Preparing for Reception

At St. Paul's, life in the Early Years Foundation Stage is designed to inspire: we believe these formative years are vital in promoting a lifelong thirst for learning.

A wealth of learning opportunities await all children as they enter Reception. From the minute the children enter the playground of St Paul’s, they begin to build and develop their relationships with other children and the staff.

When entering the school, we challenge and expect the children to live up to the exceptionally-high standards of our school, by initially starting with their own personal organisation. We firmly believe that all children can be taught to look after their own belongings from a very early age: from water bottles and book bags, to items of clothing. The children are motivated to be mindful of their environment, and all act as part of a team to keep the learning space a happy one.

Activities in the class are exciting, varied and change daily. They range from structured learning in small groups with the teacher, to entirely independent activities which the adults have prepared, and activities where the children can have free choice. We are extremely lucky to benefit from a wonderful outdoor learning area, fully-equipped with items to inspire and challenge the children in different ways. We are also incredibly blessed that our ratios of staff to children are 1:10 in Early Years and Key Stage 1, meaning that we can tailor the curriculum to each individual child. We believe that all experiences in our school can be learning opportunities.

As a Catholic School with a thriving wider community and a fully-involved and supportive parental body, the sense of ‘belonging’ in the whole school is palpable. From our Year 5 ‘Partners’ initiative, to the special weekly Gospel assemblies, we know that once we are a member of St Paul’s, we all journey together: loving learning, daring to dream and caring for all. Our staff’s motto is that we strive to promote a lifelong love of learning – one we think we achieve here.

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