At St Saviour’s School we have 1 Nursery Class and 1 Reception Class taught by two teachers and three Early Years Assistants/ Nursery Officers. The curriculum we follow is the statutory Early Years Foundation Stage (EYFS) for children aged 0-5. Your child may have already have been following this so we build on the good work started by our feeder pre-schools to enable them to continue their learning journey, both academically, socially and emotionally.

We know children learn best through play and by initiating their own activities and they are given every opportunity to do so whilst they are with us. With access to indoor and outdoor facilities pupils are able to develop their play throughout the day through child-initiated and adult-directed challenges. Ideas are often sparked by our topics and we engage parents and pupils alike in developing these. Pupils can find resources and books accessible  to them and are encouraged to be independent and select their own tools and materials.

Our independent learning is interspersed with discrete teaching inputs for either groups or the whole class. For example, we place great importance on the basic skills so phonics and number work are taught every day. Other inputs include reading together, shared writing, circle time, singing and stories.

Classrooms

Within the Foundation classrooms the environment is an important consideration affecting our pupil’s learning. Our classrooms have been designed with the pupils in mind. The colours chosen are light and inviting yet calming and appealing. The displays showcase the pupil’s learning as well as providing useful access to the phonemes, numbers and tricky words they have been learning.

Our furniture is especially designed for the size of the children in the Foundation Stage. The height of the tables and chairs, as well as working surfaces and play equipment, are all size appropriate. Our resources are fully accessible to the pupils and they are encouraged to select their own resources as well as tidy them away again!

Outdoor Area

The Foundation classrooms open onto an outdoor space. This was enhanced last year with a redesign and a considerable amount of new equipment purchased.  Very popular resources are the mud kitchen and the sand pit. Whilst preparing and ‘cooking’ the pupils practice important skills such as mixing, separating, measuring, counting, transferring, etc alongside incorporating others into their play, turn taking, establishing roles and sharing.

We also have access to a large sandpit. We use our own playground for large motor activities. Pupils access wheeled toys and large building equipment. We firmly believe all aspects of the curriculum can be delivered outdoors and encourage pupils to use outdoors daily to support their learning.

The hall is also used for P.E., games, dance and gym activities where the pupils are able to learn and practice their movement skills indoors.

Snack

We encourage healthy eating at school at snack and lunchtime and talk to the pupils about the importance of drinking water throughout the day to help them learn and stay hydrated.