Thornton Dale C of E Primary School

Here at Thornton Dale, we value the importance of children’s play and within our Reception
Class, we ensure that children follow a play-based approach to learning.

In our EYFS class we follow the children’s interests and adapt and enhance provision accordingly. By following this child-led approach, children have high levels of engagement and involvement. Adults will skilfully play alongside children, scaffolding their learning through open-ended questions, prompts, suggestions, explanations and modelling.

Each adult is aware of every child’s next steps and therefore knows how to support and challenge them further. Adults avoid interrupting children’s play to engage in adult-directed guided groups Instead we will bring the learning to the child, ensuring it is purposeful and relevant to their current interests and fascinations.

Children in reception class are confident when tackling different challenges and take risks,
experimenting with different methods and techniques during their play. Staff encourage
children to explore different possible outcomes and therefore develop their understanding of
how things work.

Alongside lots of purposeful play opportunities, the children engage in short daily, adult-led activities. At the start of the academic year, our Maths and Phonics sessions last around 10-15 minutes. As the year progresses, so does the length of these learning activities. This then supports a smooth tranisition into Year One.