Welcome to Nursery School
September 2016
Throughout the year your child will be doing a wide range of activities. We will keep you informed of our topics and would encourage you to always ask your key worker if anything is unclear.
Children at our school follow the Early Years Foundation Stage Curriculum detailed by the government for children from 0 to 5 years of age. This outlines the range of activities that young children should experience in order to develop the knowledge and skills needed to be ready for primary school. We aim to give children the confidence to “have a go” and to “keep on trying” even when something is tricky. Your children, with the support of staff, will have fun, learn quickly and soon be keen to try new things.
We call these years the EYFS. The Early Years Foundation Stage lasts until the end of the Reception year. (Your child’s first year at Primary School)
Learning is divided into 3 ‘Prime’ areas:
§ Personal, Social and Emotional Development
§ Communication and Language
§ Physical Development
There are also 4 ‘Specific’ areas:
· Literacy
· Mathematics
· Understanding the World
· Expressive Arts and Design
The Nursery School day is carefully structured and planned to meet the needs of the individual. As well as one to one attention we also use group activities to help the children share and learn how to work together. Children are naturally very curious and we often hear “What are you doing?” and “Can I try?”
We will record what we refer to as “development statements’. These note your child’s progress. We want each child to become an enthusiastic, motivated and enthusiastic learner. We want them to be able to try and do things independently.
Most of our learning is through play. It is well researched as being the very best way to learn. Activities take place both inside and outside. We call our outdoor space the Outside Learning Area
Our planning for each half term is displayed in the corridor.
Our Topic for this half term is “All about Me”
Below are just some of the things that your child will be doing and how you might be able to be involved and support their learning at home.
They are detailed in the 7 areas of learning but many activities will overlap. Many skills are transferable across the seven areas of learning.
Personal, Social and Emotional Development
The most important thing our new children will be doing this half term is settling in. Feeling happy, safe and knowing who to ask for help is very important. Children old and new will make friends and help each other to follow our daily routines. Children will be trying a range of activities. Children who have been with us before will be challenged to do more for themselves and to make choices about where they want to play. Asking children key questions without pressurising them encourages them to think for themselves and builds their confidence. Words you might hear include “group time” “story time” or snack time “these will be new experiences for many children. We will be encouraging them to share, take turns, listen to others, to experiment and explore. We will help them to become independent with things like toileting and putting on their coats.
All of the children both new and those returning will be encouraged to talk about themselves, their families and the things that are special to them. Developing good relationships in school is essential. The key workers will quickly get to know your child and they are the first person to contact with questions. We welcome your questions.
Communication and Language
We give children opportunities to talk about themselves, their interests and their needs. We encourage them to listen to others and to respond to what others say. We have regular grouptime, time for stories, singing and time for moving to music. All of these activities encourage children to be active and involved. Don’t worry it’s definitely not all about sitting still! Listening; understanding and communicating are all developed in a lively and fun way. We focus on having a short successful session which can gradually be lengthened in time. The more a child can listen, understand and communicate their ideas or feelings the more ready they are able to learn and the more confident they will become.
Physical Development
The children have the opportunity to play inside and outside. They will be encouraged to use their bodies in different ways and to try different equipment. They will be given lots of freedom about how and where they play. We do have rules which we help all children to understand.
The rules are not to be restrictive but are there to keep children safe and to promote an understanding of looking after ourselves and other children’s safety.
The children will be using small things like beads, paintbrushes and dough to develop their manipulative control and hand-eye co-ordination.
Snack provides an excellent opportunity to reinforce the need to clean hands before eating and encourages discussion about eating a healthy diet.
We use our outside learning area daily and in all weathers, so please ensure that your child brings a suitable coat every day. We also have sand and soil boxes that the children can access independently. In wet weather these can provide some glorious mud to play in.
In autumn the weather can change quickly. We like the children to be responsible for their own coats. It is best if children can hang up their coats without your help. When they want to play outside, each child has to find their coat and put it on Being able to find their own peg is important. Your child needs appropriate footwear for riding, climbing, jumping, running………..trainers or similar type shoes with velcro fastenings are best. Even if they have some favourite crocs or flip-flops it really is best to save these for wearing at home.
Literacy
Children are surrounded by language from the moment they are born. In school this area involves the beginnings of reading and writing. Individual name cards, badges and coat pegs will be used to encourage children to “read” their own name. Help us and your child by taking them to look for their own badge each day. You can give them clues by asking if they can find their group or colour of badge. Talk about what letter their name begins with or something special about the shape of their name. Is it long or short? Does it have any double letters?
Sharing a book together is very special and something all our children enjoy. Here at St. Mary’s we really value the importance that books play in a young child’s education. We have an excellent collection of fiction and non-fiction books. Children have daily access to these in both rooms. We also have a “Sharing Library” We invite you to choose a book to take home to enjoy together – we will give you more details soon. The Sharing Library is run by parents who kindly volunteer their time at the start of the session. We always appreciate more help. If you would like to know more help, please see Sandy Russell (Key Worker for the Ladybird group)
Mathematics
We will be helping the children match, sort, order and count. We do this in many different ways. We will be looking at number stories, singing number songs and joining in number rhymes.
We do lots of maths in our outside area too. We learn that maths is everywhere ! Even snack gives us the chance to count. “How many children ? How many cups will we need today?” asking questions even when walking home is a great way to support your child’s early maths skills.
Understanding the World
This is a fantastic area of learning that covers science, technology and so much more. Our topic, “All about Me” lends itself to the children finding out more about themselves and their bodies as well as talking about their home, family and friends. We have computers in each room enabling children to use a touch screen as well as handling and moving the mouse. We also have the large touch screen in the Garden Room for children to be able to access a variety of programs. ICT also includes using different kinds of technology, like making the microwave in the home corner work, and taking pictures with a digital camera. There are so many things in daily life which we take for granted and sometimes forget that children need to learn .
Expressive Arts and Design
As you take home those wonderful creations you will see first hand some of the activities that the children enjoy. Everyone gets an opportunity to experiment and explore with different materials, colours, textures and tools. At this age it is particularly important to encourage a child’s imagination so there will be opportunities to dress up. role play in the house and play with activities including farms, boats, building equipment and trains. Children will also get the chance to build and make using different construction toys and tools. In the Garden Room we have our Block Play Area which is always available. This is an area where imagination takes off; we can have a zoo a castle, a pirate ship or even a rocket to take us to the moon!
Outside children can play with many different things creating games or models based entirely on their own ideas.
We also manage to have time for music, movement and singing. We have lots of great musical instruments. And a wealth of songs to share.
The first half term is always a tiring one and with so much to see and do! Please try to remember that sometimes your child won’t want to tell you everything or doesn’t do a painting everyday. They are learning so much about themselves and about the world around them . Its exciting but exhausting too !
Please do ask if you want to know more