Welcome to Early Years at St Wilfrid's Catholic Primary School!
Reception 2025
Your child's learning will be uploaded to Seesaw. Please upload any learning that takes place at home onto Seesaw and support your child's learning by reading to them daily and allowing them to read to you.
In Early Years, we follow the Early Years Foundation Stage curriculum (EYFS), and it is split into seven areas of learning. These seven areas of learning are:
Literacy
Mathematics
Understanding the World
Personal, Social and Emotional Development
Physical Development
Expressive Arts and Design
Communication and Language
Religious Education is at the core of our Curriculum at St Wilfrid's. 10% of our curriculum time is dedicated to Religious Education - this is delivered through whole class or group input and within our continuous provision.
At St Wilfrid's Primary School, we follow the Government's accredited phonics scheme Monster Phonics.
Monster Phonics approaches reading through a systematic synthetic phonics (SSP) program enhanced by a fun, multi-sensory system using color-coded monsters as memory cues. The core method involves teaching children to decode by blending sounds (phonemes) together, with the program using consistent visual and sound cues—like "Angry Red A"—to help them remember tricky graphemes and rules. These aids are used until the child is confident, then gradually phased out.
Key aspects of the Monster Phonics approach
- Systematic Synthetic Phonics:
The program follows a structured progression from simple to more complex phonics, aligning with national curriculum and EYFS frameworks.
- Multi-sensory Learning:
It uses a "3-tiered approach" of visual support, sound cues, and child-centered teaching to make learning memorable and engaging.
- Colour-Coding:
Each of the ten areas of phonics that present obstacles is assigned a colour and a monster. For example, all graphemes that make the long 'a' sound are coloured red, and the monster "Angry Red A" helps teach this sound.
- Monster Characters:
Each monster has a backstory and is linked to a specific sound and colour, which serves as a memorable cue for children.
- Decodable Books:
The program includes decodable books that are aligned with the phonics taught, helping children practice and apply their new skills in reading.
- Consistent Application:
The colour and monster cues are used consistently during the initial teaching phase and then removed as children become more independent, ensuring they can read and spell without the aids.
- Supporting Resources:
The approach is supported by online resources, assessment tools, and training for teachers to ensure consistent delivery across a school.
Phonics For Parents | Free Videos & Resources
Best Books for Reception | Ages 4-5 | The Reader Teacher
Reception baseline assessment information for parents
We look forward to teaching and supporting your child through their EYFS Journey!
Many Thanks,
Miss Brown-Crowther, Miss Ramsdale and Miss Goddard