In our Early Years Foundation Stage children gain important knowledge and practise crucial skills through play-based learning. This involves carefully thought out basic, continuous and enhanced provision to provide opportunities for children to broaden their skills and deepen their knowledge. Children are free to explore the indoor and outdoor provision how they should choose to, and adults are there to facilitate and enhance the learning through interactions and specific activities.

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We follow a carefully planned curriculum that is largely taught through key texts. These core books cover an expansive range of topics, allowing our children to gain deeper insight about a number of topics such as:Seasonal Changes, Minibeasts, Growing, Cultural Celebrations and many more. We aim to develop a love of reading, a love of discussion and a true love of learnng!

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Developing communication and language is a priority of ours. Heavy emphasis on reading and retelling stories helps to expand children’s vocabulary. Emphasis on book talk and the language around being a reader and a storyteller takes precedence in the Early Years. Developing our children’s oracy skills is meticulously planned for and the interactions with our children deepen and expand such skills. Adults working in the Early Years phase all work tirelessly to ensure our children’s language development remains a priority. From our very youngest in our 2-year-old provision through to our Reception class, we also prioritise children’s emotional wellbeing. Children are nurtured and supported by a team of calm and gentle practitioners who put children’s personal, social and emotional development at the forefront of their education in Early Years.  

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We encourage children to be outside in all kinds of weather and are continuously developing our wonderfully large outdoor spaces. Outdoor learning is crucial to success and a great tool to develop and enhance children’s language. Whilst outdoors the children engage in large scale gross motor activities, as well as take part in planting and maintaining our garden all year round.

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We follow the Revised Letters and Sounds Little Wandle phonics scheme. Early phonological knowledge is taught from Nursery and children begin to receive formal phonics lessons from Reception. Children also receive discrete mathematics lessons as well as maths meetings (quick, fun singing or game activities daily to embed key mathematical concepts and develop fluency).

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It is important to us that our children leave the Early Years Foundation Stage as independent, resilient and communicative individuals.

In Early Years and Key Stage 1, homework plays an important role in helping children practice what they have learned at school and develop good study habits. Children are expected to read daily at home with an adult, using a school reading book that matches their phonics level (provided by the school). They are also given a "reading for pleasure" book to enjoy with a family member. Additionally, children are assigned a maths task in their homework book, which relates to the lessons covered in class. A phonics activity is also given out weekly, reinforcing the phonics learning from the week. Homework is designed to be short, focusing on quality rather than quantity, and provides a valuable opportunity for children to share their learning with their families.

Reception children enjoy enriching experiences beyond the classroom. Visits to local parks and nature reserves provide opportunities to explore the natural world and learn about seasons and wildlife. We partner with community organisations to bring engaging workshops, such as animal handling sessions and storytelling events, into school. These experiences spark curiosity and deepen their understanding of the world.

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