Welcome to Early Years
Our teacher is Mrs Woodall and our teaching assistant is Mrs Hancock. Mrs Cottey leads our new 2 Year Old provision.
In Early Years we love to learn through play and first hand experiences. Our wonderful indoor and outdoor areas enable us to explore, investigate, discover, create, practise, repeat and consolidate our developing knowledge, skills, understanding and attitudes.
Lots of our learning comes from our own fascinations and interests and our teachers support us to develop as individuals. Lots of exciting things happen in Early Years. We have focus stories and rhymes each half term and we have daily phonics and maths sessions. Drawing Club and Story Dough are exciting part of our curriculum and engage the children’s imagination, develop creativity and strengthen mark making skills.
Reception children have Music and PE delivered by Specialist Teachers. We have a sensory den when we need time to relax, talk, self- regulate and feel calm. Each day we have a snack and toast time and we also brush our teeth to develop our self-care skills.
We have mini themes each half term. This year they are:
- Autumn 1- Me and My Community and Exploring Autumn
- Autumn 2- Starry Night and Celebrations
- Spring 1-Once Upon a Time and Winter Wonderland
- Spring 2- Are Eggs Alive?
- Summer 1- Why Can’t I Have Chocolate for Breakfast?
- Summer 2- Sunshine, Sunflowers and Shadows
(Please look at our Early Years Curriculum Framework for more detail)
We use Jigsaw to support our Personal, Social, Emotional development and a music and movement approach called ‘The Whole of Me’ to focus on the fundamentals of child development that are vital for more formal academic learning.
Our teachers and teaching assistants keep in touch with our families via Class Dojo where we can showcase the wonderful learning we have been doing, share achievements and news. Each week Maths Monster (Nursery) and Mojo Monster (Reception) go home with our ‘Star Mojo of the Week’. It would be great if you could send us a photo via Dojo so your child can share and talk about their time with them.
Proud Clouds are shared with parents, so our teachers and friends get to hear about the amazing things we are learning to do at home or the times when we have made our parents feel very proud. These are displayed in our entrance. Our children have the opportunity to borrow a library book weekly to share at home and they have a ‘share book’ for any home learning activities.
Early Years Parent Information
Learning Showcase
Welcome to our 2-Year-Old Nursery Provision
We have a brand new provision for 2-year-olds. You may be eligible for 15 hours free funding. Visit www.childcarechoices.gov.uk to find out if you are eligible. We offer 5 morning sessions from 8.40am till 11.40am. Your child can start in our two-year-old provision on their 2nd birthday providing we have a space available. Places will be offered in order of date of birth.
Our provision offers cosy, inviting areas situated within our Early Years which prepares our youngest children for the next stage in their learning journey with us.
If you are interested in our 2-year-old provision, please contact the school office on 01642 561237 or come into school to pick up an application form and have a look around. You'll need to return the completed forms to the school office with your child's birth certificate so that we may take a photocopy of it. Mrs Cottey will then contact you to offer your child a place. You will be invited in for a welcome meeting, a settling in session and given a start date. If you have any questions please email highclarence@highclarenceacademy.org
Lead Practitioner: Dawn Cottey
Nursery Documents
Welcome to Class 2
In Class 2 this year there are 19 children. We have 10 Year 1’s and 9 Year 2’s.
Our teacher is Miss Reay and our teaching assistants are Mrs McGreal and Mrs Bingham.
Learning in Class 2 is fun! We have lots of brilliant games, practical activities and resources to support our learning. We have a COOL Time (Choose Our Own Learning) Area in our classroom where we can write, draw, construct models, take on roles or read quietly in our Class Library.
Reading is an important part of our school life; we must try to read at least three times a week at home. If we do, we receive Dojos and get to pick a prize from the Prize Box.
Reading books and records must be brought into school everyday and books will usually be changed on a Monday.
Year 1 children practise spellings using the phonic sounds that they are learning each week and these will be sent home on a Friday for the children to practise along with QR codes which direct you to Read Write Inc. video lessons which will be accessible for 3 months which gives us plenty of opportunities to practise and consolidate the phonics we are learning in school.
Year 2 children practise spellings in SCODE lessons and short word lists are sent home each week to help consolidate spelling skills. These words will not be tested.
Maths homework will also be sent home on a Friday which may include QR codes to help support learning through videos, stories or songs. This homework will be linked to the focus of the maths lessons of the current week.
Homework should be returned to Miss Reay by a Thursday; it is important that both the spelling and maths homework is completed each week.
We have a Multi-sport After School Club which runs on a Tuesday, ran by students from St Bede’s College. Our P.E day is a Thursday!
We share work and, on our Class Story, and Portfolios on Dojo and we would encourage you to do the same from home!
We are looking forward to a fantastic year!
Learning Showcase
Welcome to Class 3
In Class 3 this year there are 22 children. We have 8 Year 3’s and 14 Year 4’s.
Our teacher is Miss Donoghue and our teaching assistant is Miss Cooper.
Reading is an important part of our school life; we must try to read at least three times a week at home. If we do, we will receive a raffle ticket and be entered in the weekly prize draw on a Friday. Amazing prizes to be won!!
Children are encouraged to use Reading Plus at home as it improves fluency, comprehension, vocabulary, stamina, and motivation.
We practise spellings daily in school during our SCODE lessons.
Instant recall of our times tables is key in Class 3. Children are encouraged to use Times Tables Rockstars at home. Regular battles are set up for children to compete and develop their recall skills.
We need to complete spelling and maths homework every week.
Keep your eyes peeled for exciting opportunities in lunchtime and after school clubs throughout the year!
Learning Showcase
Welcome to Class 4
In Class 4 this year there are 16 children. We have 9 Year 5’s and 7 Year 6’s.
Our teacher is Mrs Brown and our teaching assistant is Miss Morris.
Reading is an important part of our school life; we must try to read at least three times a week at home. If we do, we will receive a raffle ticket and be entered in the weekly prize draw on a Friday. Amazing prizes to be won!!
Children are encouraged to use Reading Plus at home as it improves fluency, comprehension, vocabulary, stamina, and motivation.
We practise spellings three times a week in school during our SCODE lessons and we send home word lists and fun games to practise and embed our spellings.
We will also send home a fun ‘Infinity quiz’ each Friday which the children can access using a QR code or on paper. The quiz will consolidate that week’s learning.
It is important that the children complete spelling and maths homework every week.
We have lots of lunchtime and after school clubs on offer from drawing club to roller skating, there’s something for everyone!
The Year 5’s and some extra lucky Y6’s will also have the opportunity to visit Derwent Hill this year for a 5 day residential. Mrs Caraher is so excited.
Learning Showcase
Miss Cummings, Mrs Main and Miss Crosby welcome you to the Blossom Room
The Blossom Room provides an additional provision setting with a primary focus upon meeting the communication and interaction needs of children.
The staff in the Blossom Room have developed a bespoke curriculum offer for the children accessing the provision with a high sensory focus upon equipment used throughout the setting on a daily basis to meet the speech, language and communication needs of the children.
We work in collaboration with Sen Officers within our trust, Specialist Advisory Teachers and other external professionals to provide the best possible curriculum to allow the children to progress as much as possible with their speech and language learning outcomes. We also work upon the basis of the EYFS Curriculum, leading onto Pivats or The Engagement Model.
Daily structure and minimal cognitive load are essential to help regulation and wellbeing.
Staff develop ideas form the children’s interests in order to plan lines of development and extend their learning.
The Blossom Room staff promote positive relationship building and independent skills sharing achievements with parents / carers via Class Dojo.