We at St Peter’s are very pleased to be part of your child's first year at school. We are looking forward to getting to know the children better and helping them to settle into school life.

We believe it is essential that the Foundation Stage is seen as its own Key Stage and that the planning and provision is unique to it. We, in the Reception Team, are committed to making the learning engaging and exciting for every child in our class.

The development of the children’s Prime Areas of Learning are crucial at this age and stage of their development. Through the development of the Prime Areas, there must be a focus on the characteristics of learning, particularly with reading and writing. The speaking aspect of communication and language is always our key focus so we will be developing the children’s speaking through language rich, story based learning and building on the children’s first hand experiences. This is where the role of the adults and the environment are paramount, alongside high quality continuous provision, which enables children to discover and explore for sustained periods in order to embed their learning in many different ways.

Each area of learning and development must be implemented through planned, purposeful play and through a mix of adult-led and child-initiated activity. Play is essential for children’s development, building their confidence as they learn to explore, to think about problems, and relate to others. Children learn by leading their own play, and by taking part in play which is guided by adults. There is an ongoing judgement to be made by practitioners about the balance between activities led by children, and activities led or guided by adults, such as phonics, reading, writing, maths, understanding the world and expressive arts and design. We, as practitioners, must respond to each child’s emerging needs and interests, guiding their development through warm, positive interaction. As the children grow older, and as their development allows, it is expected that the balance will gradually shift towards more activities led by adults, to help the children prepare for Year 1.

At St Peter’s, we value the support of parents and when it is safe to do so and guidance allows us to, we will invite parents into school to observe their child's learning.

Below, are a few documents which you may find useful. If you have any questions, please come and see us!

Mr Tierney, Mrs Streatfield & Miss Wood 

Important Reminders

Wellies - please ensure that your child has wellies in school so that they can access our wonderful outdoor areas. We will be taking the children onto the field for Autumn walks and going into the Forest School area whenever we can - they will need wellies for these activities.

PE Kits

Storycise - for our Storycise (exercise to a story) sessions, children can wear their school uniforms as normal.

Real PE - starts in Term 2 - Fridays - children to come to school wearing a plain tracksuit (grey, dark blue or black - no logos) and yellow PE t-shirt with trainers (PE shorts can be worn under the tracksuit but not essential at this stage). They do not need to bring their uniform to change into - they will wear their tracksuits all day.

2020-21