Reception
Your daughter starts Reception in the academic year in which she turns five.
Until you daughter is five, you can access the 15 free hours of education each week, provided by Durham Local Authority.
As part of the Foundation Stage, Reception covers the same areas of learning as Nursery, taking learning further, introducing phonics and developing an understanding of number and practical problem solving.
In Reception, we ensure that the children feel happy and secure in their new setting. The Early Years curriculum is accessed through a planned topic or another appropriate subject in which the children have shown an interest.
With safe and easy access to the garden, learning can take place outside just as easily as inside.
We aim to provide activities and visits to stimulate and motivate the girls and bring all our topics to life. For example, when studying the Chinese New Year we visit a local Chinese restaurant to sample their cuisine. The Reception classroom becomes a restaurant for the afternoon with special guests from Nursery who come to sample food cooked and prepared by the Reception girls. A special visitor comes in to talk to the girls about their own Chinese New Year celebrations, further enriching their knowledge of this fascinating culture.
As part of our Christmas celebrations the girls are given the opportunity to perform to an audience as part of our Nativity production. This is always a joyous occasion – with not a dry eye in the house!