We’re keen to work as closely as possible with you all the way through your child’s time at primary school, and perhaps Early Years is the most important time to get this right. Like other teachers, staff are available to speak with you at the start and end of your child’s session. There’s usually a chance to have a quick word with one of the team when you drop your child off or collect them. When you’re in, you’re welcome to have a look through your child’s Learning Journey book, too.

Learning happens at school and at home. We want to hear about some of the learning that happens at home. This might be a ‘wow moment’ when your child does something really special at home, such as putting on his/her shoes, drinking from a cup independently, riding a bike without stabilisers, writing their name, reading signs on the street etc. Equally, it might be other learning moments, such as your child re-telling a story they heard at school, choosing to count steps, recognising bus numbers or your child writing a shopping list. Please tell us about these home learning moments: send us an email (stjamesnursery@spherefederation.org for Nursery and stjamesreception@spherefederation.org for Reception – please note this email is not checked on a daily basis) or fill in this form. As well as a great way to celebrate your child’s development, knowing about the learning which is going on at home will mean staff can make sure they encourage your child to practise or apply the skills they’ve shown.

Sharing information about what your child enjoys and is interested in is important. The Early Years team take on board the interests of the class and plan future topics around them. Using our Talking Together document can be a good way to share information. It can also be a good prompt for valuable talk at home and at school – a fundamental aspect of learning.

Don’t forget to come to our ‘Relax and Read’ or ‘Stay and Play’ sessions – look out for when these happen. They’re a great way to join in with your child’s learning. Occasionally during the year, you’ll be invited to a session to observe phonics and maths being taught – do come along to get ideas about how to support your child.

See the Transition section below for how we work with you to secure a positive start to your child’s primary school years.

We place a good deal of importance on the characteristics of effective teaching and learning:

• playing and exploring – children investigate and experience things, and ‘have a go’ (you can support your child by, for example, making sure they encouraging them to try out new experiences and asking open-ended questions that might stimulate their curiosity);
• active learning – children concentrate and keep on trying if they encounter difficulties, and enjoy achievements (allow your child to play independently – avoid leading your child’s play, and don’t let them engage for too long in passive activities like watching TV); and
• creating and thinking critically – children have and develop their own ideas, make links between ideas, and develop strategies for doing things (when your child is playing, provide some challenges and allow them to be inventive – try leaving fewer toys for them but add a few unknown objects for them to use… don’t forget how much fun a cardboard box can be!).

Our assessment data for older children shows that those children who demonstrate strong characteristics of effective learning are more likely to enjoy and achieve at a higher level as they get older. Supporting your child to develop these characteristics will help to create well-rounded, life-long learning. This document gives you more information about the characteristics – it might help you get an idea of how you can support your child to develop good ‘learning behaviour’. Talk with your child’s teacher for more ideas.

There are seven areas which form the basis of the curriculum. These areas are made up of prime areas and specific areas (listed below). Each area of learning has a set of related expectations for the end of each year group, so what’s typical for the end of the Nursery year and what’s typical for the end of the Reception year.

There are seven areas which form the basis of the curriculum. These areas are made up of prime areas and specific areas (listed below). Each area of learning has a set of related expectations for the end of each year group, so what’s typical for the end of the Nursery year and what’s typical for the end of the Reception year.

By the end of Reception year, most children will have acquired the  knowledge, skills and understanding to achieve the Early Learning Goals in some or all of the seven areas of learning.

The prime areas are:

• Personal, social and emotional development (self-regulation; managing self; building relationships)
• Communication and language (listening; attention and understanding; speaking)
• Physical development (fine motor skills and gross motor skills)

The specific areas are:

• Literacy (comprehension; word reading; writing)
• Mathematics (numbers; numerical patterns)
• Understanding the world (past and present; people, culture and communities; the natural world)
• Expressive arts and design (creating with materials; being imaginative and expressive)

St James’ Nursery is a local authority nursery which is part of St James’ CE Primary School. It offers education and care for children from 3 years old until they start in school.

When you contact school regarding a Nursery place, your child’s name will be added to a waiting list and a place will be offered, if available, the term following your child’s third birthday. St James’ Nursery has three intakes: the majority of places are offered in September and any remaining places offered in January and April.

Read our Admissions and Fees policy – go to the Admissions section of our Policies and other points page. It’s important to note that a place at St James’ Nursery does not guarantee a place in the Reception class at school. Applications for a school place follow the criteria set out by Leeds Admissions Policy for Primary Schools.

Once your child is offered a place in our Reception, the series of transition events take place.

A welcome meeting (usually in June) is a chance to learn more about expectations, routines and stages of transition. At this meeting, parents are able to meet key members of the school staff including the Reception team.

For those completely new to our school, three taster sessions take place in the Summer term. The first is a one hour visit which you’re encouraged to stay for. The second is similar, although this time you’re encouraged to leave your child. The third is a longer visit – a whole afternoon.

Someone in our Reception team will make contact with the Early Years providers of any children joining our school from other settings. They’ll speak to the child’s key person and will visit the child in an environment which is familiar to them. Similarly, we invite Nursery staff to visit us during a taster session if there is a large group of children from one setting.

Children moving to Reception from our Nursery will visit the Reception classroom during the summer term. The Reception staff will come to Nursery to read stories. They’ll join their new class for a transition afternoon in July.

At the start of the Autumn term, two members of staff will arrange to visit you in your home if your child is new to school. This will allow you to ask any more questions which you may have, and to observe your child in familiar surroundings.

In September, we welcome all of our Reception children into school on a gradual basis. This depends upon various criteria including age and previous Nursery experience. You’re welcome to stay until your child is settled and content – for most children, this takes just a few minutes.

We start our learning in Reception from the very first day. We know how important it is to begin our learning journey as soon as possible. This is especially for phonics so we’ll start learning our first sounds straight away. We’ll also begin the Reception Baseline Assessment and our own on-entry assessments where we observe and talk with your child about what they can do and what they like to do. This information means the teacher can make sure we meet the needs and interests of your child, providing just enough support and challenge for each pupil to enjoy and achieve.

Do try to attend our learning workshops to learn more about how you can support your child at home, especially in the areas of phonics and number. Our ‘Learn More’ website pages will also help. Finally, always feel welcome to speak with Early Years staff or one of the school leaders about any particular questions, comments or concerns.

Once your child is offered a place in our Reception, the series of transition events takes place.

A welcome meeting (usually in June) is a chance to learn more about expectations, routines and stages of transition. At this meeting, parents are able to meet key members of the school staff including the Reception team.

For those completely new to our school, three taster sessions take place in the Summer term. The first is a one hour visit which you’re encouraged to stay for. The second is similar, although this time you’re encouraged to leave your child. The third is a longer visit – a whole afternoon.

Someone in our Reception team will make contact with the Early Years providers of any children joining our school from other settings. They’ll speak to the child’s key person and will visit the child in an environment which is familiar to them. Similarly, we invite nursery staff to visit us during a taster session if there is a large group of children from one setting.

Children moving to Reception from our Nursery will visit the Reception classroom during the summer term. The Reception staff will come to Nursery to read stories. They’ll join their new class for a transition afternoon in July.

At the start of the Autumn term, two members of staff will arrange to visit you in your home if your child is new to school. This will allow you to ask any more questions which you may have, and to observe your child in familiar surroundings.

In September, we welcome all of our Reception children into school on a gradual basis. This depends upon various criteria including age and previous nursery experience. You’re welcome to stay until your child is settled and content – for most children, this takes just a few minutes.

We start our learning in Reception from the very first day. We know how important it is to begin our learning journey as soon as possible. This is especially for phonics so we’ll start learning our first sounds straight away. We’ll also begin the Reception Baseline Assessment and our own on-entry assessments where we observe and talk with your child about what they can do and what they like to do. This information means the teacher can make sure we meet the needs and interests of your child, providing just enough support and challenge for each pupil to enjoy and achieve.

Do try to attend our learning workshops to learn more about how you can support your child at home, especially in the areas of phonics and number. Our ‘Learn More’ website pages will also help. Finally, always feel welcome to speak with Early Years staff or one of the school leaders about any particular questions, comments or concerns.

Moving to Year 1 is perhaps a less significant change for children, and that’s because we’re a happy and healthy place to learn where we all know each other. In July, small groups of pupils spend time in a Key Stage 1 class, joining in the learning taking place. This is followed by a whole-school transition afternoon when all children move to their new classroom and meet their new teacher. This takes place towards the end of the year.

There are different areas in the Early Years classrooms (both indoors and the outside). These are known as the ‘areas of provision’: different places set up in different ways. These might vary from time to time, but typically include areas for role-play, reading, writing, maths, sand, creative development, technology… come and have a look! Each area has lots of resources which allow children to learn independently or with an adult to support. Look out for all the different learning challenges in the areas, too – these are prompts for specific learning which could take place.

We believe effective learning in the Early Years is the result of a balance between:

• adult-led learning: this is led and managed by the adult and is typically planned to meet the specific learning needs of the child(ren)
• adult-guided learning: this is where adults might support a child by guiding them (for example, by questioning and prompting, or by providing specific resources in an area of the classroom) and the child(ren) can independently practise or explore
• child-initiated learning: this is when the child chooses where to go and what to do in the learning environment – it might look like play, but a lot of incidental learning can happen

Research shows that the best outcomes for children’s learning occur where most of the activity within a child’s day is a mixture of child-initiated play (actively supported by adults) and focused learning (with adults guiding the learning through playful, rich experiential activities). As your child progresses through the Early Years, he/she will become more mature and so the balance will gradually shift to more adult-led and adult-guided learning.

A key aspect of the Early Years Foundation Stage is to move the learning from what children already know to what children want to know and what children need to know (and there’s often an overlap between the two). Staff in Early Years find out what children want to know – what interests them, sparks their natural curiosity, engages them to be effective learners – by making lots of observations of the children and having discussions with children and parents to inform the direction of learning. This will usually influence future topics in the class. What children need to know also derives from observations but staff make sure they use Early Years and Key Stage 1 curriculum documents to make sure we are aware of expectations so children are challenged appropriately.