Reception
Welcome to Reception’s page…
A warm welcome from myself, Mrs. Aris, Reception’s class teacher. I feel incredibly privileged that you have chosen The Willows for your child!
I am very fortunate to be supported by Mrs. Vallely, our wonderful Teaching Assistant. I am also lucky to have Mrs. Hayes who leads our outdoor learning sessions and Miss Mallinson who takes the children for their Music lesson.
As a team, we work exceptionally hard to make sure your child’s first year at primary school is very special and one to remember! Take a look at the information below to see what we have been getting up to!

This term’s Stars!
Now that we are allowed to have assemblies together again, we have restarted our Star Award Assembly on Friday morning. This is a very special assembly where Mrs. Aris tells us how amazing one of our friends has been this week – our parents are even allowed to come! Well done to all of our recent Star Award winners.
Things to know about…
Reception is very different to all the other classes in a primary school. We don’t sit down for formal lessons like everyone else, Mrs. Aris listens to what we like, what we enjoy doing and then tailors our activities to suit us.
We also follow a different curriculum, it’s called Development Matters; as the year progresses, we move onto the Early Learning Goals.
Like the other classes, we learn about our faith, Catholicism and we also learn about our bodies and exercise in PE.
Reception’s Newsletters
Each week, Mrs. Aris writes a Newsletter to the families of our Reception children letting you know what they have been learning that week. Click the button below to see Mrs. Aris’ latest Newsletters.
Frequently Asked Questions
Whether your child is just starting in our Reception class or has been with us for a while, have a look at our FAQs which you may find helpful. If you can’t find the answer to your question, please do not hesitate to give us a call.
Reception – Julia Donaldson Day
This term Reception have been looking at stories by the author Julia Donaldson. They have enjoyed looking at all the different stories and sharing their favourite characters with each other. The children came to school dressed as their favourite Julia Donaldson...
Reception visit Kirkham Library
On Wednesday afternoon Reception visited Kirkham Library. We had so much fun looking at all the different books on the shelves. The Librarians read us a story too and we really enjoyed it.
Reception – Diwali Workshop
In Reception we have been looking at the festival of Diwali; we have been learning all about the festival of light. We took part in a Diwali workshop which was full of different activities to show us what happens when people celebrate the festival of Diwali. We had so...
Reception Forest School
Every Thursday afternoon, Reception go down to our Forest School Area. They had so much fun today exploring the area. They took part in lots of activities and enjoyed the wet mud.
Settling into School
Our Reception children are settling into school life very well. We had our welcome assembly last week and this was the first time the children had been in an assembly; their behaviour was outstanding. We have been making friends with everyone in our class, learning...
Reception’s First Week
What a fabulous first week Reception have had. The children have settled into school life very well and have met their Year 6 buddies. They have had their first Music lesson and also started Balance-ability. We have even started to learn some sounds in Phonics.