The time that your child becomes school-age is a special one. Choosing Reception in the nurturing environment at Langley Pre-Prep will see your child thrive in that vitally important 4- to 5-year-old stage.
Our Reception class is all about play-based learning. Not just directing from the front of the class, our teachers sit with the children and help guide their development through play. There is thought behind everything they do, with objective-led plans for each individual child in our care.
We use a technique of short, teacher-focussed sessions for Maths and English, which intersperse the school day in Reception. We also follow two key theorists when it comes to our approach to learning and development:
Alistair Bryce-Clegg – his theory champions child-led learning, and advocates for environments that support play-based exploration and development rather than rigid, topic-driven instruction
Greg Bottrill – central to his theory is the importance of creating environments where children can discover and learn at their own pace through the “3Ms”: Making conversation, Mark Making and Mathematics
Our approach is supported by the great outdoors, and our Outdoor Learning Centre is where some of the most wonderful play-based learning comes to life during the children’s weekly sessions. Of course, just like all children in Pre-Prep, our Reception children have full access to the school’s incredible grounds and facilities, including weekly lessons in our indoor heated swimming pool.
We are excited to announce some changes to our Reception offering from September 2026. We know that the fee commitment for independent education is long term and can feel heavy, so we have been working to minimise the costs for parents. Accordingly, our fees for Reception year are reducing for September 2026 to £9,028 (plus VAT). That represents a 15% reduction in fees, applying the maximum possible government funded hours, which we are now able to increase from 15 hours per week to the maximum 30. We know that this area can be complex as individual family situations are all different, so do please contact us to work through what can be offered depending on your eligibility for government funding.
On top of the 15% reduction in fees, we are making some other key changes, designed to support families to choose independent education.
These changes are in the areas of opening hours, free holiday club provision, class sizes, possible new payment facilities and facility refurbishment.
We are adjusting our opening hours to align with those of our on-site Bluebell Nursery, and to accommodate the needs of as many working parents as possible. Reception will now be open from 8.30am to 5.30pm, and for a small additional charge we can also accommodate a 8am drop off.
Our new on-site Explorers holiday club will provide your child with continuity during the school holidays, giving you peace of mind. Explorers will be staffed exclusively by Langley staff, meaning your child can have fun in a familiar environment with play leaders fully in tune with the Langley experience. We are offering Reception children 4 FREE WEEKS at Explorers, and a further 10% off other bookings you make. No more worrying about settling your child into a new environment in the holidays!
We know that children learn best in classes that are not too big. Individual attention is much more difficult to provide in classes with larger numbers of children. Equally, children need to engage with a good number of other children to form friendship bonds, so our ideal class size accommodates for both, with a maximum capped at 18. This ensures the best of both worlds.
We are looking at introducing monthly payment facilities. Please indicate whether this is of interest to you when you apply, so that we can assess demand.
We run a programme of year-round facility upgrades across Langley Prep School. In line with our school development plan, we are continuing to upgrade the Reception facilities ready for an increase in incoming children in September
We are fortunate to have considerable freedom over the curriculum, and we balance that freedom with ensuring that core competencies foundational to future education milestones are gained. We are currently exploring some additional and exciting enhancements to our curriculum, and we will share those as soon as we can!
We are used to ensuring that spring and summer-born children are cared for and encouraged in a way that reflects the differences that can exist at this age.
We have also arranged that Reception children under the age of 5 will receive an additional 4 WEEKS FREE provision with our Nursery children who are in Woodlands class.
To acknowledge the commitment so many families have made to a Langley education, we offer a Langley Journey discount of 10% at certain transition points during your child’s educational journey; these include from Prep to Senior and Senior to Sixth Form.
Easy! Just WhatsApp, email or call our friendly Admissions team, register for our upcoming Open Day on 2nd February, or book a private tour where you can ask any questions you may have. We are approachable, friendly, and no question is silly, so do please start your journey today. We look forward to talking with you!
Bluebell Nursery, Pre-Prep & Prep School
Taverham
Telephone: 01603 868206 Ext 5
WhatsApp: +44 (0)7721 815456
Email: admissions@langleyschool.co.uk
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