EYFS

Article 28: Every child has the right to education

Early Years at the Acorns

The Acorns Primary and Nursery School Foundation Stage caters for children between the ages of 2 and 5 years. It consists of three main indoor learning environments; Caterpillar Class, Butterfly Class and two Foundation 2 classes.

Each provision has its own separate learning environment, tailored to the age and stage of the children, offering a range of different learning opportunities and characteristics to the indoor environment. Play and exploration at the Acorns involves children taking risks to steer them beyond their current capabilities and challenge them physically, socially and cognitively. Our environments are planned to maximise the impact on both children's experiences and progress.

Foundation Stage practitioners work in liaison to provide a continuous curriculum throughout the Foundation Stage.

In Foundation Stage, all children are allocated a 'Key Person' which we call the child's 'Special Talking Teacher'. The role of the Special Talking Teacher is to take responsibility for the emotional needs of a small group of children, ensuring they feel safe and cared for. This is the first person for a parent to talk to if they have any concerns about their child at home or school.

The role of parents is vital in Early Years and we therefore invite parents into all settings every day to facilitate positive communication. Parents and staff share news and achievements, with the children present, on a day to day basis, as well as through purple 'WOW moment' post-its. TLC bags (Talk Listen Create) have also been designed to be taken home for parents and children to use together. TLC activities inspire language-rich talk, curiosity and partnership and collaboration. In addition, parents engage with staff during parent meetings, reports and parent workshops.

In the Early Years Foundation Stage, where possible, we plan learning experiences based on the children's individual interests to ensure that they are engaged and motivated to learn. We also plan for 'Narrative Immersion' which promotes creative enquiry-led learning fusing drama and literacy so that learners can flourish in settings where 'positive struggle' and challenge is embraced, making learning purposeful and fun.

Our practitioner's role is crucial in supporting children's play; extending their language and sustained, shared thinking to help them make progress. Through this supported play, children can explore, develop and use their curiosity and imagination to help them make sense of the world in a secure environment. They practise skills, build up ideas and concepts, think creatively and imaginatively, and communicate with others as they investigate and solve problems. Practitioners constantly measure our children's chronological ages against their developmental ages and plan to diminish any differences by planning, both in advance and spontaneously, for their individual interest, gaps in their knowledge and as a result of daily observations and assessments.

Caterpillar Class

In Caterpillar Class, we take children from the age of 2. We have highly qualified and experienced staff (to degree level) to care for your child. We provide a variety of sensory play experiences to encourage language and develop explorative senses. We use 'Development Matters' to help shape our curriculum, focussing on the Prime Areas which are: Personal, Social and Emotional Development; Communication and Language, and Physical Development. Each child has a key person who will help your child to feel emotionally secure when away from home and thrive in a loving and secure relationship.  Your child’s key person will respond sensitively to their needs and extend their play and interests to develop specific next steps in learning.  Furthermore, they will be a reassuring point of contact for you.

We offer morning sessions - 8:40 - 11:40 am.

To apply for 15 hour free funding, go to Childcare Choices and find the options available for you and your family.

www.childcarechoices.gov.uk  

'Me' Books

During home visits, we will take photographs in the family home to use in 'Me' Books (and keyrings). We really appreciate parents/carers sending us additional photographs to add to these throughout the year. 'Me' Books help to share with us anything special you have done at home. We regularly look at the books with the children during the sessions to develop communication and language. Furthermore, having familiar faces from home in the setting has a positive impact on co-regulation and supports our trauma informed approach to building relationships.

Stay and Play

Stay and Play sessions for parents, grandparents and carers to spend time in Pre-School with the children happens daily. As part of our transition policy, adults are encouraged to stay in session for as long as they feel appropriate and parents tend to stay most days for the first 20 minutes to engage with welcome songs and sensory play. Having our parents stay in sessions also gives them the opportunity to see what the children do as well as promoting high-quality interactions.

In Caterpillar Class, we deliver daily supervised tooth brushing.  Children engage well with this and see it as a fun activity. 

www.healthboxcic.com/oral-health

www.supervisedtoothbrushing.com/information-for-parents

Parent Support

Please take a look at the links and websites below for ideas and information that you may find useful for supporting your child at home:

A GOOD PLACE TO BE TWO

IMPROVING OUTCOMES FOR 2-YEAR OLDS

Parent Feedback

Please read some feedback we received from parents:

"I'm so so grateful for the caterpillar team. You all go above and beyond every single day. You're all fantastic! Her confidence and speech have improved significantly; I'm so proud of her. The skills and knowledge you all have is truly amazing. I'm also so impressed with her learning journal and the references to different skills she is achieving. You're all stars!"

"I can't believe all of the things she gets up to every day. She is so busy! She loves coming to 'school'!"

"He absolutely loves 'school' and asks to come every day when I drop off his big sister. I'm so happy that he is enjoying it."

"He has settled in so quickly and is making so much progress and getting better and better every day. It is all because of the team and the hard work put into helping him. Thank you all so much."

Butterfly Class

In Butterfly Class, we take children from age 3. Children achieve, develop and have fun learning through play. This provision is lead by our Assistant Headteacher & EYFS Team Leader, who has a wealth of knowledge and skills and is effective in ensuring her team strive for the best possible outcomes and experiences for every child.

We offer Morning Sessions - 8:40 - 11:40am, and Afternoon Sessions - 12:10 - 3:10pm, Monday to Friday. Furthermore, we take pupils with 30-hour entitlement from 8:40 - 3:10pm (there is a £2 per day charge as our sessions total 32.5 hours).

To apply for free funding, go to Childcare Choices and find the options available for you and your family.

www.childcarechoices.gov.uk   

Parents and carers are welcome every session to support children for the first 15 minutes. During this time, staff model positive interactions, new learning and support both parents and children with fundamental skills such as toothbrushing.  See more information about our supervised programme at:

www.healthboxcic.com/oral-health

www.supervisedtoothbrushing.com/information-for-parents

Parents and carers are invited to half termly 'Stay for a Story' sessions, 'Stay and Play' sessions, and 'Story Performances'.

In Butterfly Class, we build upon the Prime Areas of Learning that have developed at a rapid pace as a result of a high-quality, stimulating curriculum in our Caterpillar Class. These Prime Areas cultivate positive relationships and experiences, and run through and support learning in all other areas. They are:

Communication and language

Physical development

Personal, social and emotional development

In Butterfly Class, we begin to plan for four Specific Areas of learning that grow out of the Prime Areas, including essential skills and knowledge and providing important contexts for learning. They are:

Literacy

Mathematics

Understanding the World

Expressive arts and design

Reading and writing is an area of priority in Butterfly Class. Before our children can read or write, we support them in developing certain skills. Literacy in Butterfly Class encompasses activities to promote these skills which then lead into early reading and writing.

Making large arm movements with brushes or mops or copying movements in the air; making and using clay or dough, and picking up tiny objects all promote the development of the muscles needed for writing.

Going on listening walks, making up our own stories, doing rhythmic activities and teaching nursery rhymes and songs all promote reading skills.

Alongside these, we always have available resources for mark-making such as pens, felt-tips and pencils as well as charcoal, nature brushes - using leaves or splayed sticks as brushes - sticks in sand or mud, paint or shaving foam on the ground where children can explore mark-making in various forms. We use sticks, leaves and other natural objects to identify and make letters.

'Narrative Immersion' is a key aspect of our curriculum and positively impacts Literacy aswell as  Expressive Arts and Design. Pupils confidently learn texts orally with actions and internalise vocabulary, the flow of sentences, and text patterns. Planning conceptually-rich activities in a language filled environment, with literacy at the heart of the provision, has enhanced interactions and pupils' imaginations.

Characteristics of Effective Learning

The different ways in which children learn are also key to their development. The Characteristics of Effective Learning run through all areas of the curriculum and we use them to reflect upon how children learn and to inform how we teach and support them. We have Super Learner Capes to celebrate - Fantastic Focus; Keep it Up Captain; Agent Ideas; Super Explorer, and Have a Go Hero.

In Butterfly Class, pupils enjoy both rolling and a more formal daily snack. This gives them the opportunity to be snack monitors and care for their own peers. Building independent doers and thinkers is one of the goals of early childhood education. At snack time children read the menus to share the food appropriately.  They have ceramic and China cups and plates and practise a variety of key skills:

Personal, Social, Emotional Development

• listening to other children
• learning about healthy foods
• learning about setting a table and
• interacting appropriately and respectfully
• sharing the good things about their day

Communication and Language

• talking to other children at the table
• making snack a social occasion

Physical Development

• judging the distances between chairs, place settings etc.
• being able to prepare and enjoy a snack, knowing that this is a useful skill
• handling dishes and cutlery
• learning the routine of snack
• washing hands
• arranging cup and jugs so they don't spill
• being responsible for tidying away
• pouring milk and controlling the flow

Mathematics

• counting to see if there is a space at the table
• matching and sorting items
• counting items listed on the daily menu, e.g. number of crackers
• developing a concept of: more, less, gone, full, half full and empty

Literacy

• linking snack with shopping lists
• reading menus

Understanding the World 

• experiencing foods from different countries
• arranging snack items attractively

Parent Feedback

Please read some feedback we received from our parents:

"Please extend my thanks to the nursery team for all the prep work they did last year - introducing * to new environments and faces. I do feel that this has really helped him settle in quickly and has let him concentrate on learning and finding his place rather than feeling overwhelmed and unsettled. Also, they are doing a fantastic job with * - she loves going to 'school' and is learning and growing every day."

"Please thank the Speech & Language Team for the extra support they are providing. I know * enjoys his sessions and he seems to get a lot from them; although I do appreciate it's an on-going process."

"I must say, I've been very impressed with the extra sessions that the teaching staff have provided for parents - they have all been both helpful and encouraging."