Early Years
Subject lead for Writing: Ms Beth James
Our place in the world
Starting school is a very important time for children and their families. We work hard to ensure that we provide a welcoming, happy and secure learning environment for all children We recognise that they have all experienced their own unique journeys before embarking on their school journey with us. We celebrate the things that make us who we are while thinking about what makes us similar and different to others, both near and far. Our Rights and Responsibilities charters allow children to build a sense of self while recognising how their own actions affect others.
Language and oracy
Strong Early language and Oracy skills have been proven to promote success in all areas of learning throughout a child’s education. This is why we hold it at the heart of everything we do in our Early Years classes. Whether a child is at the early stages of learning English language, has additional Speech and Language needs or whether a child is a confident orator, we celebrate language and communication in all its forms. We focus our learning on language- rich, fantastic texts and stories. Through this, we broaden our vocabularies and become confident discussing our ideas around different subjects.
Learning skills
The Early Years classes adopt the same Learning skills as the rest of the school. We have soft toy animals that we grow to know and love throughout our tine in Nursery and Reception. They remind children of how we can develop our own behaviours to become happy, effective learners and create a positive, collaborative learning environment for us all.
Healthy body, healthy mind
Learning to keep ourselves healthy and happy begins as soon as children start at our school. Through PE lessons, free flow outdoor play, trips, and walks, we provide children with lots of fresh air and exercise. Our equipment provides opportunities to develop fine and gross motor skills and children are encouraged to take an active role in making healthy choices. We learn about food and try out cooking and tasting to develop healthy lifelong habits. We also learn what steps we can take to look after our own wellbeing, including daily meditation, self-regulation strategies and doing things that bring us joy.
Intent
We aspire to creating experiences for our youngest children that create a love of learning which takes them through their whole school journey and beyond. We recognise the uniqueness of each child and nurture their talents and fascinations in a way that inspires curiosity and creativity. We use Development Matters to ensure that children are given opportunities to learn and rehearse a progression of skills from age 3 through to 5. Our skilled team combines direct teaching, group work and child initiated play in an exciting and inspiring classroom environment.
Implementation
- Our Reception intake is 30 pupils every year and the children follow the Early Years Framework.
- Children join our nursery class when they turn 3 Years old.
- Our Nursery and Reception classes are designed to encourage play. We understand that through skill-focused planning and high quality environments, children are able to develop and practise skills that are appropriate for their own stage of development. We have open-ended resources in our classes that children can access freely. This develops their sense of autonomy and inspires them to be them self-motivated learners. Alongside regular directed carpet sessions, children are encouraged to develop their own ideas while adults support and enhance their learning through gentle collaborative learning and supportive communication.
- We use the Rocket Phonics Systematic Synthetic Phonics scheme to teach early reading and writing. Children have daily phonics lessons and lots of chances throughout the day to practise what they are learning.
- We teach Maths through NCETM’s Mastering Number program. Our school is part of the Sussex Maths Hub project surrounding developing Maths mastery which begins in the Early Years. The learning is supported by the BBC Numberblocks characters, who engage children and embed key Maths concepts.
- Children in Reception dive into the wonderful world of ‘Drawing Club’, which combines learning and practising skills across Reading, Writing, Communication and Language, Maths and Expressive art and design. Each week we focus on a different book, learn new vocabulary from it, and immerse ourselves in the storyline and characters before we begin to create our own adventures.
Impact
- In our Early Years Foundation Stage Profile for the academic year 2023-24, 70% of children achieved ‘Good Level of Development’.
- Children are happy, confident, and self-motivated learners.
- Children transition into Year 1 smoothly and are equipped with all the skills they need for the start of key Stage 1.
How to support your child at home.
- Parents, you can find out about what your child is learning at school by logging in to our new Seesaw platform: https://app.seesaw.me/#/login Class teachers will update you each week with what we are doing in class and suggest ways that you can support your child at home.
- We will send your child home with a ‘decodable’ phonics reading book each week. We ask that you read this book with your child multiple times during the week. Encourage your child to show you what they have been learning in class, have a go at reading some of the words, talk about the pictures and use the questions at the back of the book to chat about it.
- Play games with your child! Any games! Providing opportunities for fun and chat while spending dedicated quality time with each other are some of the most valuable learning experiences you can give your child. You could try simple ‘tick, tack, toe’, ‘eye spy’, ‘What’s the Time Mr Wolf’, drawing together, building Lego models or a board game.
- Go on a walk. Get into nature. The beautiful beach or Sussex countryside provide endless learning opportunities for you child and also promote their physical and mental health. We would love to hear all about any adventures you go on!