EYFS (including Nursery)

Thank you for considering Thirsk Primary school to provide the early years education and care for your child. It is no easy task- sending your child to school for their first day and we really do understand all the different emotions that are attached to this moment! Our team and classrooms are ready to give the gentle and supportive environment to ensure your child reaches their potential.

Early Years at Thirsk Community Primary School -The HIVE!

At Thirsk Community Primary School we take the Early Years very seriously, recognising this crucial stage of development when the foundation for future development and learning is being set. We endeavour to provide only the best professionals to work with you and your child.

Class Teacher

Mrs Wall is the Early Years teacher. She is very passionate about teaching in the Early Years and has worked with young children for over twenty years. Mrs Wall holds two degrees, one relating to the science aspect of early childhood development, and one regarding quality early years teaching. Mrs Wall has Qualified Teacher Status, but also has an additional qualification called Early Years Professional Status- this reflects her knowledge and expertise of working with young children.

Teaching Assistants

We also have the most amazing support team in Early Years. Miss Wood holds a level three qualification in early childhood education and care. Mrs Bryan is an experienced Early Years/KS1 ATA.

The Early Years team will want to get to know you and your child really well before they start school, so that they can ensure your child is happy, and feels safe and secure at school. Mrs Wall often refers to the Early Years class and the adults in it as ‘our school family’. This is because we know it is important that your child feels a sense of belonging and part of the school community. We know that when children feel this way, and when the parent- teacher relationship is strong, we can support learning and help your child develop to their full potential.

Teaching and Learning

Like all other Early Years providers, we follow the Early Years Foundation Stage. We use observations to plan and resource an environment and activities to meet individual needs. Our approach really values what is termed as the ‘Characteristics of Effective Learning’. This means we provide opportunities for children to engage in open ended activities, explore using all their senses, to wonder and ask questions. Within this we encourage the children to take risks and build resilience. By the time our children start Key Stage One, they are independent thinkers who are willing to have a go at anything!

The Early Years Foundation Stage is spilt into seven areas of learning. These areas are then divided into Prime and Specific areas. For our younger children, the Prime Areas are the ‘bread and butter’ of everything we do. These areas are Communication and Language, Personal and Social, and Physical Development. 

The remaining areas are Reading, Writing, Mathematics, Knowledge and Understanding of the World and Creative Development.  As children grow older, or as it becomes developmentally appropriate, a greater focus is put on the Specific areas of the curriculum, these being Reading, Writing and Mathematics. 

 Personal, Social and Emotional Development

Children learn how to build respectful and caring relationships with their peers and adults, underpinned by feeling good about themselves and becoming independent in managing their behaviour.

Communication and Language

Children develop the ability to actively tune into the words and speech around them, learning to express themselves through discussion, role-play, storytelling, and song!

Physical Development

Children learn how to control their small and large movements, from holding and manipulating a pencil, to climbing and jumping from our larger outdoor resources! Children learn how to keep themselves fit and healthy.

Literacy

Children listen to stories with anticipation and know some stories and songs off by heart. They learn that print has meaning and begin to draw or write with meaning. As children develop, they begin to read simple words and sentences.

Mathematics

Children learn all sorts of practical ways to solve mathematical based problems, this includes exploring the properties of number and shape, as well as weight and measurement.

Knowledge and Understanding of the World

Children learn to appreciate and look after the world and living things around them, including developing respect for all families, communities, and traditions. They develop an interest in why things happen and how things work.

Creative Development

Children experiment and explore music, drama, modelling, building, and painting -representing things from their own experience. They are eager to be creative with open ended resources, representing their own ideas and feelings.

We know that children develop at different rates, we also do not want to put a ceiling on what children can achieve – so our Nursery and Reception aged children work and learn together in the same Early Years Class.

Everyday there is a broad and balanced approach regarding what is on offer to the children covering all seven of the areas of learning. Our everyday provision reflects the needs, interest, and talents of all our children. Our provision ranges from a dough making station, to a story making centre, from a woodwork bench, to a number problem area. We learn by doing and through high quality interaction. The following table demonstrates how your Nursery or Reception child will be spending their time.

Communication and Language – Building Confident Readers and Writers

Singing and Stories

We take singing and storytelling very seriously, as we know that this will make children good and confident readers as they progress through school. Every child in Early Years is signed up to Thirsk Library- who run  pop-up events in the classroom every half term. Our children bring books home from the Library, as well as from our Early Years Library at school. Nursery children also visit the Library once a half term. It is really important to inspire a love of books in the Early Years, so that children want to become readers as well.

Children will bring home a new book from school when they require one, as we actively encourage children to change their book when they are ready for a new story. We kickstart this in September with our ‘Bedtime Story Morning’, where our teaching focuses on the importance of sharing a bedtime story every night.

Reading

As well as a story book, when it is developmentally appropriate children will receive a Reading Book matched to their phonic level. At Thirsk Community Primary School, we use, ‘Everybody, Every night’ as our approach to reading.  When children start reading the expectation is that an adult at home will listen to their child read every night, completing the Reading Record to show this.

Singing- Rhyme Time

We sing every day! We learn a new rhyme every week and practice it until children know it off by heart. Learning songs helps teach about rhythm and rhyme, helping children to actively tune into speech and sound patterns. This is the first stage of becoming a reader and writer! We always link our songs to our theme or topic, so that the children can make links across their learning. Our younger children also learn a lot of Number through rhymes and action songs.

Story Telling – Text Detective

The favourite part of the day for our children is story time. We have Text Detective time every day. Sometimes we focus on one book for a whole week, other times we may choose to do one book a day- it really depends on the learning objective and the book. We support children in ‘unpicking’ the text, asking open ended questions and explaining the meaning of vocabulary.  We choose stories that match our theme or topic, stories that are fun, engaging, and that the children can join in with! During Text Detective we have focused Wow Words, these are words that are taken directly from the text, or words that are related to our theme or topic. These words are then threaded throughout our provision, to enable the adults to use them in meaningful interaction with the children. An example from Winter includes using the Wow Word ‘Transform’ alongside the ice related experiments we had going on in the classroom!