At Homefield, we believe that all children are unique. They have the right to create and lead their own learning pathways. We aim to achieve this through an inspiring environment that ignites curiosity, facilitated by highly skilled adults who nurture, care and educate.

We have a 26 place purpose built Nursery and a 30-place Reception class. We have invested in our Early Years Department and both classes are equipped with high quality resources that provide an inspiring learning environment.

    

Every child deserves the best possible start in life and the support that enables them to fulfil their potential. Children develop quickly in the early years and a child’s experiences between birth and age five have a major impact on their future life chances. A secure, safe and happy childhood is important in its own right. Good parenting and high quality early learning together provide the foundation children need to make the most of their abilities and talents as they grow up.

Early Years Foundation Stage Statutory Framework 2021

Our inspiring environments have been carefully planned to support children’s development in Nursery and Reception. The continuous provision is planned to enable stimulating, purposeful and challenging opportunities for learning through play. Daily enhancements are planned and created by our staff to link directly with key texts, vocabulary, interests and children’s individual ‘next steps’.

‘Goldilocks’ enhancement.

They are set up to create an extension or challenge for children to explore independently, with friends or with an adult. Each area of our ‘Continuous Provision’ provides opportunities for children to demonstrate the Characteristics of Effective Learning.

Characteristics of Effective Learning

The characteristics of effective learning explain how children learn. These underpin our pedagogy in the Early Years Foundation Stage. The ways in which children engage with others and their environment – playing and exploring, active learning and creating and thinking critically – support the children to remain effective and motivated learners.

Playing and exploring, which is about finding out and exploring, playing with what they know and being willing to ‘have a go’.

Active Learning, which is about being involved and concentrating, persevering and enjoying achieving what they set out to do.

Creating and thinking critically, which is about having their own ideas, making links and choosing ways to do things.

By observing children involved in play, we gain an understanding of their individual learning styles. We make judgements about the child’s demonstration of these characteristics throughout the year and use this information to support their learning.

‘The development of children’s spoken language underpins all seven areas of learning and development.’ EYFS 2021

We aim to provide a language rich environment. Quality interactions with between highly skilled staff and curious children, make all the difference.

We value the importance of communication and language development. Language development lays the foundation for future reading and writing skills and children progress through school. It also supports a child’s ability to develop and maintain relationships. We have recently invested in ‘WellComm’ which is a speech and language toolkit to help us identify and support children. We use WellComm as a means of tracking progress for all children who join our Early Years Classes.

At Homefield VC C of E Primary we strongly believe in providing the children with inspiring, creative and meaningful learning experiences that builds on their natural curiosity and ignites their passion for learning.

We provide a ‘free-flow’ setting where children can choose to play inside or out. We play outside whatever the weather and provide wet weather suits and wellies to keep everyone warm and dry. We support children in outdoor play that is adventurous and energetic, supporting their gross motor development.

 

We provide experiences, opportunities and teaching to build a love of learning whilst recognising each child is unique. We promote respect in all that we do so that children have an understanding of different people, families, cultures, communities and faiths.

             

           Gt Yarmouth open-top bus ride, Community Library visit & ‘Mini Monsters’ visit

Throughout our Early Years classes, we support children to gain independence. We encourage  children to ‘have a go’ with toileting, getting dressed, choosing snacks, pouring drinks, chopping fruit and choosing activities either inside or out. We respect that each child will reach these developmental stages at different rates and we will work with parents to support each and every child.

Parents as Partners

We pride ourselves on our Transition process when starting school at Homefield. Parents are children’s first educators and play a crucial role in children’s outcomes. We welcome and respect each unique family and actively encourage parents as partners throughout their child’s journey through our school.

We aim to visit each child in their family home before they join our setting. We offer visits to school, Stay & Play Sessions, an initial short session where parents leave their child and then a staggered start, tailored to individual needs. Our Key-Person approach is used throughout our Early Years Department and ensures a triangle of trust between parent, Key Person and child, providing a base where children feel safe, secure and ready to explore!

              

We use an online Learning Journal called Tapestry which acts as a great communication tool as well as capturing ‘Wow Moments’ in your child’s development. Family Cafés are held each half term, which enable parents to join their children in class to share play and learning experiences together.

Becoming a reader

We are passionate about reading at Homefield! We inspire children to develop a love of stories and books and we provide a broad spectrum of reading opportunities within the classroom and the school library. Every child takes home a library book for pleasure each week.

We use a phonics scheme called FFT ‘Success for All’. This is a DFE recognised scheme which introduces children to all the sounds they need to learn, to become a confident, fluent reader. Once children start to develop an understanding of how to use phonics to decode words, they will take home a reading book that is matched to their phonetic ability to share with their family. We offer a Phonics Workshop and regular Family Cafe's to explain how we teach children to read and to help you, as parents, support your child at home.

Becoming a writer

It is vital that children are given opportunities to develop the muscles they need in order to develop their physical strength and stamina. The development of good coordination and fine motor skills are supported in our Early Years classes through a range of activities.

Children learn how to form letters correctly during our phonics lessons. We learn rhymes to help them remember the correct formation. Our aim is for children to leave Reception feeling confident to have a go at writing whilst enjoying the experience.

Please click on the link below to view our Homefield Early Years Curriculum