A very warm welcome to

the Reception Class Page

Looking for a Reception Class Place for September 2026?

If so, we warmly invite you to visit our fantastic village school

during our Open Week.

Come and see our school in action, meet our dedicated staff and

discover what makes our school so special.

To find out more or to book a school tour, please email us at office@renhold.bed.sch.uk or call (01234) 771724.

We look forward to welcoming you.

We are excited to welcome your child to the start of their school journey at Renhold V.C. Primary School.  In Reception we create a warm, safe and stimulating environment where children can explore, discover and learn through play.  

Our teacher is Mrs. Moulam

Our Class Teaching Assistant is Mrs. Ram 

We are very lucky to have two rooms within our Reception Unit.  The Main Classroom and The Quiet Room.  The main classroom has a roomy teaching space, maths, creative, music area, phonics area, finger gym provision and a role play area.  The Quiet Room has our writing, construction and book areas.  We also have our recently refurbished Outdoor Area which the children have access to during their ‘Cool Time’ Choosing Our Own Learning Time.  We also have our own cloakroom and toilets within the Reception Unit. 

In Reception, children learn through a balance of play, exploration, adult-led and child-initiated activities. We follow the Early Years Foundation Stage (EYFS) Framework (2021/2024) and aim to nurture each child’s curiosity, confidence, and independence.

Our environment is language-rich, inclusive, and designed to support children’s natural desire to learn through meaningful experiences and relationships.

The EYFS curriculum is organised into seven areas of learning, which are split into Prime and Specific areas:

We carefully plan opportunities for children to develop skills across all seven areas, ensuring a broad and balanced foundation for future learning.

We follow whole-school themed topics that change each half term, helping to connect learning across subjects in a fun and engaging way:

Each topic is explored through stories, hands-on activities, outdoor learning, and imaginative play, helping children make meaningful connections and develop a love of learning.

We make regular observations and capture photos and videos of your child’s WOW Moments those magical times when they try something new, show resilience, or surprise us with a skill, knowledge or insight.

These are shared with families via ClassDojo, so you can see your child's learning journey unfold.

We also welcome contributions from home. Whether it’s a drawing, a new interest, a special achievement, or a proud moment, we love to celebrate these together. You can share your child’s home learning or ‘WOW Moments’ in two ways:

• Via ClassDojo – upload photos, videos, or messages
• With a ‘Wow Star’ – fill one in at home and return it to school. We’ll proudly display it on your child’s space on our Wow Wall.

These contributions help us build a richer, more complete picture of your child, and they reinforce the vital connection between home and school learning.

At our school, we use the Read Write Inc. Phonics programme to teach early reading, writing, and spelling in a fun, structured, and effective way.

Read Write Inc. (RWI) is a systematic synthetic phonics programme. It helps children:

• Recognise and blend letter sounds quickly and confidently

• Read decodable books matched to their phonics level

• Build fluency, comprehension, and vocabulary

• Spell and write sentences using phonics knowledge

At our school, we follow the White Rose Maths scheme in Reception. It is a carefully planned programme that supports children to develop a deep understanding of number, shape, space, and measures in line with the Early Years Foundation Stage (EYFS) curriculum.

White Rose Maths is built around the principle of “mastery” – helping children understand maths deeply through small steps, hands-on exploration, and meaningful practice.

In Reception, this means:

• A strong focus on numbers to 10 (then 20)

• Using manipulatives (e.g. counters, cubes, Numicon, ten frames)

• Lots of talking, problem-solving and reasoning

• Making connections across mathematical ideas

White Rose divides the year into small steps across 12 blocks. These include:

• Children explore maths daily through play, songs, stories, practical activities, and small group teaching.

• We use concrete resources (counters, cubes, five frames) before moving to pictorial and symbolic understanding.

• We ask lots of open-ended questions: “How do you know?” “Can you show me another way?” “What if…?”

You can support your child’s mathematical development by:

• Counting objects in everyday life (stairs, apples, cars)

• Playing board games or dice games

• Talking about shape, size, and patterns

• Exploring time: days of the week, clocks, routines

• Comparing quantities: “Who has more?”, “Are these equal?”

PE

Our P.E day is Thursday.  Weather depending, we may use our hall inside or our outside playground/field, so please make sure your child has full P.E kit in their PE bag to keep on their peg. Children should arrive to school on P.E days in their school uniform, and will get changed for PE in school. This promotes independence when dressing which is a key life skill, as well as an extra opportunity to develop their fine motor skills through the practice of using buttons/ zips and laces etc.  PE kits will be sent home at the end of each half term, when dirty or more regularly upon request.

Library

Library time is on Friday afternoons and this is when children will have a chance to change their library book. Please ensure that your child has their library book with them in order to change their book. 

What will my child need?

Please make sure your child has their book bag every day.  The children really enjoy bringing home their artwork and library book.  Early in the first Autumn term the children will bring home sounds to practise and in time a school reading book to share with you at home. 

Home-School Communication 

Please do not hesitate to contact a member of staff on the gate, or through the school office if you have any worries or concerns. Alternatively please contact the class teacher via Class Dojo. 

Spare Clothes

Please send into school a spare set of clothes in a named bag.  Please include socks, trousers or leggings, a t-shirt, a jumper and underwear in case your child has an accident.  The bag can stay on your child's peg.