Are you starting school in Reception at Mayfield in September 2019? Look at these pictures to see what you will be doing here.
At 8.45 the whistle blows on the infant playground and children and parents enter the foundation stage area, greeted by one of nursery nurses or teachers at the gate.
There are 2 classrooms for the Foundation Stage children to use and one shared outdoor area.
After choosing what we would like to have for lunch, by moving our names to the right place, we choose if we’d like to start our learning inside or outside.
We keep our coats and boots in the cloakroom, and have our own drawers in the classrooms where we can keep other smaller things, like our book bags.
From 8.45am until 11am on most days we have ‘choosing time’ where we choose where we would like to do our learning, this can be in either classroom, or outside.
You might choose…
The making area – where you can make models, do painting, make cards, draw pictures, use playdoh and all sorts of other creative things.
The digging area – where you can dig holes, find worms, search for treasure and investigate.
The sand area – where you can make water runs, build sand castles, make sand cakes, make sand art and all sorts of other things!
Building with the crates – castles, houses, dens, igloos, towers, obstacle courses…
Building with big resources – we can make anything!
‘Cooking’ mud cakes, mud soups, mud breads, mud pies in the mud kitchen.
Playing on the computer – we can choose from different shape, number, letter, sound and picture games.
Building with big blocks – shops, houses, and all sorts!
Piano playing – experimenting and creating music for ourselves and others to enjoy!
Swinging on the trapeze to develop our upper body strength. This helps us to get ready for things like hold pencils and use scissors.
Reading lots of different types of books and stories.
Water play – exploring volume, floating, sinking, flow, gravity, measurement and space.
Duplo (or other small construction materials) – creatively creating different models
Messy play – exploring what different materials look, feel and smell like. How they react to different temperatures and forces!
Wet play (we have 10 waterproof ‘blue suits’ for children to use) exploring all of the seasons.
During ‘choosing time’ we have snack when we get hungry or thirsty. First, we wash and dry our hands, then sit down at the snack table (there’s one in each classroom). There is different fruit available each day.
Sometimes we write down what we have chosen to eat!
At 11 o’clock we gather together on the carpet to do ‘phonics’ this is where we learn about letters and sounds. We sing songs, play games, draw pictures and learn how to form the letters.
After that we get ready for lunch by going to the toilet and washing our hands.
Then we line up in the classroom…
…and walk to the lunch hall together.
If we’re having hot dinner, we line up at the counter where one of the grown-ups helps us choose which hot food option we’d like (they also help us if we’ve got dietary requirements)
There is also a salad bar, if we would like one of the cold options.
If we chose sandwiches, then we say what we ordered in the morning (ham, tuna, egg or cheese sandwich).
Adults are there to help us pour our water and cut up our food, if we need help.
We all sit together, no matter what we have chosen to eat.
Some children bring their lunch from home too.
By 12 o’clock some of us have finished eating. We put our hand up, to check with an adult that we’ve eaten enough, and then go back to our Foundation Stage garden for outdoor time, or ‘big playground’ time.
At 1pm we come inside for maths time where we play with numbers, shapes, space and measurement.
After this we go back into ‘choosing time’ inside and outside.
2.15 means it’s time to go and see some of the older children (Year 1 and 2) on the playground at playtime.
At 2.30 we all come back into our garden and tidy up together, everyone helps to put everything away!
We have a story inside, then tidy up our classroom before sharing some of the things we’ve done throughout the day.
At 3.15 our grown-ups are invited into the classrooms to collect us. Some of us go to ‘after-school club’.
Different things that happen throughout the week:
On Wednesday mornings we do P.E.
Sometimes this is inside, sometimes it is outside… sometimes we do a bit of both!
In the second half of the summer term we go swimming, too!
On Tuesdays and Thursday half of each class goes ‘out and about’ on a Welly Walk.
We do gardening in our raised bed, explore the school grounds looking for changes in the seasons and visit the conservation area or ‘secret garden’ to explore further.
We go whatever the weather…
You can find out more about what happens in Reception on our year group page HERE.