Early Years

At Tregolls School we believe that children deserve the best possible start to their education.
Our dedicated Early Years team provide a safe, happy, caring, secure learning environment that builds upon each individuals wants, needs and interests, where children flourish, feeling confident and ready to learn.
We are committed to providing a quality Early Years education for each individual to ‘be the best that they can be.’

We believe that the Early Years are critical in children’s development and that the EYFS builds a firm basis for future learning, development and independence.
We educate the WHOLE CHILD and embrace a CAN DO ethos.

The EYFS principles which guide the work of all practitioners are grouped into four distinct but complementary themes:

In the Foundation Stage we follow the Early Years Foundation Stage Curriculum (EYFS). We support the children to become independent and collaborative learners. We provide a range of activities and experiences that encourage children to take risks, explore and make links between their explorations. We begin to embed the 6Rs that are encouraged through the rest of the school- Relationships, Reflective, Respect, Resilience, Readiness and Resourcefulness.

There are seven areas of learning and development which shape educational programmes in early years settings. All areas of learning and development are important and inter-connected. The three prime area of learning are crucial for igniting children’s curiosity and enthusiasm for learning, and for building their capacity to learn, form relationships and thrive.

We believe these fundamental skills are crucial in becoming independent confident individuals, and we ensure an enabling environment supports these skills, responding to individual needs, enabling our children to solve problems, thinking for themselves and encourage children to become active learners.

Development in these 3 areas underpins learning in the 4 specific areas.

Communication and Language development involves giving children opportunities to experience a rich language environment; to develop their confidence and skills in expressing themselves; and to speak and listen in a range of situations.

Personal, Social and Emotional development involves helping children to develop a positive sense of themselves, and others; to form positive relationships and develop respect for others; to develop social skills and learn how to manage their feelings; to understand appropriate behaviour in groups; and to have confidence in their own abilities.

Physical Development involves providing opportunities for young children to be active and interactive; and to develop their co-ordination, control, and movement. Children must also be helped to understand the importance of physical activity, and to make healthy choices in relation to food.

Literacy development involves encouraging children to link sounds and letters and to begin to read and write. Children must be given access to a wide range of reading materials (books, poems, and other written materials) to ignite their interest.

Mathematics involves providing children with opportunities to develop and improve their skills in counting, understanding and using numbers, calculating simple addition and subtraction problems; and to describe shapes, spaces, and measures.

Understanding of the world involves guiding children to make sense of their physical world and their community through opportunities to explore, observe and find out about people, places, technology and the environment.

Expressive arts and design involves enabling children to explore and play with a wide range of media and materials, as well as providing opportunities and encouragement for sharing their thoughts, ideas and feelings through a variety of activities in art, music, movement, dance, role- play, and design and technology.

Throughout the year we address the different areas through a range of themes that are initiated by the children. Staff carefully observe the interests, ages and stages of learning of the children and plan activities and topics to capture those interests and ensure they build on what children can do and take their learning forward. Some of the topics covered are:
> Space
> Dinosaurs
> Castles
> Dragons

At Tregolls we listen to and respond to the children’s ideas and interests, enhancing our provision through first hand experiences and purposeful play linked to children’s interest. However we also have common themes which form part of our curriculum each year which inspire the children. We believe that incorporating these themes with the children’s ideas helps children to form a deeper understanding of their own identity and celebrate their local community.
• Seasons
• Festivals
• Life cycles
• Who am I?

Children’s learning is recorded in an E-format Learning Journey called ‘Tapestry’ This record shows examples of photographs, written observations, examples of mark making, the child and parents voice and next steps for learning. They make a comprehensive and lovely record of your child’s ‘Learning Journey’ whilst in the Foundation Stage

These can be accessed on-line by providing school with an e-mail address and then using a login password.
We regularly share them with other professionals during moderation.

Our local community is important to us and we welcome guests and visitors into Early Years to enhance our learning. We love them to help us with creative projects, watch our performances and help to eat the tasty food we have prepared! We are lucky enough to have a great relationship with Tregolls Lodge (Retirement village). We regularly visit the owners and read to them and share stories, songs and games. They also join us for our celebrations in school.
We work closely with parents, which is encouraged right from the start before children start school or nursery. We see that parents know so much about their child and this information can really help their child progress.
We encourage parents to come into school through transition meetings, open afternoons and family learning sessions. Parents are always welcome to make individual appointments with teachers after school. We encourage parents to come and share their skills.

At Tregolls we aim to cater for the individual needs and interests of our children. Children may choose from a wide and varied selection of activities:

We have a superb outdoor area and children are encouraged to learn through investigating their environment, building independence, resilience and confidence.

We provide children with protective clothing so that they can get active and get learning!

Our children are taught about the importance of a healthy diet, keeping fit and being clean. Children have a healthy snack each morning and are encouraged to pour their own milk, and sit with their friends with rolling snack. This is another opportunity to promote independence and self-choice and a fantastic speaking and listening opportunity each day. We enjoy taking part in the social interaction as the children eat together, share stories, experiences and make friends!

Nursery and Reception children wear our school uniform with pride, helping them to feel part of the whole school community and to look smart, think smart and act smart!

It is really important that children have a water proof coat and their own wellington boots in school every day so that they can make the most of the outside area – come rain or shine ! We are looking forward to having lots of fun outside this term!

• Lara Jeffries- Head teacher
• Amy Gibson- Assistant head teacher
• Jenna Fisher- EYFS lead
• Clare Hutchison- Pastoral and Safeguarding lead (DSL)
• Jayne Taylor- parent support advisor
• Speech and Language Support –Darren Morris
• Health care assistant- Emma Hawkin – 01872 221700

Our Nursery’s location within the main school enables us to work closely with the Reception classes and makes for a smooth transition when it is time for your child to start school.

We play an active part in school life and join in with whole school celebrations and events.

Our Nursery Children recently saw the Sea King helicopter land on our school field and we were able to perform our Christmas play on the main school stage for our grown ups to watch!