Reception

Reception is such an exciting time for the children! The first year of school is a significant milestone and we work hard to prepare our nursery children in the year prior to full-time school so that daily life is a beautiful continuation of all the joyous activities the children enjoyed in their nursery years.  

Our Reception children enjoy working with their class teacher and teaching assistant in small classes; they continue to engage in child-initiated play and learning as well as adult led activities such as literacy and numeracy within the Greenwood suite of classrooms so they are in a familiar environment. Daily phonics sessions scaffold early reading and writing skills and our small class sizes ensure that we can tailor our curriculum to meet the individual interests and needs of each child. Our children also enjoy specialist teaching in dance, Forest School, French, gymnastics, music, swimming, team games and tennis throughout the week.  

School life is rich for our Reception children and they love spreading their wings slightly, too! They take regular trips to the local community library and Upton Country Park; they play each day in the paddock and woods of the ‘big school’ and they enjoy more independence at lunchtime when they can choose from a selection of foods to accompany their main course. All these things help the children see they are growing and they have one foot in Greenwood and one dipping its toe in the main school, as they get ready to take the step into Pre-Prep life when they are on the way to turning six. 

We work hard with our Early Years children to help them achieve their early learning goals by the end of the Reception year as this creates a secure platform from which they can spring into Year 1.