Welcome to Hexham First School Early Years Unit!

In Nursery and Reception, we have fun exploring, investigating, and learning new skills through a variety of play activities. Our broad and balanced curriculum provides opportunities for first-hand experiences that enthuse, excite, and inspire all children across all areas of learning. Activities are carefully planned in response to the children’s own interests, as we believe this is the most effective way to stimulate and support their natural curiosity while developing key skills and knowledge. Each day, we utilise our extensive outdoor provision as free-flow learning, ensuring children have the opportunity to explore the natural environment.

Please see the termly learning overviews for more details of our planned learning. If you would like to find out more about how we plan for your child’s learning, please do not hesitate to chat with a member of the Early Years staff.

Class Dojo

We use Class Dojo to share learning and news about the whole class. The class page regularly features photos, news, and celebrations that we enjoy sharing with families. We use the portfolio section of Class Dojo to send you individual 'Wow' moments and photos relating to your child’s learning. The children love sharing news from home, and you can use the portfolio section to send photos and updates from home that your child can share with their class.

Clothing / P.E. Kit

Learning in the Early Years Unit takes place both indoors and outdoors. While we have plenty of spare clothes, it is helpful if your child comes to school appropriately dressed for the weather—raincoats, wellies, sun hats, and suncream might all be necessary this term!

Reception children have P.E. lessons with their class teacher and some specialists throughout the term. This term, the children will take part in Hoopstarz, Full of Beans and Commando Jo lessons alongside outdoor obstacle activities and bike, and trike time. We ask that all Reception children have their P.E. kit in school, ready for lessons. Kits will be sent home at the end of each half term for washing. P.E. will take place both indoors and outdoors, so please ensure your child has appropriate footwear (trainers or plimsolls), shorts or jogging bottoms, and a warm top.

Early Reading

'Never Say No to a Story'

Reading is at the very heart of everything we do in the Early Years Unit. Our staff share a passion for children’s literature and pride themselves on their ability to bring books to life! Every child in Nursery and Reception shares a range of high-quality picture books through several planned story sessions each day. Staff are also always available to share books with individual children. Our mantra is 'Never say no to a story'—and we mean it! Children are also introduced to a wide variety of nursery rhymes, poems, and songs. Please support your child by continuing to share books with them—nothing beats a bedtime story!

Reception children will start with wordless books to bring home and create their own stories to match the pictures. As they progress through phonics, they will begin to take home blending books - short books with three-letter words to sound out along with pictures to check understanding. Eventually, they will start reading books. Children read in school, but we strongly encourage parents to read with or to their child as frequently as possible to boost confidence and help them become fluent readers. 

Phonics

Children in Nursery begin to develop phonological awareness and oral blending and segmenting skills through a playful and multisensory approach using songs, actions, and games. When appropriate, they start to become familiar with some grapheme-phoneme correspondences through contextually relevant text such as names and signs.

Children in Reception continue developing their phonological skills through daily discrete phonics sessions. At Hexham First, we follow the Read Write Inc. scheme. More information about how we teach phonics can be found in the curriculum section of the website. Please don’t hesitate to speak to staff if you require further information.

Parent Consultations

We hold parents’ evenings at Hexham First School twice a year, and Nursery and Reception children are very much a part of this. It’s a great opportunity to talk to the Early Years team about your child’s development and share information between home and school. Each child will have two consultations over the year. Of course, if you would like to discuss anything regarding your child at any other time, Early Years staff are always available before and after school. We also respond to emails or Class Dojo portfolio messages (please note that email and Class Dojo correspondence will be responded to during school hours).

If you have any questions, please ask a member of the team.

Forest School

We are fortunate to have our very own Early Years Forest School area, which the children love to explore and learn in. We have a Forest School-focused activity afternoons, where we get suited and booted and dive into learning from the outdoors. This is one of our favourite times of the week, where we learn about creatures, plants, and many practical skills. The children enjoy a music area, slate writing area, plants, mud kitchen, and the best grassy bank for rolling, tumbling, and climbing.

We also have a rope balance area where children can work on their gross motor skills and balance on the rope line or pull themselves up the bank using the rope tree pull.

We advise a waterproof suit or coat and trousers, along with wellies, to allow children to get fully involved while protecting their school uniform.