Welcome to Team Nidd & Team Swale!

At Staynor Hall, Reception is made up of two classes – Team Nidd and Team Swale.

In Reception, children embark on a journey of discovery and exploration.  We create a happy and caring environment where all children feel valued and safe and where they will have the opportunity to develop positive relationships with all the adults and children within our setting.

Please see below key information regarding our Reception classes:

Staff

Structure of the Day

At Staynor Hall the Early Years consists of Tiny Steps, Nursery (Esk) and two Reception classes (Nidd and Swale). Across the Early Years, we believe that all children deserve an education rich in wonder and memorable experiences that allows children’s natural creativity and curiosity to flourish.  We have high ambitions for all our children and recognise that children enter the Nursery and Reception classes with varied life experiences and we plan accordingly to address this so all children are able to thrive and develop. It is our intention to provide children with a safe and stimulating learning environment both indoors and outdoors. This will enable them to develop the skills to become a fantastic member of our community understanding the behavior expectations of Staynor Hall School . To be a confident communicator expressing their own ideas. To be an independent learner demonstrating the characteristics of learning. To be an excited explorer investigating their local environment. To also be able to think deeply and solve problems. To become an active adventurer moving in a variety of ways. By the end of Early Years they will be a sentence superstar and imaginative creator.

Throughout the Early Years at Staynor Hall, we encourage children to demonstrate their attitudes and behaviours to learning through the Characteristics of Effective Learning. The children experience both adult initiated and adult directed activities, and child initiated activities.

This enables them to develop a number of competences across all areas of learning. The Early Learning Goals are in line with the National Curriculum 

Our curriculum is designed to be child-centred and is taught in a logical progression so that children are able to build upon prior learning. We ensure the content of the curriculum is delivered in an exciting, engaging way, based upon engaging topics which motivate and inspire all children. From Tiny Steps to Reception, the EYFS curriculum is followed and carefully planned to ensure the learning environment is one that is broad, balanced and progressive, allowing all children to achieve their full potential. 

Throughout the Nursery and Reception years, as part of the learning and teaching process, children will be assessed in relation to their progress against the EYFS staynor hall curriculum. These judgements are made on the basis of observations and in depth knowledge of the children acquired through ongoing assessment. These ongoing assessments are used to inform planning and next steps in teaching and learning for all children throughout the year. End of year assessments are finalised during the summer term, summarising each child’s development at that point. 

Excellent communication and effective transition between Tiny Steps, Nursery and Reception means children leave the EYFS with a solid foundation of learning of which to build upon. Throughout the academic year we put supportive interventions in place to support children with their learning. By monitoring assessment procedures regularly, we can effectively demonstrate what learning is taking place and how each child is progressing in all areas of the EYFS curriculum.

Evidence in the children’s online learning journey supports all areas of the EYFS curriculum and is used consistently across the Foundation Stage. 

From different starting points, children progressing from their first year in Tiny Steps to transitioning into Year 1 will make good progress academically, emotionally, creatively, socially and physically.  Knowledge, understanding and skills will be promoted and eventually mastered to ensure children are ready and fully prepared to begin learning the National Curriculum programme of study in Year 1. Alongside this, we endeavour for all children to develop into well rounded individuals who live out our school values and carry with them the knowledge, skills and attitudes required for everyday life and lifelong learning.