The period of transition from home to school is for most children a period of rapid physical, emotional and intellectual growth. It is a time when the need for a high level of care and high quality learning experiences are inextricably linked and when most children are learning in a group setting for the first time. Children joining our school have already learned a great deal and many have been to a range of settings that exist in our community.
The Kindergarten currently has provision for a class of up to 18 children. All children attend five morning sessions from 8.25 to 12.00 and then have the option to attend the afternoon sessions (including lunch), until 3.30pm. The class is led by an early years qualified class teacher and two qualified early years practitioners.
The curriculum is based around the six areas of learning in the Early Years Foundation Stage (EYFS): Personal, Social and Emotional Development; Communication, Language and Literacy; Problem Solving, Reasoning and Numeracy; Knowledge and Understanding of the World: Creative Development; and Physical Development.
This allows the staff to build on what the children already know and can do. It ensures that no child is excluded or disadvantaged and offers a structure for learning that has a range of starting points with content that matches the needs of young children and activities that provide opportunities for learning, both indoors and outdoors. Specialists teach music, dance and swimming and each term the children demonstrate their talents for drama with end of year productions in the Autumn and Summer and a class assembly in the Lent term in our well equipped theatre.
