EYFS
Welcome to St Gilbert’s Early Years page
Our Early Years Foundation Stage includes our Nursery and Reception classes. Our EYFS is led by a team of experienced and passionate teachers, nursery nurses and teaching assistants. Our staff promote a positive learning environment where children feel valued, heard and safe.
Our Curriculum
We are proud of our curriculum and tailor this to our individual cohorts needs and experiences each year.
We use the Early Years Statutory Framework to support our curriculum which is split into 7 prime and specific areas.
The prime areas:
Communication and Language – Listening, Attention and Understanding, Speaking
Physical Development – Gross Motor Skills, Fine Motor Skills
Personal, Social and Emotional Development – Self Regulation, Managing Self, Building Relationships
The specific areas:
Literacy – Comprehension, Word Reading and Writing
Mathematics – Number, Numerical Patterns
Understanding the World – Past and Present, People, Culture and Communities, The Natural World
Expressive Arts and Design –Creating with Materials and Being Imaginative and Expressive
The prime areas are integral to learning and support development throughout each of the other areas.
Learning through Play
We fully believe that children learn best through play. Playing with others allows children to develop communication skills, imagination and creativity as well as supporting problem solving skills and critical thinking. We provide opportunities for the children to learn through a wide range of different experiences and play opportunities. We understand that each child is unique and we enjoy getting to know each child, tailoring opportunities to help them learn through their interests. The children take part in both child-led and adult-led activities and children are given lots of opportunity each day to direct their own play.
The Outdoor Area
We were very lucky to work with Pentagon Play to re-develop our outdoor space during summer 2021. The children now have access to a wide range of facilities include bikes and trikes, balance beams, an obstacle course, a climbing frame, role-play opportunities, sand and water and more! Our outdoor environment is an integral part of our day. We go outside all year round to ensure that children are able to experience the joy of being outdoors no matter the weather.
Parent Partnership
We recognise the vital role that parents and carers play in their children’s education which is why we work in close partnership with them. Parent evenings take place in the Autumn and Spring terms and a full report is given at the end of the year. We also hold Pray, Stay and Play sessions regularly throughout the year. We want parents and carers to feel that they can speak to us about their child at any time and encourage regular communication.
Home support
Here are some useful website and suggestions for things to support you at home:
Top marks - This website has activities and games in all subjects, but is particularly useful for Maths.
Super Simple Songs - Nursery rhymes
Learn English Kids- Stories, songs and games with a focus on language development.
Phonics Play -Games and activities to help support phonics. In Early Years we focus on Phase 1 and the set 1 Read, Write, Inc. sounds (Nursery) and set 1 and 2 Read, Write, Inc. sounds (Reception).
BBC iPlayer – NumberBlocks
Wellbeing and Mental Health support for parents
Oxford Owl - e-books
We are also really lucky to live in Greater Manchester. There are lots of museums, libraries and parks that you can take your child to. Here are some ideas for free things to do:
The Science and Industry Museum
The Lowry
The Whitworth Art Gallery
Ordsall Hall
The Imperial War Museum
Winton Park
The Bridgewater Canal
Clifton Country Park
And much much more!