8
THE FOUNDATION STAGE:
The Foundation stage begins from birth. Many children will have attended some form of
pre-school or nursery during the foundation stage. The last year of this period will be at
school in the Early Years unit. The Foundation stage prepares children for learning in Key
Stage 1.
At Brunswick House we have a very committed and enthusiastic Early Years team. We
are dedicated to making a secure, warm and friendly environment, making sure each child
has a smooth transition from nursery to school. We aim to ensure that the children feel
secure, valued and confident whilst developing a sense of achievement through
pleasurable learning. Children participate in a range of activities that take account of their
developing physical, intellectual, emotional and social abilities.
We believe the early years curriculum should be delivered through an approach to meet
each child’s needs and to meet the requirements of the Early Learning goals.
The Foundation Stage curriculum has
six areas of learning:
- Personal, social and emotional
development
- Language and Literacy
- Mathematical development
- Knowledge and understanding
- Creative development
- Physical development
We welcome parents and strongly believe in
working together to achieve good practice.
We encourage parents to use our open door
policy. The Early Years unit has a parent information board to keep you updated on
weekly literacy and numeracy targets and general projects. We also have a weekly
newsletter of topics and class achievements. We encourage parental help in the
classroom after the first half term, once the children have settled in.
We feel it is essential for children to gain early literacy skills as soon as possible. The
Reception classes have bright and attractive book corners with a variety of text. We hope
to develop a positive approach to reading and feel parents should share books daily with
their child. Children should be exposed to
literacy in the environment, looking at signs
and supermarket labels. The children enjoy
and celebrate books by making class and
individual books.
We adopt a multi sensory approach to help
children with the correct formation of letters
through drawing and writing activities with
sand, water, paint, play dough etc. We
develop phonological awareness using the
synthetic phonics; children learn to word
build using letter sounds.
