Our reception children are based at the old village infant school in Brinklow village which is approximately 4 miles from the Monks Kirby site.  The Brinklow site has been developed extensively to provide everything an early years setting needs, including a recently refurbished outdoor learning area.  This site is managed by Mrs Crutchlow, (EYFS lead and Assistant Head Teacher) and supported by a skilled group of teachers and Learning Support Assistants.  Although not on the same site as the main school, the Brinklow Annex shares the same vision and values as the rest of the school and our reception children often visit the main site for special days and events.

The reception team have a long term plan which is an outline of the year but are very keen to follow the interests of the children. Changes will be made during each year to fully exploit the children’s interests and enthuse them in their learning. The children take part in formal sessions for phonics and maths. They also have one PE and one Forest School session per week. The rest of the time children are in ‘explore and learn’ which is a free-flow time of the day where children can direct their own learning and engage with their own interests.

Phonics and Reading in Reception: 

The school uses a phonics program called ‘Read Write Inc.’, developed by Ruth Miskin. It is a whole-school literacy programme for 4-11-year-olds designed to create fluent readers, confident speakers and willing writers. Each child in the foundation stage receives a phonics session four times a week. The children will read phonetically decodable texts within these sessions. They will also bring home phonetically decodable texts to read which compliment the teaching methods used in school. The children are regularly assessed during the school year to ensure their phonics sessions are matched to their ability.