Welcome to the Early Years Foundation Stage (Nursery and Reception)

We would like to extend a warm welcome to you and your family, thank you for choosing St Mary’s Fields Primary School. Our fun, bright, caring and nurturing staff are ready to help you and your child embark upon their learning journey. At St Mary's we put you and your child at the heart of everything we do. We aim to ensure that every day is full of purposeful play, exploration, curiosity, FUN and that they leave our setting each day with a spring in their step.

Our Intent

At St Mary’s Fields we promote communication and language, physical development and personal social and emotional development as the golden threads that are woven into our every day curriculum. Through our broad, balanced and flexible curriculum, we facilitate and unlock a world full of potential for our children. We effectively plan experiences and learning environments that meet the needs of all of our pupils and builds upon their interests and fascinations. 

We treat every interaction as a positive opportunity to create a connection and shape a life. Through our focus observation and effective adult interaction we promote curiosity, independence, and enrich our children’s vocabulary; promoting exploration, learning and curiosity through play. 

We provide a learning experience that is bespoke to St Mary's Fields and to every unique cohort, based on their needs identified at baseline, emerging trends and our continual gap analysis that supports our planning and provision. 

Each child has their individual starting points which we value and recognise. 

How we will implement our intention...

At St Mary’s Fields Primary School we prioritise creating a ‘language rich’ environment through the use of open ended provision indoor and outdoors, through songs, nursery rhymes, stories and providing time for quality interactions between adults and between peers. Trained staff ensure that interactions are positive and progressive, allowing children to flourish and gather words at pace in order to become confident communicators. Staff run effective communication programmes such as Talk Boost and NELI which enhance communication, vocabulary and expressive skills. Children are encouraged to become early readers through enjoyment of books and the systematic teaching of our KTC phonics programme..     

We effectively plan and design an early year’s curriculum that not only meets the emerging needs of the children but also supports, extends and develops curiosity and engagement with learning. Long term planning is frequently improved to ensure that it is well sequenced and progressive. Our planning is responsive and flexible, ensuring that we cater to emerging needs, interests and fascinations. The curriculum is planned to ensure that the unique child is considered. The sequence of the curriculum builds on prior knowledge of the child from their nursery and home experiences. 

Children learn number rhymes, stories and songs to develop their mathematical thinking through direct teaching and exploration. Our maths teaching is applied outside of the context of the maths lesson, such as when following a cooking recipe (measurement, capacity, number recognition etc.), tidying up, construction, role play and counting the daily dinner order for the school kitchen. 

As we place a high priority on physical development, we have built our school provision to give children many opportunities to strengthen their core muscles through physical play and our Big Moves physical development intervention programme. The children spend time in our purpose built outdoor area to develop through wonder, exploration and sensory experiences in our forest area, mud kitchen, climbing equipment, garden and raised beds, large sandpit and water area.

At St Mary’s Fields we understand the importance of the parent partnership as part of the school community and the crucial role as part of their child’s learning journey. 

We create that bond through our welcome to school meetings, home visits and stay and play sessions at the start of the school year. During the school year, parents receive updates through our online learning journey Tapestry and also receive Knowledge Organisers to inform them of what their child is learning, key vocabulary explained and how they can support learning at home. 

As part of the learning and teaching process, children are assessed through a balance of observation during play, adult directed play and information from home. This is then used in conjunction with our new skills progression documents to help determine where the child is with their learning and at the end of the year in relation to the Early Learning Goals.

"Let the learning journey begin"

Mr Mc Farland

EYFS Leader 

Working in our Chestnut Nursery we have:

Class teacher: Mrs Holden

Class teaching assistants: Mrs Stones, Mrs Middleton, Miss Bland and Mrs Dunn

Working in Hawthorn Class we have:

Class teacher and EYFS Leader: Mr McFarland

Class teaching assistants: Mrs Hendry, Miss McCallum and Miss Thompson

Working in Rowan Class we have:

Class teacher: Mrs Hurst

Class teaching assistants: Mrs Bell Young, Miss Blake, Mrs Kulinska, Miss Thompson 

Information for our parents:

PE day is Tuesday for Reception - Hawthorn/Rowan

PE day is Thursday for Chestnut nursery. 

Please read with your children daily. Books will be changed when we read with your child.

Please send your children with a bag for their books and a plastic water bottle. 

Please view our knowledge organisers to see what your children are learning this term and for additional, fun activities to do at home. The Knowledge Organisers are posted below. 

How else can you help?

• Please let staff know of anything that happens at home that may impact on your child’s behaviour/ ability to learn at school. 

• Please ensure that your child gets enough sleep and eats healthily. If you have any concerns, please see the school nurse. (Number available from the office).

• Limit screen time, especially before bedtime.

• Talk to your child in your first language!

• Invite friends round for play dates 

• Please visit an optician to have your child’s vision tested. This is not done in school. 

Problems/Concerns

If you have any problems or concerns, please discuss them with your child’s teacher in the first instance.  However, if you have an urgent question please contact the school office. 

We look forward to having a great year with your child!!

Welcome to Chestnut Nursery 

Welcome to The Foundation Stage (Hawthorn / Rowan)

Foundation Stage at St Marys's Fields has two classes: Hawthorn and Rowan. 

Hawthorn class is taught by Mr McFarland (EYFS Lead). 

Rowan class is taught by Mrs Hurst. 

Below you will find our 'Welcome to St Mary's Fields' presentation that we talked through

during our welcome meeting for the academic year 2023-2024. 

Reception (EYFS) Hawthorn and Rowan

- Knowledge Organisers 

Knowledge organisers set out our learning for that half term. 

You will see our key learning, vocabularly and explanations. Please download them

and talk through them with your child.

Even better....during the school year look through previous knowledge organisers to see

if your child can remember what they have learnt. 

EYFS other...

Healthy Teeth Happy Smiles

Healthy Teeth, Happy Smiles aims to improve the oral health of children and adults in Leicester, and reduce tooth decay and associated health issues.

here are some very simple messages that you can use to help promote good oral health in your setting or at home:

• Brush your teeth twice a day for two minutes with a fluoride toothpaste, once before bed and one other time during the day.
• Eat less sugary food and drink - find out more at dentalhealth.org
• Visit your dentist regularly. Book a visit to the dentist once your child gets their first tooth and regularly. 
•  

Our campaign with local partners

Leicester Museums, King Richard 111 Visitor Centre, young people champions and local sports clubs – Leicester City Football Club, Leicester Tigers, Leicester Riders, Leicestershire County Cricket Club and Leicester Ladies Hockey Club are all encouraging younger children to brush their teeth regularly during the campaign.

• Healthy teeth happy smiles info for parents

• Healty Teeth Happy Smiles Activity Pack

Pages on our Website EYFS parents may find useful

• Foundation - EYFS - Nursery and Reception

• Parent information meeting ppt 3.pdf

• Latest News

• Letters Home

• Term Dates