Welcome to Reception
Your child’s first school experience is an incredibly important one, they are learning about the world around them and will be excited to make new friends and experience new adventures.
From the day your child joins our Reception class, we inspire a love of learning within an atmosphere of happiness and warmth. The curriculum in Reception is rich, stimulating, engaging and hugely varied. We place a strong focus on literacy and numeracy with a targeted approach that enables each child to progress at their own level.
Our Indoor and outdoor environments are carefully planned to facilitate purposeful, differentiated adult-led and child-initiated learning experiences. This enables the development of confidence, autonomy and, vitally, the three areas of executive function: working memory, flexible thinking, and inhibitory control.
Our curriculum in Reception and throughout the Prep School includes specialist teaching in Computer Science, French, Music, Drama, PE, swimming and Forest School.
There is a selection of lunchtime clubs available in Reception too, including Taekwondo, Ballet, Tennis and Lego club.
Literacy in Reception
In Reception and throughout the Prep School, a comprehensive programme of phonics underpins our learning. This approach to teaching literacy supports the children to become fluent readers, confident speakers and willing writers. Phonetic understanding is integrated into our work on comprehension, writing, grammar, spelling and handwriting, using engaging partner work and drama to bring the curriculum alive. We believe that an early love of reading fires a child's imagination and helps to inspire a love of learning that will last a lifetime.
Numeracy in Reception
Along with phonics, we follow a challenging maths programme based on the Singapore approach to mathematics. This helps to instil confidence in early number skills and a passion for maths as well as offering opportunities to explore and master concepts such as shape, space and measurement. We know that a secure understanding of number will give the children a strong foundation from which to thrive as they grow.
Our aim is to support the children to become happy and resilient mathematicians who relish the challenge of maths throughout their Prep School life and beyond. We believe that, with the right approach, children can not only become confident to use maths, but they will appreciate its beauty and feel great pride when solving difficult problems.
Technology
Children today are growing up immersed in a world of new technologies. At Radnor House, we prepare our children for a technically diverse global economy and what better time to start than Reception? As part of our Reception class computing curriculum, your child will be taught push button activities; remote control devices; simple, programmable robots such as Bee-Bot; musical keyboards; digital cameras; interactive books; as well as using desktop computers and mobile devices. We also teach them online safety and support families with up-to-date information on how to educate and keep children safe online.
Sport
Taking part in PE and sport enables your child to build determination, passion respect, self-belief and teamwork.
Our sports grounds include Football and Rugby pitches, a cricket green, a 25-metre swimming pool, indoor sports hall, tennis courts and basketball courts and the future prospect of a multi-purpose hockey astro-turf.
Through PE we aim to encourage a lifetime love of sport and keeping fit. In Reception the children are taught through multi skills PE lessons to improve their throwing, catching, agility balance and ball skills. Athletics is a key feature of the summer term and we encourage you to attend our sports day.
Swimming is one of our most popular sports. Our Reception children have weekly swimming lessons all year round and by the spring term take part in our school swimming gala.
Performing Arts
Dance and Drama
We have a wonderful drama specialist teacher who teaches the Reception children every week. They will start to develop confidence through teacher lead activities focusing on developing characters and dance actions along with working with others and performing to the class. You will get to see your child perform in class assemblies and in the Nativity play.
In Reception, pupils can sign up for Ballet lessons once a week, starting with basic ballet steps and then following The Imperial Society of Teachers of Dance syllabus.
Music
Our Reception children receive Music lessons with our specialist Music teacher, once a week. We sing a varied mix of songs to encourage language, pitch and diction and which prepare the children for their seasonal performances. There are a variety of instruments designed for little hands. We do make a great deal of noise and have a marvellous time doing so!
Forest School
We recognise the importance of outdoor learning as a tool to develop resilience, perseverance and mental toughness for our children alongside a love for the natural environment around them.
Pupils in Reception take part in Forest School every week within our 30-acre estate. Our children have the freedom to explore, play, build, create, imagine, and use their senses to experience the outdoor environment and engage with one another in sessions led by our specialist Forest School leader.
Children sing around the fire, learn to use and make tools, build dens, dig in the mud, identify bugs and build their own bug hotel. This is where they learn the skills that they can then use in the reception garden and woodland area during other lessons and playtimes.
Our Reception class has a maximum of 20 pupils to ensure all the children interact with and form relationships with all of their classmates, ensuring that the class is supportive of each other. Small classes also allow our teachers to better know the strengths, areas of development, and needs of each pupil to ensure tailored teaching to match the individual child.
We love it when children skip into school any time from 8:00am and have fun in our safe and enclosed courtyard. School starts at 8.20am when children will be welcomed in person by their teacher which is often a good opportunity for parents to catch up about any pressing matters.
School finishes for our Reception learners at 3.30pm and parents are very welcome to collect from the classroom door at this time. You may also like to keep track of the exciting activities your child has been involved in throughout the day through our private and secure class feed on Tapestry.
We pride ourselves on having a genuine family atmosphere which will support your child to feel valued and cared for from the first day they join Reception and all the way through their Radnor journey.
