Welcome to Early Years - Beech Class

Welcome to Early Years. There are two classes in our Early Years Unit, Birch class for our nursery aged children and Beech class for our Reception aged children.

Although we have two classes we work as a unit, our exciting topics are immersed throughout the setting so all children are experiencing the same learning opportunities accessible to the individual needs of the children.

This year our topic themes are Marvellous Me, Celebrations, The Big Freeze, Traditional Tales, A Place Called Home and All Creatures Great and Small. We are adaptable in our approach and work to incorporate the interests of our pupils as we plan activities and follow their curiosities.

Our learning environment includes our outdoor areas, providing the children with a place to explore, be hands on and observe the world around them. We offer a range of planned activities and child initiated opportunities throughout the Unit, enabling the children to build their own learning journey.

Reading is at the core of our learning, we want the children to experience a wide range of texts and build a love of reading.

Our Unit Author is Julia Donaldson. The children will read stories and poetry daily and they will be encouraged to create and perform their own stories.

As the Children progress through Early Years we aim to provide them with the skills needed to become confident, resilient learners who are ready to move into Key Stage one.

Beech Class Staff

Mrs S English - Early Years Teacher & Early Years Lead

Mrs K Ridge Teaching Assistant

Mrs L Sheridan Teaching Assistant

Mrs M Bailey

Current learning

will appear here

Home Learning

Home Learning challenges will be set using Tapestry each half term.  

When pupils are ready to begin learning to read, a reading Diary and book to match their phonic ability will be sent home, this is usually during their reception year. We encourage you to read the book three times with your child. The first read will be where they decode the words, by the third read we are looking for fluency.

Reading a whole book can be daunting so break it down and read a few pages at a time. This should be an enjoyable experience. Please fill in the reading diary so we can celebrate their achievements and record when they have read in school.

Words of the week will be posted on Tapestry fortnightly. The words are taken from the texts we are reading in school. To help the children build a broad vocabulary we encourage them to use the words in sentences. Hearing the words being used in a variety of contexts will help embed them.

Things to remember

Please ensure your child has weather appropriate clothing each day. We access the outdoors regardless of the weather. You may wish to leave a pair of wellies in school.

Please ensure all clothing and footwear is clearly labelled with your child’s name.

Our PE day is Wednesday. Children in Beech class will be expected to change for PE. Please support your child by allowing them to practice getting dressed independently at home.

Children in Birch class will do a range of physical activities -  so please ensure they have sensible footwear and clothing which allows them to move freely. Joggers and leggings may be preferred as the children explore the trim trails and use balance bikes.

Reading books should be brought into school daily. A box will be provided for your child to put their book bag in.

We have a class library. The children are welcome to take a book home as frequently as they like. The books are not signed in or out, all we ask is that you return one before taking another.

All children need to bring a water bottle daily. Please ensure this is clearly labelled.

Our spellings....