Welcome to our Early Years
The Early Years at Coleridge consists of a full time Nursery and four Reception classes. The Nursery is attached to the school, but has its own indoor and outdoor space for the children to explore. The Reception classes also have their own fabulous outdoor learning space attached to their classrooms, which is separate from the rest of the school.
The Early Years at Coleridge provides a nurturing space where children are consistently motivated and challenged. Our curriculum is challenging, exciting and experiential. It provides lots of opportunities for children to learn about, and make sense of, the world around them. For the first few weeks when children start their journey with us, we prioritise getting to know the whole child, building positive relationships so that children feel safe to explore and take risks in their learning. Our carefully designed learning environment, along with the correct balance of adult and child-led learning, allows the children to be creative, while at the same time being taught key skills and knowledge.
How we teach in the Early Years
At Coleridge, our day-to-day teaching is done through quality interactions between adults and children when they are engaged in their own play. We take time to build relationships and identify key interests and motivators to ensure that every child has the opportunity to succeed. Activities are rich and engaging, and support children to be independent, to solve problems and become excited by discovery. Children learn best when they are engaged in their own play and it is at these moments that staff use their knowledge of child development and the EYFS curriculum to teach concepts and skills to further the children’s learning.
Across the Early Years, there are certain times of the day when all the children come together to talk about their learning or to share a story or song together. We also use this time to teach concepts from our curriculum and to explore the seven Learning Areas of the EYFS curriculum. Both in Nursery and Reception, all of our direct teaching is planned weekly and includes maths and literacy. We also use high quality texts, and focus on topics and events that are happening in the children’s lives, such as seasons, festivals, weather etc. We expose children to different artists, scientific concepts, our planet, past historical events and music. In Reception, phonics is taught as a separate whole class session every day. The children also have weekly PE sessions which take place in the hall. We provide an inclusive curriculum and learning environment and we ensure that our books, toys and topics celebrate diversity.
Our Environment
Our environment is workshop-style inside and outside, with areas that provide different activities. Resources are varied and open-ended to support high quality learning. The children select what they want to do in each area; the resources are accessible to the children at all times, and stored with visual labels to promote independence and autonomy.
Children always have opportunities to try new things, take risks and to challenge themselves. This approach can be seen in particular in our woodwork provision. Children are trained to use the tools and available materials safely in order to pursue projects of their own design. Our ‘continuous provision’ means that children are able to return to their chosen activities time and time again to develop and extend their knowledge and understanding. They have access to the outside areas throughout the day, every day, whatever the weather. We encourage our children to be ‘natural thinkers’ who respect the environment around them and to connect with nature, and in both Nursery and Reception, they have their own growing areas, which the children are encouraged to look after.
Why I love teaching in the Early Years
“I have been teaching across all of the age ranges for 17 years. Early years has definitely become my passion. It is such an important stage of a child’s life and I feel very privileged to be a part of it. Positive experiences that happen in the first few years of a child’s life can have an effect on their whole future. By working in the way we do at Coleridge, I am able to really get to know the children and ensure that they are given the best possible start to their education. Every day is exciting.”
Mrs Goodey, Early Years Leader
Further Reading
Our Early Years team work to the standards and guidance given in the Department for Education’s EYFS framework
Read more about child development milestones and guidance on the ‘Birth to 5 Matters’ website.
How to Apply
Children can join our Nursery for morning, afternoon or full day places starting from the September after their third birthday. We offer both 15hr and 30hr per week provision as part of the government’s free childcare scheme, subject to eligibility criteria. We also offer an extended day until 6pm for a supplementary fee.
Children can join our Reception classes in the September which follows their fourth birthday. This is the beginning of their statutory education, and there are no fees.
Click here to visit our Admissions area for full details.