Starting School

Welcome to our school,

We are very pleased to welcome you to our Reception page for new parents.

We are a positive and caring school with a dedicated Early Years Foundation Stage (EYFS) team that strives for the very best in everything we do. In Reception we aim to create an inclusive learning environment where all children achieve their full potential.

We follow the EYFS curriculum, building on children’s knowledge and skills from their Nursery journey. We learn through a wide range of play based, active learning opportunities in our indoor and outdoor classrooms.

Please take a look at our brochure ‘A Guide to Reception at Woodwater Academy’ which was created for our current reception children who joined us this year. This will give you a little insight into our early years classroom and enable you to meet the class teachers.  The information we have included will give you an overview of what life is like in Reception at Woodwater Academy.

We appreciate that choosing a school is a very important decision to make as a parent, please let us know if we can help in anyway.

If you would like to arrange a visit to our school or if you have any questions about the application process, please contact Sarah Cox on 01392 274147 or email woodwater@ventrus.org.uk.

We hope you find the information on this page helpful and we are looking forward to meeting you all soon.

The Early Years team

 

What happens next?

When you are first offered a place in Reception you will receive an offer letter from the Local Authority, Devon County Council. It is essential that you confirm with them that you wish to accept this offer so that any child who is on a waiting list can be offered your place if you no longer need it.

Starting School September 2023

Once you have confirmed that you wish to accept the offer of a place at our school, we will write to you with information about our Stay and Play settling in sessions. These are sessions when you and your child can come into our Early Years classroom to meet the staff and become familiar with the setting, and take place in the Summer Term.

Over the course of these sessions we will encourage you to leave your child in the classroom while you get to know the other parents away from them in our Community Room. This is always done at the pace with which your child is most comfortable as we recognise what a big step this is for you and your child.  Your child’s teacher will also visit your child in their current nursery or pre-school setting.

Each year we are able to welcome up to 45 new pupils into our Reception year group. We currently have two Reception classes; Hughes and Donaldson.  All the classes throughout the school are named after authors. The children are assigned a class for registration purposes.

The classes are adjoining with their own outdoor area. There are four teachers and four teaching assistants within our EYFS Team, the children mix between the classes and outdoor space to allow them to experience the full range of activities available. All members of staff will interact with, and support, pupils from both classes within the unit.

For more information please do take a look at the ‘Guide to Reception at Woodwater Academy’ which can be found below.

A Guide to Reception at Woodwater Academy