Parents as partners

Our relationship with you is so important, we want you to feel secure in the knowledge that your children are safe and happy at school. 

Also, we want you to share in your child's learning journey so that you are able to support them throughout their school journey.

We use Tapestry as our online learning journal and as soon as your child starts school, we will ask you to accept an email invitation to set up a parent account. This will let you see what your child has been doing at school but we would also encourage you to upload your own photos of messages about any 'Wow' moments or what your child has been getting up to- we value your contributions as they feed into our assessments and planning of next steps for your child.

We also use Tapestry to send messages as communication is key!

We hold workshops throughout the year for things such as Phonics, parents evenings and are available for drop ins and you are welcome to come and chat to us about your child's progress.

As a school we also host events such as Mothers/fathers/grandparents to lunch and invite families in to read and share their children's achievements.

2 YEar OLD CHECK

The two year old check is carried out when a child is two, the specific time is dependent upon a few things. For instance, a practitioner needs to get to know the child first so it is not appropriate to carry out the check straight away. If the child does not have regular attendance, this can also affect how soon the check can be carried out. Finally, there needs to be an agreement with the family of when the check will take place.

• The aims of the progress check are to:
   review a child‟s development in the three prime areas of the EYFS;
•  ensure that parents have a clear picture of their child‟s development;
•  enable practitioners to understand the child‟s needs and plan activities to
  meet them in the setting;
•  enable parents to understand the child's needs and, with support from
  practitioners, enhance development at home;
•  note areas where a child is progressing well and identify any areas where
  progress is less than expected; and
•  describe actions the provider intends to take to address any developmental
  concerns (including working with other professionals where appropriate).

For more detailed information, I have attached the guidance document below.

A day in the life of Nursery

In Nursery the children’s first job is to find their morning workbook and complete a task of either pencil control or writing their name. This allows the children to settle into the day calmly.

After that we move on to singing the day of the week and completing the daily calendar. We talk about the day, date, month, season and what the weather is doing.

After this we get out our flappers (material squares) and dance along with ‘Spread the Happiness’ This involves using our gross motor skills to draw in the air circles, lines etc and is all about getting our bodies prepared for mark making.

Later, we will have some Maths activities with a short input and activity led by the adult.

Then the children make a selection from the menu. The menu is 4 activities that is changed daily that links to areas that the children have been working on in the different areas of Early years. I ask the children to complete these activities throughout the day.

We will also have a daily phonics session, learning a new sound and consolidating the ones we have already learnt when the children are ready, or focusing on phase 1 Phonics when appropriate.

We then have snack and story with the reception children.

After that we get ready to go outside and choosing our learning outdoors.

In the afternoon we have a short input around the theme covered by the whole school. This is achieved through stories. We focus on a story per week and have activities set up around the theme.

Before we leave for home we either join together as a whole school for assembly or complete our daily mile followed by a story to finish off the day.

On a Friday we focus on mindfulness, our day is slightly different as when we come into school mindfulness music is playing and mindfulness colouring relating to what we have been doing during the week is set out on the tables. As part of our morning we will join in with yoga helping relax and focus our bodies and minds.

A day in the life of Reception

In Reception we have an activity for when we first enter the building, this might be a Phonics activity or a mark making one or maybe a Maths challenge. This is to help us settle into the building.

Then we have some time to choose our learning before we have a short Maths input followed by a focus activity and some Maths challenges in provision.

After that we have a short Phonics session followed by Reading in small groups. Then it is story and snack time.

After that we have a short Literacy input and then we can choose our learning in provision. 

After dinner, we have a short input around a theme, French or PE and then we have challenges linked to our curriculum theme.

In EYFS we have themes but we also leave room for children to practise skills and to guide their own learning and develop their own interests.

Then it will be either assembly or story followed by daily mile.

On a Friday we focus on mindfulness, our day is slightly different as when we come into school mindfulness music is playing and mindfulness colouring relating to what we have been doing during the week is set out on the tables. As part of our morning we will join in with yoga and a guided mindfulness session helping relax and focus our bodies and minds.

CHaracteristics of effective learning

The characteristics of effective learning are explicitly referred to and monitored in the Early Years, however they are appropriate throughout education as they are the ways in which we learn effectively.