Reception

Welcome to Year R!

Our children’s happiness and well-being are our utmost priority. Our children are happy, proud and feel secure knowing that we value and celebrate their successes and are there for them as supportive, trusted adults. We value every child as a unique individual.

At St John’s, children in Reception learn through play, exploration and first-hand experiences. Our curriculum and provision are centred around our children’s interests and needs, and are rich in possibilities. This encourages independence, promotes awe and wonder and fosters curiosity about the world around them. Children are encouraged to be active and creative.

Our practice is play-based since we believe play provides the fundamental grounding for our children’s educational journey; through social interaction, opportunities for deep and meaningful conversations and physicality. Our extended periods of child-initiated play are known as ‘Challenge Time’. Play is our heartbeat but alongside this, we provide a balance of adult-led learning opportunities to introduce and consolidate skills in Phonics, Mathematics and the wider curriculum. We enhance our learning through enrichment opportunities such as visiting speakers, workshops and out-of-school visits.

We enable children to engage in their own challenges and bring their own energies into their learning, moving forward with ideas through their high engagement. Learning can happen in many ways and we have faith in children that they have the ability to map out their own adventure. Of course we’re with them on the way! Our end of year outcomes are strong because we pair our high expectations with open-mindedness to children’s imaginations and dreams.

Our Environment

Our environment is based around the concepts of communication, collaboration and creativity. We believe that children have a ‘language’ that as adults, we need to listen to and then work alongside them to develop their interests and skills. All our provision is open-ended, enabling children to interpret it in their own way.

We love being outdoors and recognise that it has equal value to the inside classroom. Our large and well-resourced outdoor classroom provides opportunities such as sand and water play, construction, physical games, den building, trim trail and mud kitchen. We visit our on-site forest school weekly and are lucky enough to have our own Reception gardening space. The outdoor space is planned and resourced by the team to allow the children to progress their skills across all the areas of learning.