Mrs Johnston - Early Years Lead
Our Foundation Stage provision offers our children the necessary balance of ‘teacher-led’ and ‘pupil-initiated’ learning. We have created a caring, supportive and stimulating environment which has indoor and outdoor learning areas for the children to explore, discover, play and reflect. We want our children to be confident in expressing their ideas, happy to make independent choices and keen to explore the world around them.
Curriculum
At Broughton we offer the children a knowledge & skills rich curriculum which is brought to life through exciting and engaging activities. Our curriculum is carefully tailored to match our pupils interests, background and needs. We devote time throughout the year to learning more about the wonderful place they live and discovering the amazing things in our village and surrounding rural setting. We also build in lots of learning opportunities to allow our pupils to experience other cultures beyond the local area – taking part in celebrations from around the world & finding out about how other people live.
Our curriculum topics are listed below but we will also adapt and change our curriculum to meet the interests of our pupils. The topics are taught at different levels according to the needs of the pupils & some topics are taught solely to Nursery or Reception children.
|
Autumn Term |
Spring Term |
Summer Term |
|
Magnificent Me!
Autumn Woodland
Traditional Tales
Celebrations from around the World
|
Super Heroes
Winter Wonderland & Spring
Traditional Tales
Celebrations from around the World
|
Journeys
Summer - Our Wonderful World
Traditional Tales
Celebrations from around the World
|
Assessment
We continuously assess the children in our care to find out the stage of their learning & development, and to plan how to guide them through the next steps in their progress. There are seven areas of learning and development in the early years curriculum. The first three prime areas are important for building a child's curiosity and enthusiasm for learning and forming relationships, these areas are:
-Communication & Language
-Physical Development
-Personal, Social & Emotional Development
We also have four specific areas which are:
-Literacy
-Mathematics
-Understanding of the World
-Expressive Arts & Design
All of these areas have specific early learning stages which build towards the final early learning goals which children should reach in all of the seven areas at the end of Reception.
Below are links for Progression Towards Early Learning Goals documents for both Nursery and Reception:
|
Nursery
|
Progression towards ELG's - AUTUMN
|
Progression towards ELG's - SPRING
|
Progression towards ELG's - SUMMER Coming Soon |
| Reception |
Progression towards ELG's - AUTUMN
|
Progression towards ELG's - SPRING
|
Progression towards ELG's - SUMMER
|
Reception Class
Termly Planning
In our Reception class we plan for each term term but this can change depending on the interests of the children. Our termly plans are below but child initiated activities can change our plans as we follow different lines of enquiry.
|
|
Summer 1 |
|
|
|
Summer 2 |
Positive Relationships & Partnership with Parents
We work hard to foster positive relationships with parents, family members and carers to find out a complete picture about our pupils. All children have their own DoJo Portfolio which we share personalised photos and feedback about each child. Parents are encouraged to comment on the portfolios and to send in news and photographs from home.
In Reception we have termly newsletters which share news and events which have been happening in school. We also have parental events throughout the year in which parents are invited into class to take part in activities and sessions with their child. Examples of our newsletter are below:
Year 6 Buddies
We encourage the children to be caring and nurturing towards each other in our school and the ‘Buddy Scheme’ pairs Reception and Year 6 children together. The children meet up on a weekly basis to share some ‘Buddy Time’ and we enjoy a range of activities: paired reading, art activities, nature trails and games. Our Reception children form very positive bonds with their buddies and they often spend time outside during breaks together!
Catbells Buddies
Weekly Cookery Sessions
Our Reception children take part in a weekly cookery session to help develop their fine motor skills (chopping, cutting, mixing, rolling, etc.) as well as helping children to understand where food comes from and encourage an understanding of healthy eating. It’s wonderful to see our Reception children trying out lots of new flavours with even the fussiest of eaters giving new tastes a try. Some of the recipes we have made so far this year are gingerbread men, fruit kebabs, roast vegetables with basil dip, cheese pastry pinwheels, vegetable cous cous and shortbread. The children really enjoy their cookery sessions and love trying the results even more!
Catbells_cookery
Forest School
We are very fortunate to offer our Reception children a weekly Forest School session with a fully trained guide. The children enjoy a full afternoon each week taking part in the sessions. It is a fantastic opportunity for the children to take part in valuable outdoor learning where the children develop their confidence, self-esteem and team building skills. Children often make crafts sourced from the forest setting and develop a deep connection with nature and the changing seasons.
Catbells_forestschool
