Our Early Years Vision
We want children to feel happy, safe and secure in their environment.
The Early Years environment provides a wide variety of age appropriate resources, with continuous provision (those resources which are always available) and enhancements (resources which are added to those already in place) as part of planned topics as well as those based on the children’s own interests and experiences.
Children are able to access resources independently and use them how they choose, for their own purposes to develop their own learning and understanding of the world around them. These choices may differ from the planned intentions but will still be meaningful and support learning.
All adults will support, scaffold and model learning in the indoor and outdoor areas through:
- Specific teaching, e.g. phonics, guided reading, writing and maths.
- Supporting children through child initiated projects e.g. building a ship that won’t fall apart, how to write an invitation for a birthday party.
- Adult initiated activities in the learning bays, e.g. how to use enhancements such as sponge printing.
All adults continually observe and assess children’s learning and development and use this information in discussion with other members of the team to plan relevant, engaging and challenging activities which meet each child’s individual needs.
The Early Years prime and specific areas of learning are delivered through an exciting, engaging and challenging curriculum. It gives children opportunities to access a wide range of experiences, to consolidate skills and develop a deep understanding of the world around them. This supports progress towards a Good Level of Development.
All adults who work in the Early Years have a duty to be:
- Facilitators – to support learning in all areas
- Observers – to check on children’s learning and progress in order to plan next steps
- Challengers – to enable children to meet their full potential.
As the people who know their children best, parents are partners in the learning and development process.
Our Learning Environment
At Acomb we are so fortunate to have smaller class sizes in Reception. This allows us to work with each child on an individual basis, supporting them on their learning path. We get to know how each and every child learns and can adapt teaching and learning activities to suit their needs. The indoor environment is carefully designed to promote children’s independence and thinking skills alongside social and emotional well being. The provision areas offer open-ended activities with prompts to support and enhance learning through play. Children have access to free flow activities across both classrooms, with experiences including role play, investigation and construction materials, alongside permanent Maths and Literacy stations. Our expansive outdoor area encompasses elements of Forest Schools with opportunities to develop gross motor skills on climbing and balancing equipment. Our mud kitchen is always popular with children working collaboratively to create recipes, potions and mudpies galore!
Our Staff
We are extremely lucky in school to have such experienced members of staff working within our Reception setting. Each class benefits from the skills and knowledge that such experience brings.