Nayland School  has an LEA nursery class as described in admissions.

 

Our Nursery is very much a part of the main school and the children participate in most of the activities offered. There is very strong team work between the Nursery and Reception classes who are both part of the Foundation Stage of learning. The emphasis is on fun and practical tasks working towards the Early Learning Goals set out by the DFES which begin to prepare children for the KS1 part of the National Curriculum.

 

The Nursery teacher maintains strong links with the local playgroups and she may be familiar to your child following visits to their playgroup settings. The term before your child is due to start in Duckling Class he/she will be invited to spend a morning in class with his/her new teacher and class mates and parents will have an opportunity to talk to the teacher about how well their child has settled.

                                                           

On entering Reception your child will spend a morning in their new class and will be invited to stay for a school dinner or packed lunch with their parent(s). There will be an informal meeting for new parents on the same day to enable them to speak to the classteacher and the headteacher and ask any questions or sort out any worries. If your child has already attended Nayland Nursery then he/she will already be acquainted with many of the staff, including the Reception teacher, and will have been included in school events and assemblies.

 

At first, the Cygnet Class is concerned with settling the children and getting them used to the full-time school routine and expectations. The learning opportunities initially focus on using speaking and listening as the method for reaching the Early Learning Goals and work towards recorded forms. Although tasks are still fun and practical in nature, there is gradually more requirement for each child to participate in the learning experiences offered. There will continue to be opportunities to learn through the play activities of their choice. As they come to the end of their time in Reception the aim is for children to be ready to fully participate in the KS1 National Curriculum.

 

Much of the work at KS1 is still practical and concrete, harnessing the experiences of play activities and converting them into the academic areas of number, reading and exploring their surroundings. Group activities, talking and discussion are a feature of this early time in school as is the frequent practice of basic skills. It is a time for the establishment of enquiring minds and the use of imagination and to channel physical activity into drama, organized P.E., dance and music. Technology is readily available and frequently used as a tool for learning in all curriculum areas. The main focus is on literacy and numeracy but we cover all subjects set out in the British National Curriculum and aim to ensure that our KS1 programme is both broad and balanced. A range of after-school clubs are offered.

 

Many children will already be quite competent technical readers as they enter the Kingfisher class. They will be well on their way towards mastering simple computation and the use of measures and shape. Children will then gradually learn higher order reading skills so that they can be more independent and apply their skills to find information or to read for pleasure. They will be applying their maths abilities in problem solving and investigative activities. Science, geography and history studies will be more in depth and in all subject areas children will be encouraged to develop sensible enquiry, fact finding, problem solving and conclusion drawing skills. Social, moral and physical development continues and there are opportunities for children to participate in extra-curricula activities.