School places are currently available for Foundation.  Please phone 01623 456516 for further details.

Welcome to Early Years

At Ravenshead C of E Primary School, we provide fun and exciting opportunities for children to learn through real life practical experiences whilst working within the Early Years Foundation Stage guidelines.

Our daily routine gives the children times for active play and chance to choose activities that they are interested in. There are also ‘carpet times’ for more direct group learning.

Our curriculum is ‘child led’. The government outline what children should know by the end of their foundation years. We carefully plan learning opportunities to reach these objectives using children's interests as a vehicle.

Giving every child the best start

Starting school is a very special milestone. In our Early Years Foundation Stage, we want every child to feel happy, safe, valued and excited to learn from the moment they join us.

Our experienced and caring Early Years team take time to get to know every child as an individual. We place great importance on building strong relationships with children and their families, creating a warm and nurturing environment where children develop confidence, independence and, most importantly, a real sense of belonging.

Our aim is to give children the very best foundations for their education while ensuring that their first experiences of school are happy, exciting and memorable.

Learning through play, exploration and high-quality teaching

We believe that young children learn best when they are active, curious and engaged. Our carefully planned indoor and outdoor environments give children opportunities to explore, investigate, create, talk and play.

Our adults are an important part of this learning. They join children in their play, model language, ask questions, introduce new vocabulary and help children to develop and extend their ideas.

Alongside learning through play, we have a strong focus on the foundational knowledge and skills children need to succeed throughout school. Children enjoy daily phonics, mathematics and story time, alongside regular opportunities to develop their early reading, writing and handwriting.

Communication and language are at the heart of everything we do. Throughout the day, children are encouraged to talk, listen, explain their thinking, learn new vocabulary and grow in confidence as communicators.

A love of reading from the very beginning

We want every child to discover the joy of books and reading.

Stories, songs, rhymes and poems are an important part of every day in our Early Years. Children enjoy high-quality texts, revisit favourite stories and spend time talking about the characters, events and ideas they encounter.

Our carefully sequenced phonics programme teaches children the knowledge and skills they need to begin reading and writing independently. Children in Foundation also read individually with a trained member of staff each week, helping them to develop fluency, confidence and a love of reading.

Learning beyond the classroom

One of the things that makes our Early Years provision particularly special is our wonderful two-acre school wood.

Our youngest children regularly take their learning outdoors, where they can explore the natural world, experience the changing seasons and develop their physical skills, curiosity and imagination.

Whether they are investigating nature, building, creating, solving problems or simply getting muddy, outdoor learning gives our children opportunities to develop confidence, resilience and independence and to take carefully managed risks within a safe environment.

Children also have regular opportunities for active play, supporting their physical development and helping them to develop healthy habits from an early age.

Every child matters

Every child arrives at school with their own experiences, interests, strengths and starting points. We get to know children carefully from the beginning so that we can celebrate what they can already do and quickly identify where additional help may be needed.

We have a particularly strong focus on speech, language and communication and access specialist Speech and Language Therapy support where appropriate. Our experienced Early Years practitioners work closely with our SENCO and other professionals to ensure that children's needs are identified early and the right support is put in place.

Our learning environment is designed to be accessible and inclusive, enabling children to participate, become increasingly independent and experience success.

Our aim is simple: every child should have the opportunity to achieve, thrive and feel that they belong.

Developing happy and confident children

Early Years is about much more than academic learning.

We help children to learn how to make friends, work and play alongside others, understand their emotions, make positive choices and become increasingly independent.

Positive relationships and consistent routines help children to feel secure. Children are supported to recognise and talk about their feelings and gradually develop the skills they need to regulate their emotions.

We want our children to become kind, confident and resilient, with the confidence to have a go, make mistakes and keep trying.

Working in partnership with families

We recognise that parents and carers know their children best and are an essential part of their child's learning journey.

Our relationship with families begins before children start school, with opportunities to meet our Early Years team and attend Stay and Play sessions. We work closely with nurseries, pre-schools and other settings to make children's transition into school as smooth and positive as possible.

Once children join us, regular communication, parent consultations, workshops and learning opportunities help families to understand what their child is learning and how they can support them at home.

Most importantly, we encourage an open and positive relationship between home and school. We want parents to know their child's teachers, feel comfortable talking to us and feel part of our school community too.

Ready for Year 1 – and beyond

Throughout Reception, we carefully build the knowledge, skills and learning behaviours children will need for the next stage of their education.

Our children make strong progress from their individual starting points. Through careful assessment, high-quality teaching and timely support, we help children to develop secure foundations in communication and language, reading, writing and mathematics alongside their personal, social and physical development.

By the time children leave our Early Years, we want them to be able to listen and engage, communicate confidently, work with increasing independence, apply what they have learned and approach new challenges positively.

Close links between our Early Years and Year 1 teams ensure that children's learning continues smoothly as they move into Key Stage 1.

Above all, we want children to finish their time in Early Years as happy, curious and confident learners who love coming to school, believe in themselves and are proud to belong to our school community.

Class Pages

We look forward to working with you to help your child develop a lifelong love of learning.