A Day in Reception at Rivelin Primary School  

At Rivelin Primary School, we foster a learning environment rooted in child-led exploration and curiosity, drawing on the educational philosophies of key educational theorists including Piaget and Montessori. We believe that children learn best when they are given the freedom to explore their interests, develop independence, and engage in meaningful play.  

Our day begins with phonics, following the Little Wandle phonics scheme. This structured start helps children build their early reading skills with confidence. After phonics, the day transitions into child-led play, where children are free to explore, create, and learn at their own pace. This approach promotes creativity, curiosity, and independence.  

Every day, each child will write with the teacher. At Rivelin, we believe that daily writing is key to ensuring each child’s progression and development. Frequent practice not only improves writing skills but also builds children’s confidence in their abilities.  

We also focus on maximising the periods of time that children spend playing, as we know that this promotes deeper levers of engagement and cognitive development. Play is also essential for supporting the prime areas.  

Three days a week, the children will have reading practice, in line with the Little Wandle scheme, ensuring that every child has the opportunity to reinforce their reading skills regularly.  

Just before lunchtime, we gather on the carpet for either topic or the Poetry basket. Through this, we provide the children with discreet teaching of a rich and balanced curriculum. After lunch, we have a maths session. Following this, we have more child-led play, a story, then it’s time for home!  

The Curiosity Approach  

Within the Early Years Foundation Stage (EYFS) at Rivelin Primary School, which includes reception and nursery, we follow the Curiosity Approach.    

A key aspect of the Curiosity Approach is viewing the learning environment as an important part of how children learn in the early years. As Loris Malaguzzi said, “There are three teachers of children: adults, other children and their physical environment.” In line with the Curiosity Approach, we believe the Reception classroom should be homely, comfortable and calm. Every display and resource is carefully considered and aimed at ensuring the best opportunities for learning and development for all children.   

A further important element of the Curiosity Approach is based on the work of Rudolf Steiner, who said, “What a difference there is between playthings that leave as much as possible to the power of imagination and giving finished toys that leave nothing for the child’s own inner activity.” In Reception, we ensure we provide the children with a wide variety of loose parts and open-ended resources so they can use their imaginations in their creative activities and play. Loose parts and open-ended resources also provide children with problem solving opportunities. We use natural materials as often as possible since these provide children with a far broader range of sensory experiences than plastic resources.   

Finally, the Curiosity Approach also focuses on the use of authentic resources rather than resources that are tailor made for children. Using full-size pans and utensils in the role play kitchen, for example, gives children a better understanding of the weight and feel of real objects and it lends an authenticity to the children’s role-play activities that would otherwise be missing. In addition, old, authentic and aesthetically pleasing items draw children in and spark their innate sense of curiosity. They create opportunities for awe and wonder as well as unique learning opportunities for children to investigate and explore items they may have never seen before.   

Children process and absorb everything through their senses. Their environment should provide a wide variety of sensory experiences without being overwhelming. To this end, we use neutral and calming colours in most areas of the classroom with carefully chosen splashes of colour so children are not overwhelmed by visual stimulation. We also play classical music during child led play. Classical music, with its structured harmonies and soothing rhythms, can have a profoundly calming effect on children, helping them regulate emotions and fostering a sense of inner peace. This aligns with the work of Carl Orff, who believed that music could be a powerful tool for emotional and cognitive development in young children, offering them a pathway to self-expression and emotional stability.  

English  

Phonics  

At Rivelin, we believe that reading is the key to success and underpins children's access to the curriculum; it clearly impacts on their achievement. To be able to read, children need to be taught an efficient strategy to decode words. That strategy is phonics. Phonic decoding skills must be practiced until children become automatic and fluent reading is established.   

Little Wandle Letters and Sounds Revised is a complete systematic synthetic phonics programme (SSP) and it is the programme that we adopt at Rivelin. We prioritise the teaching of phonics; we teach phonics daily in Reception. It is vitally important that children review and revisit Grapheme Phoneme Correspondences (GPCs) and words, daily, weekly and across terms and years, in order to move this knowledge into the children's long-term memory. Our consistent approach to phonics ensures that children are given the best possible foundation for reading, writing and language skills.   

On-going assessment of children's progress takes place and the books children read in school and take home to read are fully decodable and matched to children's secure phonics knowledge.   

For parent information please click the following link:  

https://www.littlewandlelettersandsounds.org.uk/resources/for-parents/   

Writing   

In Reception, writing is deemed as a top priority. Underpinned by a structured and systematic phonics scheme, children will begin their writing journey by learning the individual grapheme formations. At Rivelin, we use handwriting guides to allow for clear consistency and progression for the children’s writing, throughout their whole time at school. We have high expectations for all children with their writing and ensure that each child writes with their teacher every day. As we take a child-led approach to children’s play, writing with their teacher each day guarantees clear opportunities for fine motor skill development and implementing their phonics knowledge. The more children write, the more confident they become in their ability to form letters, words, and sentences. This daily repetition helps them feel accomplished as they see their skills improve. Alongside daily writing, children are provided with a wide range of writing opportunities within the continuous provision.   

Reading   

At Rivelin, we love to read! We believe a love of reading begins long before children can read independently. Research shows that "Reading for pleasure is the single most important indicator of a child’s future success" (OECD, 2002), and we are committed to nurturing that joy in every child.  

Our inviting book corner, complete with fairy lights, teddies, and blankets, encourages children to immerse themselves in stories. The books rotate throughout the year, covering a range of genres like families, emotions, and non-fiction, to ensure variety and engagement. Additionally, we visit the school library weekly, where each child selects a book to take home—any book that excites them, fostering a sense of ownership and independence in their reading journey. Storytime is a daily priority, with at least one story being read aloud every day, ensuring children are consistently exposed to rich language and storytelling.  

To support early reading skills, children participate in Reading Practice sessions three times a week, aligned with our phonics scheme. These sessions focus on different aspects of reading:  

1. Decoding – helping children sound out words,  

1. Reading with prosody – improving expression and intonation, and  

1. Comprehension – building understanding of the text.  

After these sessions, each child takes home the same decodable book for the week, carefully selected to match their reading level, allowing them to reinforce and apply what they’ve learned at school.  

We also have a special Reading Scrapbook. Each week, one child takes the scrapbook home and creates a double page spread all about their favorite book. Once completed, they present it to the class, sharing their love of reading with their friends. This activity encourages creativity, personal expression, and a sense of pride in reading, while also promoting peer recommendations and enthusiasm for books.  

At Rivelin, we are dedicated to creating a rich, engaging, and supportive reading environment where every child can develop a lifelong love of books!  

Maths  

At Rivelin Primary School, we are committed to equipping our Reception children with a solid understanding of key mathematical concepts, laying the essential foundations for their future learning as they transition to the National Curriculum in Year 1. Our goal is not just to teach maths but to ignite a passion for it, creating lifelong learners who are excited and engaged by the subject.  

In Reception, we follow a carefully structured and progressive curriculum that combines the White Rose Maths scheme with the Mastering Number program. These underpin our daily maths sessions, where children engage in focused, discreet teacher-led lessons. Through these sessions, we ensure that children develop a deep understanding of number, shape, space, and measure, as well as problem-solving skills that are crucial for their continued learning journey.  

Alongside formal teaching, we also provide endless opportunities for children to explore maths within our continuous provision. The classroom environment is rich with open-ended, interactive resources that encourage mathematical thinking and exploration in a child-led way. Children can engage with a wide range of manipulatives and tools, such as Numicon, loose parts, interlink cubes, dice, measuring jugs, and more. These resources help children visualize abstract mathematical concepts, enhancing their understanding through active play and experimentation. Children also have many opportunities for problem solving within the provision.   

At Rivelin, we believe that fostering a love for maths at an early age is key to developing confident and capable learners. Our progressive curriculum ensures that children are not only well-prepared for Year 1 but are also developing skills and confidence that will support their learning throughout their educational journey.  

Quality Award

Would you like to develop a space of awe and wonder that entices children to learn in a magical environment? Rivelin is a setting that promotes autonomous, curious young people through their adoption of the Curiosity Approach. Their amazing FS2 provision offers children a wide range of authentic, stimulating areas and artifacts that enable children to lead their own learning. They are offering learning walks, so you can experience the setting and find out about their journey so far.
 

We currently have spaces in our FS2 class for September 2025 please contact the school office on 01142341304 or email enquiries@rivelin.sheffield.sch.uk for more information.