Drop off and circle time
Children can be dropped off between 8:40 am and 9.00 am. Or they can come earlier for Breakfast Club from 8.00 am to 8.40 am. They and their parents or carers will be greeted at the front door, they will hang up their coats, say hello to their teachers, wash their hands and check themselves in for the day. They can put their photos on the emotions boards to show us how they are feeling, and then start to choose their own activities. Once all the children have arrived for the day, we have circle time with news and stories, and one child in the group will help the teacher to take the register. Over the term, children will also learn how to take and answer the register in sign language alongside spoken language.
Free-choice time
For the main part of each session, children will have time to choose activities to work on by themselves, with friends or with their teachers. All the activities are easily accessible and include social and imaginative play, practical life, sensorial, cultural, language, maths and physical activities, arts and crafts, a book corner, construction and a music area. This time is supervised by the teachers who observe, support and encourage individual learning. This is also the time where we will spend 1:1 tuition time with each child. Please see our curriculum for more information.
Break time
Break time is a chance for the children to sit together and take a break and have a healthy snack. We provide fresh fruit and veggies such as apple, pear, banana, clementines, carrots, cucumber and melon as well as water or milk to drink. If your child has any allergies, we follow them strictly. Children learn to pour their own drinks and help to prepare fruit for themselves and their friends. They always wash their hands before eating, and help to clear up afterwards.
Outdoor play
During the daily free-choice time, the courtyard doors are often open for indoor-outdoor freeflow so that the children can choose learning activities inside or outside. Then, after break time we all go outside to play! Our outdoor space allows children to run, skip, cycle, climb, hide, dig, relax and play all sorts of imaginative games. We have linked outdoor areas which house a sand pit, climbing frame, wendy houses, planting area, blackboard, open play space and bikes to use. Our outdoor area has a variety of surfaces on which to play - paved, safety surface, artificial grass and real grass.
Group activities
Our group activities are based around the current curriculum, as well as on children's interests, seasonal celebrations, and are geared to the age and stage of the children. These activities include cooking, drama, music and movement, art and craft, Forest School, Fantastic Art and lots of discussion about ourselves, our lives and the world around us. Please see our group activities and curriculum pages for more information.
Home time
Pick up for the morning session is at 12:15 pm and 3:45 pm for the afternoon session. At the end of each week, children take home any work or art created that week and parents will be emailed an overview of the week in 'This Week at School'. Over the weekend, we put up a post on our Facebook page showing parents some of the week's activities in photo and text form. These posts are also added to this website (see our Blog section).