Foundation

Nursery and Reception
Our aim in the Foundation Unit is to provide a high quality, integrated early education for your child which makes a positive contribution to their early development and learning.

These early years are critical for each child as they develop rapidly during this time – physically, intellectually, emotionally and socially. A well-planned and resourced curriculum will take your child’s learning forward; we strive to provide opportunities for all the children to succeed in an atmosphere where they feel secure, cared for and valued.

The Foundation Stage begins when children reach the age of three and it is when the children will begin developing key learning skills such as: 

 

• Listening
• Speaking
• Concentration
• Persistence
• Cooperation

 

It is also about developing early communication, literacy and numeracy skills that will prepare young children for Key Stage 1 of the National Curriculum. All these areas are covered in the Foundation Stage Profile under the six strands:

 

• Personal, social and emotional development
• Communication, language and literacy
• Problem solving, reasoning and numeracy
• Knowledge and understanding of the world
• Creative development
• Physical development

 

Topics
We plan activities and experiences that help children make progress in their development and learning. To capture their interest and imagination we use topics such as: 

 

• Toys
• Magnets
• Festivals
• Colour and light
• Space and transport

 

All classes in the Unit will cover the same Topic at the same time but activities will be tailored to the ages and abilities of the children in each class.

 

Play
Whether teacher led or self-initiated, play is a key way in which children learn with enjoyment and challenge during the Foundation Stage. Children deepen their understanding by playing, talking, observing, planning, questioning, experimenting, testing, repeating, reflecting and responding to adults and to each other.

 

Indoor/Outdoor
Our curriculum will involve lots of free flow of activities both indoors and outside. Children will need to have suitable clothing and footwear for the day in school so they are able to participate fully in their areas of choice.

 

Parents
Parents are children’s first and most enduring educators. When parents and teachers work together in an early years setting, the results have a positive impact on the child’s development and learning.

 

Some ways we try to develop an effective partnership with parents and encourage a two-way flow of information between school and home are:

 

• Communication books
• Weekly newsletters
• Open door policy
• Parent story times
• Parent meetings
• Regular report updates

 

Transition
Eventually your child will have to leave the Foundation Unit and we will do all we can to make them feel confident and happy about their move by attending Year 1 playtimes, assemblies and even having a taster session where they meet their new teacher. All these will take place in the Summer Term and your child will then hopefully look towards the move with excitement and pride at being a Year 1 child.

 

 

Download the Primary handbook for Parents.

Download the Foundation stage handbook