Nursery
Welcome to Nursery - Early Years Foundation Stage
Mrs Altiparmaki - Aster Class ealtiparmaki@gordon.greenwich.sch.uk
In Early Years we have created a happy, secure and stimulating environment in which children can develop as unique individuals and where they develop emotional, social and academic skills needed to become independent, motivated learners and responsible members of the community.
Learning takes place both inside and outside the classroom. We also have a Forest School site where the children develop their awareness of nature, the environment and skills such as collaboration and enquiry.
The Early Years curriculum is designed to meet the needs of the youngest children in our school. Delivery of the curriculum is led through adult-led activities that introduce new skills and extend learning. There are also planned purposeful play opportunities and enhancement of provision, where adults observe and intervene with higher ordering questioning and engagement to extend the learning taking place.
Communication with parents and carers is a strength in Early Years. We communicate on a daily basis and use an online platform called ‘Interactive Learning Diary’ which enables us to inform parents of their child’s weekly learning through observations, photos and videos. It also allows parents to contribute to their child’s learning, as we are all instrumental in ensuring that our children’s development is excellent.
Spring Term 2025 Learning
Welcome to the new children starting with us in Aster Class in January, their parents and carers, and welcome back to those returning to us. We hope you have had a lovely winter break and are excited to continue your learning adventure. It is going to be a busy time! The new children will initially be settling in to the new routines and the ‘older’ children will be encouraged to show increasing independence in all areas of learning and to develop their social skills.
As always, the children follow a play-based curriculum. This takes place through a range of stimulating and engaging activities which allow children to explore, communicate, question and develop their understanding. The children will have opportunities to learn skills through focused activities and independent play and their learning journey will follow their individual needs within the Statutory Framework for the Early Years Foundation Stage (2021).
This term they will be learning skills through our topics on:
Spring Term 1: Keep on Moving! We will find out facts about different modes of transport by looking at a variety of fiction and non-fiction texts. We will use public transport and explore transport links in our local community.
Spring Term 2: Once upon a time… We will be finding out about different characters and settings and making links with the past and present through traditional tales and oral story-telling.
Communication, Language and Literacy
- listen and concentrate for longer periods
- understand instructions of two or more parts
- begin to ask/respond to how/why questions
- start a conversation and wait for their turn to speak
Personal, Social and Emotional Development
- make healthy choices about food, drink, activity and dental care
- follow classroom rules independently
- be able to inhibit their own actions/behaviours e.g. stop themselves from doing things they shouldn’t
- be increasingly independent in self-care
- start to develop a growth mindset and resilience – have a go at new things and keep trying when they find tasks difficult
- keep play going by responding to what others are doing/saying
Physical Development
- build on balancing, riding and ball skills
- wave arms or ribbons to make vertical lines and circles in the air
- begin to copy movements such as jumping, hopping, skipping and balancing on one leg
- develop an emerging tripod grasp when using writing media
- copy basic pre-writing patterns
- hold scissors correctly and begin to cut along a line
Literacy
- begin to produce emergent writing and symbols
- continue Phase 1 phonics listening activities e.g. count or clap syllables in words, begin to recognise words with the same initial sound
- know that print carries meaning and is read from left to right and from top to bottom, and that pages are turned one at a time, in sequence
- identify letters from their name
- be able to say what happens next in a story
- show greater engagement in quality texts such as:
Mathematics
- sing songs/rhymes using number names and number patterns
- subitise 3, 4 and 5
- count 3, 4 and 5
- recognise numerals 3, 4 and 5
- recognise dice patterns
- recognise triangles, squares and pentagons
Understanding the World
- begin to role-play familiar people and different jobs
- use the senses in exploring natural materials and explore how things work
- talk about the differences between materials and changes they notice
- plant seeds and care for growing plants
- remember and talk about significant events in their own experience
Expressive Arts and Design
- draw with increasing complexity and detail
- explore colour and colour mixing
- explore different materials freely, in order to develop their ideas about how to use them and what to make
- begin to develop complex stories using small-world equipment
- play instruments with increasing control to express feelings and ideas
Please note that some aspects/topics may change in order to adapt to the children’s interests and learning needs.
General Information
Reminders:
- Forest School sessions will continue on Wednesdays. If your child has not been before, please refer to the Forest School section on our website for information on the ethos of forest school. Look out for letters regarding details of sessions.
- ‘Lending Library’ is on a Friday. Please ensure your child brings in their book bag and Reading Record on that day, or every day if they wish to. Please read with your child on a daily basis (this could include the book they borrow from nursery, a book from home or why not enrol at Eltham library?) Talk to them about the book and check their understanding by asking questions about events and the characters’ actions. Please also explain new or unfamiliar vocabulary. It would be great if you could comment on how your child responded to the book borrowed from nursery and encourage them to have a go at drawing/mark-making in their reading record.
- We collect a voluntary donation of £1 per week at the end of sessions on Fridays to pay for snacks and other miscellaneous resources. Alternatively, you can pay at the beginning of each term/half term, if that is more convenient. Thank you to everyone who has contributed over the past term – without this we would not be able to provide snacks, cooking ingredients, ingredients for playdough, sensory resources etc. Please contribute, if you can afford it. Thank you in advance!
- Please ensure that your child brings a waterproof coat each day as we spend lots of time enjoying the outdoors. In the winter months, the coat also needs to be warm. Please ensure outdoor clothing, cardigans, jumpers, etc. are clearly named.
- If your child is not going to be in Nursery please inform the school office/teacher by phone/email.
- If your child is to be collected by someone who is not familiar to the Nursery staff, please inform us in advance.
- We are a Healthy School. Please do not send in sweets or other treats when it is your child’s birthday. If you want to celebrate your child’s birthday with their classmates, you could buy the class a book, send in a healthy snack such as boxes of raisins or buy stationery such as pencils, but due to the impact on the environment, we ask you not to send in plastic toys.
- Thank you for signing up to the Interactive Learning Diary. Don’t forget you can share your child’s achievements in nursery and also upload information from home. Our weekly updates and pictures will be sent out on the Learning Zone on ILD. This is available on the online version of ILD – not the app. It is a great way to find out what your child has been doing in nursery that week and how you can help to consolidate this learning at home. Please ask if you are experiencing difficulties with signing in.
- If you have any questions or wish to raise a concern, please contact the class teacher in the first instance: ealtiparmaki@gordon.greenwich.sch.uk
Diary Dates
Wednesday 15th January - closing date for Reception (September 2025) applications
Tuesday 28th January - 'Everyone Belongs' Evening 5pm to 6:30pm
Friday 7th February - NSPCC Number Day
Thursday 13th February - trip to the Cutty Sark
17th to 21st February - Half-term break
Thursday 6th March - World Book Day
6th to 11th March - Book Fair
Monday 31st March - Open Evening 3:30pm-7:00pm
Wednesday 2nd April - Open Evening 3:30pm-6:00pm
Monday 7th to 21st April - Easter break
Tuesday 22nd April - Summer Term begins