Early Years Classes

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Early Years Classes

About us

Welcome to Caterpillars. We are delighted to share with you a little bit about how the children learn.

“Play is our brain’s favourite way of learning.” Diane Ackerman

In Caterpillars, we tailor the resources, the environment and the relationships we build to reflect our unique curriculum.

We take inspiration from many approaches and theorists and add our own knowledge, values, experiences and a bit of magic to create our Early Years approach.

We know that children learn best when there are high levels of interest, energy, enthusiasm and motivation. This comes from the child following their own interests and the adults joining them; building relationships, teaching new skills, sharing resources and having fun at each child’s own level.

We spend our mornings in Caterpillars learning through play. This is led by each child, although staff are skilled in supporting the children achieve their Next Steps and make progress within the Early Years curriculum. This allows the children’s learning to develop in any direction which is meaningful and engaging to them. We plan topics around the children’s interests, the seasons and celebrations, always allowing these to change (we usually find the children have much more exciting ideas than us!). We use a wealth of natural resources and loose parts to encourage children to explore and engage with the world.

Our day involves a careful balance of playful learning, the adults plan exciting and fun sessions for the afternoon to entice the children to join others in group time and learn new skills in all areas of the curriculum. Stories, songs, rhymes, art, number fun, letters and sounds, messy play, music and dance are just some of the activities we share.

“There is no place for dull, repetitive activities. Laughter, fun, and enjoyment, sometimes being whimsical and nonsensical, are the best contexts for learning. Activities can be playful even when they are not actually play.” – Learning playing and interacting, Good practice in the Early Years Foundation stage.

Staff are experienced in a wide range of approaches and support techniques for children with SEND. Individual support plans such as physiotherapy and speech & language are skillfully incorporated into the children’s every day play. This approach ensures children are motivated and showing high levels of energy and interest when learning and practicing these skills. Communication and social skills are taught, supported and developed throughout the day using a total communication approach. Our staff to child ratio ensures we can meet the child ‘where they are’ and support them to access all areas of our curriculum and participate fully in all our routines.

 

Contact

Lara Acott: laraacott@linwood.bournemouth.sch.uk

Liz Nash: liznash@linwood.bournemouth.sch.uk

 

Curriculum Newsletter

Caterpillars Summer Newsletter 2023

Reception baseline assessment

Reception baseline assessment

About us

Welcome to Ladybirds Class. We are very excited to share with you a little about what happens in our class. We learn through a careful balance of child led play and adult led opportunities that provide ideas and learning that are modelled as well as motivating the children in their journey. The adult is always ready to support with the child’s next steps.

“Children learn as they play. Most importantly, in play children learn how to learn.” – O. Fred Donaldson

We provide an environment where children are safe and secure to take risks and have a go. We are supportive and caring towards all the children’s individual needs. We provide provocations in the environment that are motivating and led by the children. The children’s interests are at the heart of everything we do.

We are using planning in the moment, loose parts and the curiosity approach, as well as the wonderlust nature curriculum and the hygge approach to give the children the best possible learning opportunities. We provide endless opportunities to support all seven areas of learning throughout the day. Every child has an individual personalised learning plan tailored to them and their needs. In Ladybird’s class, we also have planned adult led sessions that are tailored to the children’s individual needs, such as dance, music, magic carpet, phonics, maths, fiddly fingers, dough disco, communication sessions and sensory sessions. A couple of times a week we go to the park to explore nature and the great outdoors.

We really welcome parent contribution towards the children’s learning through Evidence for Learning, stay and play sessions, Zoom meetings and phone calls.

If needed the children have support from SALT, physio and OT on site and this is then fed into their everyday activities. We have a total communication approach and the children are supported to be included and take part in everything we do enabling them to reach their full potential.

 

Contact

Lara Acott: laraacott@linwood.bournemouth.sch.uk

Liz Nash: liznash@linwood.bournemouth.sch.uk

 

Curriculum Newsletter

Ladybirds Summer Newsletter 2023

Early Years KS1 Welcome Booklet

Early Years KS1 Welcome Booklet
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