Reception Classes

In Reception, we continue to create a safe and caring learning atmosphere where children can develop independence and high self-esteem, and where their culture, ethnicity, gender, class and special educational needs are met.

We believe every child has a right to a high-quality education. We give high priority to supporting the development of communication and language and literacy skills. We offer a broad, balanced, integrated curriculum using both the Statutory Framework for the Early Years Foundation Stage, and Development Matters in the Early Years Foundation Stage as a guide.

Stay and Play

Each term, we hold a Stay and Play session for parents, grandparents, carers etc. to spend a session in school with the children. These sessions are designed to be fun for everyone and the children really enjoy showing you what they do in school. It also gives you the opportunity to see what the children do.

We try and have a theme for each session such as Mothers' Day, Fathers' Day, Pancake Day, Numbers, Literacy and so on, in which you will be able to see and join in with some of the activities the children do to develop their skills. We alternate the times and days of the sessions to try and enable as many parents to attend as possible. If you are limited on times when you can attend, please let us know and we will try and plan a session to accommodate this.

Reception Reading Books

All of the Reception children are now bringing home a reading book. It is important to remember that we send home reading books which are at a level for the children to read more independently at home so that they feel confident about having a go. You may feel that they are sometimes easy, but the children need to be able to understand and talk about what they are reading. If they have to put all their energy into reading the words, they will not be able to take in what they are reading. In class, we read books at a slightly more challenging level to help them gain new skills.

If you could spend 5 minutes a day reading and talking about books it will make a huge difference in how quickly the children progress with their reading and writing. It is also really important that the children have stories told to them; if you can fit this into your daily routine it would be wonderful. If you have any worries or questions about your child's reading or how to help them with it, please come and speak to your child's class teacher or EYFS leader, Mrs Leslie, and we will do our best to help.

We have a wide variety of storybooks to share with your children in the school library. The children are encouraged to visit the library themselves at lunchtimes to borrow books to take home. The library is open after school on Tuesdays and Thursdays so that parents can accompany their child and choose books they can enjoy together.