Reception

A warm welcome to Reception! 

Our school values Achievement, Self-belief, Perseverance, Independence, Respect and Equality (APIRE) filter into everything we do in our Reception class. 

We want your child to feel safe, valued, stretched and inspired.  We do this through building great relationships with our children and their families, involving parents/carers in every step of the school journey. 

As part of the Early Year’s Foundation stage, Reception is seen as a stage of great significance in your child’s development as a learner.  Our highly-trained staff offer carefully planned activities and teaching to enable your child, whatever their needs or starting point, the best possible start in life.  As our March 2026 Ofsted report says: 

“The early years curriculum is designed carefully. This ensures that children, including those with special educational needs and/or disabilities, access learning in all areas effectively. Staff identify quickly any barriers to learning children may have. This includes any children with physical disabilities and those who join at different times in the year. They build nurturing relationships with children and respond sensitively to their individual needs. Where required, leaders also work well with parents, carers and external professionals to ensure that children have the right help and support to make progress in their learning.” 

Interested in joining our Reception Class? 

2026-2027 starters (the current academic year) 

You and your child would be very welcome to come for a school visit and see how we live and learn at Bishops Down Primary and Nursery School.  Please call the School Office - 01892 520114 or email mailto:office@bishops-down.kent.sch.uk office@bishops-down.kent.sch.uk for more information or to book a school tour. 

2027-2028 starters (starting September 2027) 

We will be hosting school tours which will be advertised nearer time with dates and times, but please call the School Office - 01892 520114 or email mailto:office@bishops-down.kent.sch.uk office@bishops-down.kent.sch.uk for more information or to book a school tour 

Applications to Primary Schools in Kent open from 6th November.  Please find more information here, on the Kent County Council website. 

Our Reception Topic Overview for the Autumn Term 

As every child is unique, the majority of our teaching is done through “child initiated” teaching, where the children learn through playing and interacting with carefully planned resources linking to their fascinations and interests whilst developing the key knowledge for the term.  The learning should feel irresistible! 

Please see below for our topic web for the term, which gives an overview of our learning and our EYFS progression map. 

Reception Curriculum 

As well as our Progression Map, we have a Reception Long Term Plan document that sets out the topics we will use across the year to deliver our teaching.  

Reception LTP 2025-26 Bishops Down .pdf 

These topics ensure that the children have a range of exciting learning opportunities, both inside and outside the classroom, each term.  

We may also add new mini projects to the plan through the year, as we want our learning to include the children's interests, or to link to national or international events, for example King Charles III’s coronation.  This is further enhanced by giving children as many hands-on experiences as possible such as a puppetry workshop at Lunar New Year and we have visiting speakers, such as members of the fire service.  Last year, the Reception class went on the visit to Hastings Aquarium and other trips will be planned for this year. 

We also like to add in learning experiences that link to our children's interests, so parents please do share your ideas with us too. It makes sure that each year in Reception is a little different! 

Kent Little Talkers - 6-week course

Safeguarding in Early Years

Safeguarding our children and everybody at Bishops Down Primary and Nursery School is our top priority.  

Safeguarding includes, but is not limited to – mental health, physical health and safety, safer recruitment, safer eating practises and teaching about on-line safety.  For more information about what we do as a school for Safeguarding please refer to our Safeguarding and Child Protection Policies. (hyper link these documents) 

We know that children learn best when they are healthy, safe and secure, when they have good mental health, when their individual needs are being met and when they have positive relationships with the adults caring for them and the peers they interact with. We follow our school safeguarding policy to provide a welcoming, safe and stimulating environment where children are able to enjoy learning and grow in confidence. We provide a curriculum that teaches children how to be safe, supporting them to assess risks, problem solve and make good choices 

We keep children safe in lots of different ways, working with parents, the children, with Kent County Council and Children's Social Services and the wider community. We have a policy called the Early Years Supervision Policy that sets out how we keep children safe whilst in our care. 

EYFS Supervision Policy 2026.pdf 

There are also lots of resources available for parents to start talking to their children about keeping safe, even at this early age. At school, we use the NSPCC Speak Out, Stay Safe resources for lessons and assemblies. Here is a link to NSPCC website, that provides parents with information and advice for first conversations. 

Talking to Children about Online Safety 

Childnet has produced a range of resources for parents and families to help navigate social media and the internet safely. Follow the link here to access the Childnet website: 

https://www.nspcc.org.uk/advice-for-families/pants-underwear-rule/?utm_old=pants

Talking to Children about Online Safety

Childnet has produced a range of resources for parents and families to help navigate social media and the internet safely. Follow the link here to access the Childnet website:

https://www.childnet.com/help-and-advice/talking-to-young-children-about-esafety/