
EYFS: Mrs Turner, Miss Taylor, Miss Foster, Mrs Bird, Miss Alcott and Miss Dale
Welcome to the Early Years Foundation Stage (EYFS) at Nantwich Primary Academy and Nursery
Weekly reminders
Bookbags and reading diaries need to be bought into school daily
'Love to Read' books are changed on a Monday and phonics reading books on a Thursday
PE is on a Monday (children need to come to school in their PE kit)
Homework books need to be bought in every Wednesday
PHONICS SOUNDS
(With audio)
Knowledge
Organisers
Want to recall or revise some key facts for class?
Choose a subject below, and view the 2-sided fact sheet.
Want or lost your own paper copy? Ask your teacher.
Topic Knowledge Organiser
Communication
and
Language
Physical Development
Personal, Social
and Emotional Development
Literacy
Maths
Knowledge and
Understanding
of the World
Expressive Arts
and Design
Phonics
Getting Ready for Reception

Information
New admissions
We very much welcome visits to look around our wonderful school – please contact the school office on 01270 902055 to book an appointment.
Children who are turning 5 between 1st September 2024 and 31st August 2025 will be starting Reception in September 2024. Applications for Cheshire East Primary Schools are now open and will close on January 15th 2024. Please visit Cheshire East Admissions for more information.
Nursery places
Nantwich Primary Academy and Nursery provides places for children from the term after their 3rd birthday until they start Reception.
From the start of the term following their 3rd birthday, all children are entitled to a free 15 hour place (morning sessions 08:30 – 11:30). Some families will be eligible for a free 30 hours place, subject to criteria. Click HERE to check eligibility.
Curriculum
Autumn term theme
Our theme this term is 'Helpful Heroes!'. The children will be learning about the people in our lives who help them everyday and who helps to keep them safe and healthy.
Our learning is very much driven by the children's interests and the 'Helpful Heroes' that they would like to find out about; we have asked them and their families to contribute to our planning ideas.
Communication and Language
We will be reading frequently to the children, engaging them in stories and non-fiction books and providing them with lots of opportunities to embed new vocabulary. In Nursery, we will be focusing on learning songs and nursery rhymes and using longer sentences. Children in Reception will be learning how to listen carefully and developing social phrases such as ‘Good morning, how are you?’.
Personal, Social and Emotional Development
We will be sharing the ‘Colour Monster’ book which will help children to identify and manage their emotions. With our younger children, we will be working with them to develop their sense of responsibility and feeling of belonging within our school community and developing new friendships. In Reception, the children will be considering the feelings of others and learning to be resilient. Our ‘Helpful Heroes’ topic will support the children in learning who can help them to be healthy and safe.
Physical Development
The children will be spending a lot of time outside which is great for developing their gross motor skills with our climbing equipment, bikes and trikes, gravel pit and space to run. Our weekly PE sessions (on a Monday) will begin with a dance unit and then onto ball skills after half-term. We will also be developing the children’s fine motor skills with ‘Dough Disco’. ‘Squiggle Whilst you wiggle’ and lots of repeated and varied opportunities to develop their control and confidence with their hands.
Literacy
The children in Reception will start their daily phonics lessons learning how to recognise phonemes (sounds) and write them. They will soon progress onto blending phonemes together to read simple words. In writing, we will be teaching children how to identify the phonemes that they can hear in a word as well as teaching the children to write their name with correct letter formation. Children in Nursery will be developing their phonological awareness with lots of listening games, rhyme and alliteration and will be encouraged to use a range of mark-marking tools and materials.
Mathematics
This half-term, our Reception maths sessions will focus on accurately counting objects, subitising (recognising amounts without counting) and the composition and comparison of numbers. Nursery children will be singing lots of counting songs, learning to recite numbers in order and exploring colour with the Colour Monster.
Understanding the World
As the summer ends, we will be exploring the change in seasons and what make Autumn special. We will be introducing different occupations to the children through our ‘Helpful Heroes’ topic (if you are one of these then please do get in touch if you’d like to visit us!)
EYFS Curriculum
The Foundation Stage Curriculum is based on seven areas of learning consisting of Personal, Social and Emotional Development, Physical Development, Communication and Language, Literacy, Mathematics, Expressive Arts and Design and Understanding the World.
Our planning, supported by Development Matters, ensures that children learn across the seven areas of the curriculum. We plan that children learn in a variety of ways including child-initiated learning through play and adult-led opportunities both indoors and in our amazing outdoor area.
We promote learning through play as we value its importance. Young children learn best when they explore and experience things first-hand, often in playful ways. Play is essential to development as it contributes to the cognitive, physical, social, and emotional well-being of children. It allows children to use their creativity while developing their imagination, dexterity and physical strength. Play is also important to healthy brain development as it enables children to learn about themselves, their environment and the world around them.
Phonics
At Nantwich Primary Academy and Nursery, we follow 'Little Wandle Letters and Sounds revised' in order to teach early reading. Our Nursery children build their language development, story reading, phonological awareness and oral blending skills by following the 'Foundation for Phonics' programme. In Reception, the children start to learn GPCs (letter sounds) and blend these together to read words. Please visit the links at the top of the page from more information and view the videos below to see how to support your child at home.


Assessment
Assessment plays an important part in helping families and school staff to recognise children’s progress, understand their needs, and to plan activities and support. Our ongoing assessment is an integral part of our daily learning; our EYFS staff know children’s level of achievement and interests and are then able to personalise teaching and learning experiences for each child reflecting that knowledge.
We share some of our daily observations on ClassDojo portfolio so that families are kept up to date with their child's progress and development.
When children join us in Reception they will complete the Reception Baseline Assessment which is statutory for all children. This short and interactive assessment provides us with a starting point for children's early literacy, communication, language and mathematics skills. At the end of the Reception year, the EYFS profile is completed for children which shows their progress across the seven areas of learning which split into 17 Early Learning Goals (ELG) - parents will be informed of their child's progress towards these throughout the year and in a written report in the Summer term.
Parents
We see our parents, carers and families as having a vital role in their child’s education and staff meet regularly with them to discuss their children's needs through termly parent meetings and also informal discussions in person and using our communication app 'ClassDojo'. We use the portflio function of ClassDojo which allows families to see their child's learning in school and also contribute to their portfolio by adding evidence of children applying their learning at home and any achievements they have reached.
This year we will also provide workshops on phonics, reading and maths and how to support children at home. Our 'Discover and Do' sessions are particularly well attended and the whole family have all been known to thoroughly enjoy sharing the activities on offer and the opportunity to work with their children.
We are committed to giving our children the best possible start to their school life. We work in partnership with parents, carers and families to ensure their well-being and success in the future.