Early Years Foundation Stage-Reception & Nursery

Saplings Topic Web - Delightful Dragons, Summer term 2021

Learning In Saplings
For more information about how we can work together to support your child's development and learning, please see the links below. Please speak to your child's keyperson for more individual ideas too.

Our Early Years Foundation Stage is called Saplings. It comprises of one nursery and two reception classes.
We aim to make it a safe and stimulating environment where children feel confident to explore their creativity and understanding in all areas of the curriculum. In our indoor and outdoor areas there are many resources that are always available, this is part of our ‘continuous provision’.

Learning Indoors
All three classrooms are interconnected and our children have opportunity to explore and use the whole area at different times during the day. Children know what resources they can use and where to find them enabling them to explore their learning quickly and independently. Adults provide additional support, guidance and resources to enhance and extend this learning based on our observations of what the children are interested in and what they need to provide for their next steps in learning.

Learning Outdoors
Outdoor learning complements indoor learning and is equally important. Play and learning that flow seamlessly between indoors and outdoors enable children to make the most of the resources and materials available to them and develop their ideas without unnecessary interruption. Outdoor learning encompasses all that children do, see, hear or feel in their outdoor space. This includes the experiences that practitioners create and plan for, the spontaneous activities that children initiate, and the naturally occurring cyclical opportunities linked to the seasons, weather and nature. (EYFS, Effective practice; outdoor learning, 2007)

At St Swithun’s we have a large outdoor area which includes climbing equipment, a wooded area, grass and concrete surfaces, a large sandpit, mud kitchen, planting troughs and a covered area. Children have access to all of these areas every day and in all weathers. There is a variety of equipment available at all times to provide for ‘open ended’ challenge in our ‘continuous provision’. Our adults will also provide additional resources to enhance the children’s play in response to the children’s interests and/or next steps in learning.