Air Phase

Nursery and Reception 2021

The Early Years Foundation Stage comprises of our morning and afternoon Nursery, known as Ladybirds and two Reception classes; Hummingbirds and Kingfishers.

In Early Years at St Helen's our teaching is centred around the value of children's play and the impact this has upon developing independent, empowered and collaborative lifelong learners. Equity beats at the heart of Early Years and our knowledgeable, nurturing adults ensure progression in skills and understanding by responding to children's individual needs as they arise. 

We teach through a combination of explicit modelling, explaining, encouraging or providing new and varied resources. This in addition to planned adult-led activities and whole class learning linked to carefully chosen topics. This enables us to provide direct teaching including targeted vocabulary progression, alongside developing cultural capital for our diverse range of learners. Some of the areas will we cover as part of our curriculum this term are listed in the topic maps pictured. 

Light and dark

One of our key priorities is to develop children's communication and language skills. Our adults build strong relationships with pupils, observing and interacting attentively to model talk and introduce new and varied vocabulary. These are the foundations of Oracy, something all children continue to build upon as they move through to Key Stage One.

In both Nursery and Reception children are supported to secure their understanding through repetition in many different contexts, particularly in areas such as reading, writing and mathematics. This ensures every child has the skills and knowledge required to be ready for their next stage of education.

You can view our Early Years Foundation stage policy here.

As a school, we can receive additional funding if your child is entitled to free school meals. Please follow this link to go to the Suffolk website where you can make an application to see if you are eligible for free school meals. Even if you are unsure of your eligibility, we would very much appreciate your application.