Join Reception 2025 at Reigate St Mary’s

Register for our next Open Morning or contact Admissions to arrange a personal tour:

Open Morning Wednesday 13 March

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Contact our Admissions Registrar, Jenny Myddleton, to find out more or to arrange a personal tour:

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Starting school at the age of four is an exciting step for little people. Whether your child has been in a nursery full-time or a pre-school part-time, their needs when they start Reception are unique and all the elements that make them happy, confident and ready to learn will be individual to them. There are, however, some things that we can confidently predict every four-year-old will need for a happy and successful start to school life and Reception at Reigate St Mary’s is built around these:

Relationships – we know that strong, positive relationships with adults and peers make children feel secure and loved and this is essential for a happy and successful school life. Our Reception class sizes are small to enable this. Our caring teachers can form those all-important strong bonds quickly allowing the children room and confidence to be themselves.

Play – play is the work of childhood and it is how young children learn. In Reception we harness joyful play at every opportunity throughout the day.

Time – when your child starts Reception, they will need time. They will need their teachers to have time to stop and to listen to their story about the walk to school, to wait for your child to finish their sentence, or to explain their idea. Our excellent adult to child ratios and plenty of planning time factored into each week make sure our teachers do have time. Time to allow children to be children, and not to rush them onto the next thing because the timetable requires it.

Stimulation – neural connections that don’t develop in the first five years of life may never develop at all. We make sure the Reception children have the widest possible range of opportunities, so their agile little minds remain open to all the possibilities around them as they grow.

Recognition – some children are naturally outgoing and others are more reserved. We meet every child where they are and build the days and the weeks around them, rather than expecting them to fit in with our schedule.

Outdoor Space & Fresh Air – your child will feel free outside, to run off steam, to explore nature, to learn without realising that they’re learning. We want to capture this and so we make sure that outside is a key part of each day for our Reception children. Whether they are getting muddy at Forest School, sandy in the playground or a little bit wet by the pond, the children are encouraged to feel, smell, wiggle or squeeze – turning everyday learning into exciting adventures.

To find out more about Reception at RSM and how we can provide the best start for your child, join our next open events or contact Jenny Myddleton to arrange a visit. I look forward to meeting you.

Sam Selkirk

Head of Lower School

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