Early Years is a Key stage and at Handale Primary School this begins with our 2 year olds in Pre-nursery, includes our 3 and 4 year olds in Nursery and also our 4 and 5 year olds in Reception. Children can attend our Pre-nursery on a 15 hour funded place (If eligible) or a 6 hour place for all children. They can attend nursery on a 15 hour place (taken daily or flexibly) for all children or a 30 hour place (If eligible).

We know how important this early learning is and is crucial to a child’s development, education and therefore future success.

Individuals:

At Handale we know all children are individuals and treat them as such. We therefore don’t follow set topics, we prefer to follow children’s interests and development levels.

Play:

We believe that children learn best through their play. Play is fun for children and all the skills they need to develop can be taught through their play.

Environment:

Our environments are extremely important in Early Years. We make sure our environments are appropriate for each age group and develop from the Pre-nursery room right up to the Reception classroom. Our environments are not static they develop over time linking to children’s interests and skills. Our resources are carefully chosen to develop skills in a fun and interesting way. We ensure that skills are developed in a variety of ways throughout our environments both indoors and outdoors.  

• 

• 

Practitioners:

All our practitioners are highly skilled in working with Early Years children. They are knowledgeable in child development and through careful observation they use this knowledge to move children forward. Practitioners will use observations and assessments to plan experiences for children and to record some sequences of learning in children’s Early Years Books. All Early Years children are allocated a Key Person helping them become more settled, happy and safe. A child’s key person is responsible for their care, development and learning.

Early Years Foundation Stage (EYFS):

We follow the EYFS guidance and ensure children’s learning is planned through the following ways: in Prime Areas (children mostly develop these areas first) and Specific Areas (prime areas help children develop skills in specific areas).

Prime areas:

• Personal, Social and Emotional Development
• Physical Development
• Communication and Language

Specific areas:

• Literacy
• Mathematics
• Understanding the World
• Expressive Arts and Design

Characteristics of Effective Teaching and Learning (CoETL):

At Handale we allow children to develop by encouraging CoETL. They are:

• Playing and Exploring
• Active Learning
• Creating and thinking critically

Find out more about our Early Years:

Pre-Nursery Provision

Click to find out more information about our Pre-Nursery provision: Pre-nursery

Nursery Provision

Click to find out more information about our Nursery provision: Nursery

Reception Provision

Click to find out more information about our Reception provision: Reception

Early Years Documentation you might find useful: