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Reception

Welcome to the Windmill Reception Team

Reception is made up of 3 classes that are created by the birthdate of the children. These classes are Penguins, Hedgehogs and Explorers. 

In our Early Years setting, every child is valued, encouraged, and inspired to explore the world around them. Through play, discovery, and meaningful relationships, we create a joyful foundation for a lifelong love of learning.

Ofsted January 2025- " Adults create an extremely engaging, purposeful and interesting environment. Children, including those with SEND, learn through a thoughtful mix of adult-led activities and play. They learn to take turns and share resources with others. Staff check and help children make links in their work highly effectively. Children are extremely well prepared for their learning in key stage 1."

 

Class Teachers:

Penguins - Mrs Middleton (Mon - Thu) & Mrs Parafita (Fri)

Hedgehogs - Mrs Austin & Mrs Harris (Monday and Wednesday) 

Explorers  - Miss Anzar (Full time) 

 

 Our wonderful Early Years Support Workers and TA's are;

Mrs. Coles, Mrs Manzoor, Miss Gray & Mrs Benham

Foundation Stage Philosophy

We believe that every child deserves the very best start in life. Our Early Years curriculum nurtures curiosity, confidence, and creativity, empowering children to become happy, resilient learners ready to embrace new challenges. Each area of learning and development is implemented through planned, purposeful play and through a mix of adult-led and child-initiated activity. Play is seen as essential for children’s development, building their confidence as they learn to explore, to think about problems, and relate to others. Every day is different!

Useful information

We have four short carpet times a day, led by an adult. The rest of the day is independent learning time or learning through play. During this time, classrooms are open along with the outside area.  This allows the children to interact with others and gives them a large range of places to explore. Throughout the day the children have a mixture of adult led and child led activities to complete and areas to visit. These areas include:

 

 

• Construction

• Role play - linked to our current topic

• Water

• Art

• Snack Time

• Sand

• Maths

• ICT

• Mud Kitchen

• Literacy

• Small World

• Finger Gym

• Phonics

• Home Corner

• Playdough

For more information about the EYFS curriculum please see the 'Early Learning Goals' section. 

A typical day in Reception will look like this:  

Times of a school day

  • 8.40 - Reception doors open
  • 8.55 - Register & Short Carpet Time
  • 9.30 - Independent learning & Snack Time 
  • 11.10 - Carpet Time and Phonics (initial sounds at beginning of the year) 
  • 11.40 - Lunch
  • 12.45 - Quiet time & Register 
  • 1.00 - Carpet Time
  • 1.30 - Independent learning
  • 2.30 - Story time
  • 3.10 - End of school

What clothing will I need?

  • Please bring a coat and school sweatshirt, especially in the Autumn and Winter terms as it can get quite cold and we spend LOTS of time outside in all weather.  
  • Please bring a PE kit.  This can stay at school all week and go home for washing on Fridays (if you choose to).
  • Please bring a named water bottle and take it home EVERY day to be cleaned and refilled. We can refill during the day if needed.
  • Please bring in wellies that can stay in school all week (they can go home on Fridays if you need them for the weekend).

 

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