At the age of 3 your child will be ready to transition into the Reception Room and start their preparations for ‘Big School’. The ratio within this room increases to 1:8 and at this point parents can claim their early years grant entitlement for their child offering a great reduction in child care costs.
It is of key importance for children at this stage to begin preparations for school. To assist with this, when the grant funding comes into effect, our Reception class children embark upon the following educational programmes which unlike government preschools which run for only 38 weeks of the year, these run all year round to ensure the children’s knowledge, skills and understanding are at a high level to offer them the best start possible.
These programmes go beyond the norm of any childcare provider and we do this as we are committed to offering the best opportunities and outcomes to each child who attends our nurseries. They are as follows:
Alongside these educational programmes in the Reception Room children are encouraged to develop skills in the 7 areas of learning from the EYFS; the room layout promotes these, having clearly defined areas for the children to make choices. All equipment is kept entirely at their level to ensure the children can develop their independence skills further. Children are supported in developing advanced communication skills, building more complex relationships with their peers, this is promoted through a variety of activities with a daily routine that the children are aware of and follow. Independence skills are developed and children are encouraged to enhance personal hygiene skills as we brush our teeth after meal times and becoming more independent with self-care skills such as hand washing and toileting.
The facilities within the Reception Room are all designed to ensure children have access to as much as possible before they take that big step on to school. A computer enables the children to begin learning about technology, and the children will also embark on a new reading scheme which is a fun way for the children to use pictures in a book to tell a story, this can be a bed time story at home and using the communication book we provide you can write comments about your child’s learning which will help the practitioners to enhance your child’s learning by providing a book that is of relevance to them.
Children have access to plenty of outdoor play times as they develop their physical skills, climbing, balancing and jumping. We also take country walks, observing our beautiful surroundings and enjoy a variety of trips to different locations within the community.
The children have 2 daily outdoor play times with activities available to ensure their learning journey is continued throughout their play. Outdoor play often gives the children further opportunity to build larger constructions and they make good use of the tubes, planks and ropes as they design, join and build.
All facilities within our Reception Room are there to help your child to develop and grow as much as possible before they take their next big step to school whilst working closely with parents, local schools and teachers to make sure your child’s move to school goes as smooth as possible, we follow an outreach programme during this process which is designed to support parents and children during this important transition.
