Foundation Stage
Every child is a different kind of flower and together they make this world a beautiful garden.
In our Foundation Stage we have five practitioners who work closely with the children: Miss Nelson and Mrs Shuttleworth, the teachers; Mrs Costello, Mrs Rees and Mrs Wills, who are our teaching assistants.
On entry to our Foundation Stage Unit, we place emphasis on working on the personal, social and emotional wellbeing of the children. This is fundamental in a child becoming ready to be a learner. As part of our inclusive environment, we strive for all the children to work as a team and discover the individual qualities in each other. It is our ethos to nurture children’s independence and belief in themselves and their abilities.
In line with our Investors in Pupils initiative, children are encouraged to take ownership of their classroom and work as a team. This includes first and foremost setting a class target in which we all have to work towards. The children then take responsibility for choosing an appropriate reward. As well as focusing on establishing our routines, we work together to create our own set of ‘Golden Rules’ based on what our expectations are as a team. These are displayed and referred to regularly to ensure that our classroom is a happy, respectful place. Positive behaviour strategies and rewards are used alongside our golden rules. In order to encourage responsibility, children are given a job to do within our classroom. This is often taking responsibility for an area of provision at tidy up time, ensuring that it has been tidied properly and that everything has been put back in the right place.
The classroom is designed carefully using the Early Years curriculum and we strive to meet the needs of all our learners in the setting. It is a hive of activity with areas set up to enable children to “choose” their learning whilst still accessing the Early Years Curriculum. Provision areas are set up to be self-accessible by all children using clear labels and photographs. Mark making and number opportunities are visible in all provision areas and invite exploration from the children. As the academic year progresses, so do the challenges offered in provision areas. Creativity is extended in the wet area of the classroom to support the children’s growing curiosity, exploration and play. Children are taught to use the high quality resources appropriately and respectfully.
As part of the Early Years curriculum, hygiene, healthy eating and exercise are promoted in the setting and during focused physical development sessions. Milk, water and fruit are available during the day. The children are always encouraged and celebrated if they try new food; for example, during Chinese New Year we offer opportunities to sample foods. We also place a huge emphasis on the ‘Catch it, Kill it, Bin it’ initiative, which encourages the children to be independent in their hygiene.
Educational visitors are welcomed into the setting such as nurses, firemen, Zoolab and many more. Opportunities for visits in our locality are also used, such as walks to the local farm and the Yorkshire Sculpture Park.
We are passionate about the opportunities the outdoors offers to our children and the curriculum, so we offer a free flow timetable in all weathers. Wet weather clothing is available and children are once again encouraged to access this independently. The Foundation Stage unit was proud to be part of an outdoor project where staff were trained to seek learning through the environment. During this project our outdoor area was revamped and many new wonderful open ended resources were purchased including construction kits, den and camping and water sets.
We believe parents are a vital resource and we actively encourage conversation and celebrating successes with them. Home school communication books are sent home weekly with a newsletter detailing the learning through the week and optional challenges to undertake at home. ‘Tweets’ to the school twitter account are encouraged as a means of communication and ways of showing off their learning that takes place at home. We also aim to ‘Tweet’ as much learning as possible to allow parents a small insight in to our everyday learning.
During the summer term homework becomes more important for Upper Foundation Stage children to begin the transition into Key Stage 1. Library books are available at all times for parents and children to borrow and share. When the children are ready, reading books are sent home with reading records for parents and carers to sign.
As a team we are truly passionate about making memories and giving your children the best possible start to their school journey.
Teachers: Miss H Nelson (Mon/Tues/Weds); Mrs K Shuttleworth (Thurs/Fri)
Teaching Assistants: Mrs S Costello, Mrs L Wills and Mrs M Rees
