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Chestnut Park Primary School

Chestnut ParkPrimary School

Reception 

Welcome to Reception at Chestnut Park School!

A big welcome to our Reception class – where your child’s learning journey begins!

Starting school is a special time, and in Reception we create a calm, caring and exciting environment where every child is nurtured, supported and encouraged to explore, question and grow.

This page gives an overview of life in Reception at Chestnut Park. For regular updates, photos and messages, please check Seesaw and MCAS (My Child At School) – our main communication platforms.

Meet the Early Years Team

Class Teacher: Miss Woodhams
Early Years Practitioners/Teaching Assistants: Mrs Ellmore

We work closely as a team to support your child’s emotional wellbeing, social development and early learning through a blend of play, exploration and structured teaching. 

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Our Teaching Team 

Reception staff (ID 1303)

What We Learn in Reception

The Reception year is part of the Early Years Foundation Stage (EYFS) and focuses on seven key areas of learning:

Prime Areas:

  • Communication and Language

  • Physical Development

  • Personal, Social and Emotional Development

Specific Areas:

  • Literacy

  • Mathematics

  • Understanding the World

  • Expressive Arts and Design

Learning is hands-on and play-based – indoors and outdoors – with children encouraged to follow their interests, take risks, solve problems and become independent learners.

A Typical Day in Reception

No two days are the same – but here’s what a typical day might include:

  • Morning welcome and self-registration

  • Daily phonics session

  • Child-initiated learning through play

  • Small group work (e.g. early writing, number games, storytelling)

  • Outdoor learning

  • Snack and story time

  • Lunch

  • Topic sessions, singing, or PE

  • Reflection time and home time routines

We also enjoy regular forest school sessions, visits around the local area, and themed learning weeks.

How You Can Support at Home

You are your child’s first and most important teacher. We love working in partnership with families to help each child shine.

You can support your child by:

  • Reading together every day and chatting about books

  • Encouraging independence with dressing, eating and tidying

  • Talking about numbers, shapes and patterns in everyday life

  • Sharing wow moments with us through Seesaw

We’ll also offer regular parent workshops to help you support early phonics, reading and maths at home.

Practical Info

  • Uniform: Please make sure everything is clearly labelled

  • PE Days: Wednesday and Thursday – your child can wear their PE kit to school on these days

  • Water Bottles: Fresh water only – please no juice or squash

  • Spare Clothes: Accidents happen! A named set of spare clothes (in a bag on their peg) is really helpful

  • Outdoor Clothing: We go outside in all weathers – coats, wellies and waterproofs are essential in wet weather

Stay Connected

  • Seesaw – for classroom updates, learning photos and messages from the Reception team

  • MCAS – for school-wide news, events and notices

Please make sure you're set up on both platforms – let us know if you need support accessing them.

Let’s make this a magical start to your child’s time at Chestnut Park – full of wonder, learning and joy.

Useful websites to support learning

Contact

You can contact the Reception to by email at reception@chestnutparkschool.org.uk 

Twitter

Click here to view our latest Twitter posts.