Welcoming our New Parents

We know that starting school is such an important time in the lives of our children and their families.  Transitions and change can be tricky and therefore we have an important and robust system for supporting children’s smooth transition into our school, in order to give them the best possible start.

Today we met many parents of children due to start Reception in September.

They found out about our school philosophy, curriculum and practical details such as the routines and uniform.

Lyndsey joined us from the Health Visiting and School Nurse team in order to support parents with ‘school readiness’. She chatted to parents about eating and sleeping and was able to signpost them to other health departments. We work closely with this team of professionals to support children’s development and learning, especially in the EYFS.

We are looking forward to sharing lunch with our new families, playing with the children during Stay and Play sessions and visiting them at home in the coming weeks.

A Visit from the RSPCA

Nursery and Reception learnt about Louise’s job role and how she cares for pets that have not been looked after by their owners.

The children learnt five key things that animals need to thrive. Honey helped demonstrate some of these!

This knowledge will help their understanding about living things, animals and jobs. It builds on the learning they have already done and they have already started to use it in the role-play and small world area.

This is also linked to our school value of respect.

A Visit From Lauren The Veterinary Nurse

Children have access to a wide range of role-play resources in the EYFS. They can use these in order to develop their vocabulary, imagination and story-telling skills. Our Home Corner is a constant feature in our setting in order for all children have access to nurturing, homely resources that reflect their lives and culture.

Practitioners enhance the role-play provision to link to the overarching theme during each term.

The Vets has just opened in order for children to develop, use and apply their knowledge of animals.

Practitioners plan cultural capital experiences, carefully at key points, so that children can access and use resources purposefully. Today Lauren a Veterinary Nurse visited. The children learnt about her uniform, equipment and role. They learnt new vocabulary such as swab, sterile and gown and the meaning of these words by exploring resources and singing songs.

A Time For Celebrations; Ramadan and Easter

During the spring term children in nursery and reception learnt about a range of celebrations from different religions and cultures in order to develop their knowledge of People and Communities. This also supports the school value of being respectful and prepares them for their future lives.

The children learnt about the Muslim celebration of Ramadan by looking at books, artefacts and participating in crafts. They learnt that the moon is very important to some Muslims who participate in Ramadan and talked about the countdown to Eid and fasting. The children learnt vocabulary related to clothing some Muslim’s wear like a hijab. One of the children brought in a hijab from home which further enriched children’s learning and made the new vocabulary even more meaningful.

The children learnt about the Christian celebration of Lent and made pancakes at forest school. Practitioners layer children’s knowledge through a range of experiences. They read and acted out the runaway pancake, luckily ours did not run away and we managed to gobble it all up! The children were able to safely sit around the fire. The children and staff explored the Christian story of Easter through storytelling eggs and designed Easter cards. The children participated in an ‘Easter Tea Party’ which was decorated with salt dough crosses they had made a Christian symbol of the cross.

Practitioners were able to draw out connections between the two religions with children.