Elm Hall Primary School

Welcome to Nightingale Class, where we are ambitious and courageous like our namesake Florence Nightingale. In our class you will find a welcoming, engaging environment where all children can reach their full potential. We are the Early Years Foundation Stage (EYFS) where learning takes place through purposeful play opportunities that are led and directed by the children. Throughout the year we help children to develop the fundamental learning skills and attitudes that will support them as they progress through the school. We promote the Elm Hall Attitudes of believing in ourselves, working together, being proud of our achievements, being caring and kind to others and growing in our learning.

We are fortunate to have a spacious classroom and fantastic outdoor space, and children have the opportunity to explore the learning environments inside and outside daily. The children use our outdoor learning area all year round, so please make sure that your child has appropriate clothing for all weather conditions. They will need a coat, hat and wellies in the winter and a sun hat and sun cream in the summer.

The children in Nightingale class work on the Early Years Foundation Stage curriculum, which is organised into seven areas of Learning and Development. These areas are as follows:

Prime Areas:

Specific Areas:

Each area of learning has a number of relevant early learning goals for the children to work towards. All of these seven areas of learning are taught on a daily basis both in class and in our outside classroom, in a very fun and practical way. The day consists of short carpet sessions followed by Explore and Learn times, where the children have the opportunity to learn through play and extend on what they learnt during the carpet sessions. During these choosing sessions they may also be asked to carry out an adult focused activity in a small group or on a one-to-one basis.

We follow the Fisher Family Trust- 'Success for All' phonics scheme to teach Phonics and this is taught every day during a structured 20 minute carpet session. We have a focused daily session to develop children’s fine motor skills, and move on from this to begin practising letter formation when the children are ready to do so. Children have one PE lesson each week, for these lessons  please ensure long hair is tied back and earrings are not worn. We encourage children to dress and undress independently, and suggest that in the weeks leading up to starting school children practice this at home.

The children have the opportunity to take a book home every day and are read with on a one-to-one basis at least once a week. We follow a book banding scheme and the children move through the different books at their own pace depending on their rate of progress. We promote children’s love of reading using our Elmer certificates, where the children colour in a patch on Elmer the elephant each time they read with an adult. Once they have completed an Elmer they receive a special certificate in our celebration assembly. Children should come to school with their reading book and reading record every day, and they should be reading to an adult at home daily.

All EYFS children are entitled to free school dinners, and we send a menu home every week. It helps us enormously if you talk to your child about what they would like each day. Your child will need to bring a water bottle to school daily. Please make sure that their drink bottle is named, as well as all clothing and any snack pots. We operate a rolling snack system in the class, where children can help themselves to a healthy snack at any time during the day.

We work in partnership with parents and families to ensure a positive and supportive relationship is developed to enhance the outcomes of all children. We use 'Tapestry' in Nightingale Class, which parents can access to see what children do while they are at school. You will receive login details from the school, can use access via a secure website link from this page or by installing an app on your device.