Curriculum
Our Early Years provision provides a happy and caring environment where all children are valued equally, their contributions to nursery life are appreciated and acknowledged and where they find security whilst being challenged to give and only accept their best.
What will my child do in Nursery and Reception?
In the nursery the children learn skills that will enable them to make rapid progress when they are introduced to learning grapheme and phoneme correspondences in Reception. The key skills children learn in the nursery to start on the journey to becoming fluent readers are as follows:
- Environmental sounds
- Instrumental sounds
- Body percussion (e.g. clapping and stamping)
- Rhythm and rhyme
- Alliteration
- Voice sounds
- Oral blending and segmenting (e.g. hearing that d-o-g makes 'dog')
A typical day in Nursery is structured as follows:
- Nursery starts at 8.30am where the children will be greeted by all the Nursery staff. The children will attend a settling in activity on the carpet whilst the register is taken.
- The children will then have a literacy lesson based on the current text.
- Children will then be free to learn inside or outside. During this time adult-led activities will occur and your child will take part in these sessions.
- Children will then take part in a phonics carpet session before lunch and a maths whole class session after lunch.
- The afternoon follows a similar pattern to the morning session.
- At the end of the day the children will have story and singing time and the gate will reopen at 2.55 for a 3pm collection.
In Reception, the school day is predominantly play-based where children can choose activities in the classroom or in our outside learning areas. There are also several whole class carpet sessions throughout the day where children develop skills including Literacy, Phonics, Maths, and Understanding the World.
A typical day in Reception is structured as such:
- Children come in and do some early morning phonics work on their whiteboards-whilst the register is taken.
- Whole class literacy lesson based around the text we are focussing on.
- Free flow and adult led activities.
- Mid-Morning Phonics lesson- Little Wandle Revised Letters and Sounds.
- Free flow and adult led activities including group reading.
- Whole class Maths lesson using White Rose Maths.
- Lunch
- After lunch a whole class lesson based on Understanding of the world/Expressive Arts and design.
- Free flow and adult led activities
- Story and song time
- The children also take part in a weekly PE lesson
Reception marks the final year of Early Years before the children begin their formal schooling in Year 1. Reception is the year that your child becomes ‘school-ready’; developing their independence, confidence, resilience and curiosity. This year your child will continue to learn by doing things for themselves, by exploring and investigating, watching and listening, talking and discussing, playing, creating and communicating.
In both Nursery and Reception, children follow a curriculum called the Early Years Foundation Stage (EYFS) and we plan for and assess children’s learning in seven areas. These are divided into three prime areas and four specific areas.
Prime areas:
- Communication and Language
- Physical Development
- Personal, Social and Emotional Development
Specific areas:
- Literacy
- Mathematics
- Understanding of the world
- Expressive arts and design
The indoor and outdoor environment is set up so that all children can access these areas independently.
We believe in supporting and guiding each individual child’s development to their full potential, and therefore our nursery classes promote the characteristics of effective learning:
Characteristics of Effective Learning |
Playing and exploring - EngagementFinding out and exploring Playing with what they know Being willing to 'have a go' |
Active Learning - MotivationBeing involved and concetrating Keeping Trying Enjoying achieving what they set out to do |
Creating and thinking critically - ThinkingHaving their own ideas Making links Choosing ways to do things |
