areas as you move to avoid ‘trash time’ at the end of a session!
Give children a warning approx. 5 minutes before.
Sing ‘I wiggle my fingers’ tidy up song.
All children to show they have stopped and are listening.
Tidy up time—staff oversee but expect the children to do the majority.

Assessment Expectations:
On entry to Reception, children should be secure in the 3-4 years band from Development Matters and, depending on chronological age and ability, may be showing some skills in the 4 – 5 years band.
By the end of Reception children are expected to be working at the Early Learning Goals for the 17 different areas of learning.
Average child progress at Lawley Primary school EYFS:
Baseline:
3-4 D or below
3-4 S/4-5 E
Autumn 2:
4-5 E or below
4-5 D/S
Spring 2:
4-5 S or below
ELG E/D
Summer:
ELG E or below
ELG S/EXC
Children are assessed at entry using a statutory baseline, Class teachers will then Teacher assess each half term using the Progression document devised from Development Matters and Birth to Five.