Nursery

Staff

Evonne Williams - Assistant Head Early Years

Carol Reece - Class Teacher

Michelle Flynn - Higher Level Teaching Assistant (HLTA)

Caroline Gee - SEN TA

Michelle Knott - Classroom support

 

What happens in Nursery

The Nursery classroom is set up so that children can choose where they want to play and they access the resources independently. There are different areas of the classroom which have specific intended learning experiences. These are called Continuous Provision areas such as reading, maths, writing/ mark making, role play, sand, water, playdough, small world and creative.

This encourages independence and allows children to approach challenges at their own level. Resources for independent play are carefully planned so that there is appropriate challenge at all levels.

The children in Nursery follow the Early Years Foundation Stage Development Matters curriculum. We aim for a seamless transition from Nursery to Reception and the same areas of learning are taught. Nursery and Reception children share the outdoor learning and play area and also eat their lunch together.

 

Seven Areas of Learning

• Personal, Social and Emotional Development:  a continuous process with a lot of nurturing, discussion and modelling talk and behaviour. The focus is on relationships and being confident, responsible and independent.
• Communication and Language: the focus is on speaking, listening and understanding. Children will be actively taught speaking and listening skills through guided talk and news discussions.
• Physical Development: includes fine and gross motor skills both indoors and outdoors. Nursery children will have hall time for dance activities. Cutting, playdough, small construction, bikes and the climbing frame are all activities which develop motor skills. Children will also learn about health and self care.
• Literacy: includes Reading and Writing. In Nursery the focus for Reading is rhythm and rhyme, enjoyment of stories and noticing print in the environment.  Daily Phonics teaching underpins reading in Nursery and Reception. Writing begins as mark making in Nursery on a small or large scale with a variety of tools and resources.
• Maths: the emphasis in Nursery is on practical activities, counting and problem solving within the children’s own contexts and interests
• Understanding the World: children will be encouraged to investigate, explore and talk about what they find out in their own environments, within their family life and school visits. This also includes technology such as using cameras, microphones, CD players, programmable toys, ipads and laptops.
• Expressive Arts and Design: This includes music, art, dance, design, construction and role play.

 

Parent Partnerships

Parents and Carers are regularly invited to a variety of activities and workshops in the classroom alongside their children and are encouraged to support home learning through activities such as Play Club phonics bags.

 

Outdoor Learning

The outdoor learning area is set up to ensure that children have learning experiences on a larger scale. For example mark making might be twirling large ribbons, chalking on the floor, painting with brushes and rollers. Outdoor learning also supports different learning styles. Our Mud Kitchen has a surprisingly calming effect on children and is a contented hive of harmonious and cooperative activity.

 

Nursery  Curriculum Overview - Autumn 2

 

Topic

In Nursery, we will be learning about ‘Celebrations’.  We will be learning about the different celebrations enjoyed by people and their communities, such as Diwali and Christmas.  We will continue to learn out the season of Autumn.

 

Literacy

We will complete our work in Literacy through different texts. This half term, we will read the texts ‘Room on the Broom’, ‘Pete the Cat’, ‘Aliens Love Underpants’ and the Christmas Story.  Using these stories and non-fiction texts, we will complete short mark making, drawing and writing activities, comprehension and concepts-about-print activities. 

We will be using warm up gross motor activities and will continue to enjoy dough disco developing our fine motor skills.

Phonics is taught daily and we will learn through playing with Beat Babies, rhyming games such as ‘silly soup’ and nursery rhymes.

We will continue learning new vocabulary using Concept Cat stories and songs.

 

Maths

This half term we will develop our counting skills and explore the composition of numbers within and up to 5.  We will do this through our daily routines such as well as learning through our play.  We will also look at learn about 2d shapes. 

Other Curriculum Areas

Personal, social and emotional development – We will begin to use our ‘Think Equal’ scheme, focusing on being kind.  We have started to talk about the zones of regulation so children can learn to label their feelings.

Understanding the World – Learning about the season of Autumn

Expressive arts and design – focus on representational drawings of ourselves and our family.  Festive Art project with Claire Law our Art co-ordinator.

Physical Development – fine and gross motor activities and taking part in City in the Community sports skills

 

Empowering Learning Skills

 

Self Manager	Organise themselves and work out goals and priorities Show personal responsibility, initiative, creativity and enterprise Anticipate, take and manage risks Commit themselves to learning and self-improvement                                          Respond positively to change
Effective Participators	Engage actively with issues that affect them and those around them. Play a full part in the life of the school Take responsible action to bring improvement for others as well as themselves Discuss issues of concern, seeking resolution Present a persuasive case for action Propose practical ways forward Try to influence others, negotiating and balancing diverse views
Resourceful Thinker	Think creatively by generating and exploring relevant ideas, and making original connections Find links and see relationships Explore & experiment with resources and materials Ask ‘why’, ‘how’ and ‘what if’ questions Apply imaginative thinking to solve a problem Try different ways to tackle a problem                                                                        Work with others to find imaginative solutions and outcomes that are of value
Reflective Learner	Evaluate their strengths and limitations as learners Review their work and act on outcomes Set themselves realistic goals and criteria for success Monitor their own performance and progress Invite feedback and deal positively with praise, setbacks & criticism. Make changes to improve their learning                                                                  Communicate their learning in relevant ways to different audiences
Independent Enquirer	Gather, process and evaluate information in their investigations Plan what to do and how to go about it Draw conclusions and evaluate outcomes Take informed and well-reasoned decisions, recognising that other have different beliefs and attitudes                                                                                                    Use range of techniques to collect and organise information
Team Worker	Work confidently with others, adapting to different contexts and taking responsibility for their own role Listen and take account of others’ views Form collaborative relationships, resolving issues and reaching agreed outcomes Adapt behaviours to suit different roles and situations Show fairness and consideration towards others

 

 

Important Dates

w/c 13th November – Anti Bullying Week

Friday 17th November – Children in Need

Wednesday 22nd and 29th November – Progress Meetings

Thursday 7th December – Nursery Christmas Sing Along

Tuesday 12th December – Christmas Enterprise Market

Tuesday 19th December – Christmas Lunch

Thursday 21st December – Carols by Candlelight/ end of Autumn Term (early finish 2pm)