In the Early Years, our aims become a reality for our children right from the start.
We start with the quality of our teachers, ensuring they are skilled in providing a curriculum which is ambitious, engaging, nurturing and relevant for all. Learning takes place in every part of the early years environment, within and beyond the classroom, in outdoor areas and in the lunch hall. We believe there is learning in every moment of the day, from sharing a story, eating lunch to dressing up or building a rocket. Both Nursery and Reception classes share classrooms and the outdoor space during the school day.
Much of the learning is through play and is flexibly structured, in order to cater for all pupils. Pupils enter The Alton at very different stages in their learning and we aim to cater for a wide variety of differing needs. Pupils who already have a grasp of reading, writing and counting will be challenged, while other pupils will need to be guided initially to a degree of independence and sense of security. Our team of teachers and nursery nurses work hard to create a happy, purposeful and stimulating learning environment, where all pupils are guided into achieving their best, by the end of their first year in school.
We provide an excellent, well-resourced and stimulating early years curriculum which fulfils our aims that:
All our children:
...are safe
Our environment is carefully considered with safety first. Care and thought is given to the resources and activities planned throughout the day, and all environments. Children need to be taught how to keep themselves safe within the school setting and when to ask for help.
Building on physical safety we place great importance on how safe the children feel in their relationships with school and our teachers. Without this we can do nothing: if you don’t feel safe, you cannot learn. The quality of interactions is everything and teachers ensure that all children feel able to take risks, make mistakes and ask for help. This safe climate for learning with child’s emotional, mental and physical at the heart is the bedrock of our approach in the early years.
...are excellent learners
Developing independence, learning how to listen and work with others are key first learning traits in early years and we ensure every one of the traits is encouraged and articulated from the beginning. This feeds into our everyday language and our expectations for all children: for example making sure children know that making a mistake is part of learning; encouraging creativity in finding different solutions to a problem; or praising a child for asking questions to learn more.
Excellent learners are at work and encouraged all the time throughout the curriculum, whether in putting on a coat, lining up safely, learning to write my name, taking turns in a game, asking to go to the bathroom or joining in a story. We make our language and expectations for learning clear and children understand that being an excellent learner is very important for everyone.
...have excellent social and emotional skills
Working in classes with many other children brings challenges, especially to the youngest children. Resolving differences, learning to listen, to share and to consider the needs of others are a core part of the personal and social development which is rightly a key area in our early years. Learning how to be an excellent communicator, to understand and be understood is modelled throughout all learning situations. Early language and vocabulary development underpin children's later achievement and we focus on how our children develop the skills need to interact well. In our early years, every interaction is a learning opportunity.
... achieve and succeed
We follow children's interests to engage them in learning, balancing this with exposing them to new, exciting, hands-on experiences. We create opportunities for the awe and wonder of discovery, ensuring high levels of participation and engagement.
We believe in quality first teaching to ensure children achieve, so our focus is first and foremost on the effectiveness of our teaching and the curriculum. We have a thematic approach with six main themes each year. We have structured, precise and highly successful teaching of early literacy skills, phonics and mathematics, through clear programmes of study, excellent resources and enthusiastic delivery - ensuring that children leave Reception with a high level of core skills before they reach Year 1.
Where children are finding learning hard or are not achieving, we consider how more time or support can be offered through our ‘whatever it takes’ provision.