At Delamere School we aim to offer pupils in the Early Years Department a high quality, integrated early education that meets their individual needs.
Children start to attend Nursery any time after their third birthday.
Families are offered a tour of the school and a home visit prior to their child starting in the Nursery. This transition process will begin following the home visit and will depend on the child’s individual needs. If a child attends another setting then Delamere staff will closely liaise with the setting staff in order to ensure a smooth transition.
Sessions are allocated on a basis reflecting age and personal/social need. All sessions are allocated reflecting pupils individual and group needs and always in consultation with parents.
As children move into Reception, children’s sessions are increased to full time in discussion with parents, this may be a move to full time or a gradual increase within the October half term. Full time placement include an introduction to school dinners. Children may attend mixed year group classes as they move into Reception, however the practice and principles of the Early Years Curriculum will still be followed.
Children start to attend Nursery any time after their third birthday. Each child has a home visit from the Early Years Coordinator in order to build relationships and ensure a smooth transition in to Delamere
Sessions are allocated on a basis reflecting age and personal/social need.
All sessions are allocated reflecting pupils individual and group needs and always in consultation with parents.
As children move into Reception, children’s sessions are increased to full time in discussion with parents, this may be a move to full time or a gradual increase within the first half term. Full time placement includes an introduction to school dinners. Children may attend mixed year group classes as they move into Reception, however the practice and principles of the Early Years Curriculum will still be followed.
When children start their placement at Delamere; the majority of children undergo a multidisciplinary assessment [a twelve week assessment] this is part of the process of gathering information for the Education Health and Care Plan. Parents are consulted at all points of the assessment. The Early Years Classes take their guidance from the Early Years Foundation Stage Curriculum (2020). As well as following the statutory guidance classes also follow the non-statutory Development Matters guidance. This guidance helps adults to understand and support each individual child’s developmental pathway
As a school we aim to develop an ethos built around the four themes and principles of the EYFS:
We also focus on 3 prime areas of development and 4 specific areas of development:
These Prime areas will be the focus of most pupils Personalised Learning Targets. They will include areas to develop, such as toileting, feeding and dressing skills, gross and fine motor skills and developing language or non-verbal communication skills.
Many of the specific area sessions will be delivered through role play, creative, sensory and interactive lessons. As a school we promote the importance of learning through play and ensure that children have access to all 7 areas of development on a daily basis through focused activities as well as continuous provision activities.
Children have access to the engaging and stimulating Early Years outdoor area every day and are encouraged to continue and extend indoor activities to the outdoors.
Delamere School have access to a dedicated Therapy Team who are:
A School Nurse
Each class is led by a Specialist SEN Teacher and team of SEN Teaching Assistants.
These professionals provide advice and support to staff working with the pupils as well as undertaking assessments, working 1:1 and in a group with the pupils. They jointly write Personalised Learning Targets, and written advice is provided for communication, feeding and drinking and physical needs as required [communication and positional passports]
Pupils in the Early Years Classes are assessed at the end of Reception using the Early Years Foundation Stage Profile (most uptodate version as appropriate). They will be assessed as either Emerging or Expected in the Early Learning Goals. Many of the pupils at Delamere will be assessed as Emergent learners.
Pupils are also assessed using BSquared which includes the Development Matters statements but breaks this down further to ensure we are able to show small steps of progress for pupils working between Birth- 3 years of development.
Where appropriate children in the Early Years access the statutory baseline assessment during the first six weeks of Reception.
A summary of this assessment will be provided at the end of a child’s assessment period and with the child’s annual review report (once an EHC plan is written). Children are then baselined on BSquared at the end of Reception in order for a smooth transition in to Key Stage One.
Detailed observations, photographs and video evidence are also recorded on a weekly basis and form the basis of our summative reports. We use Evisense to record pupil observations and to track progress. Pupils are then baselined using the P levels at the end of Reception to ensure a smooth transition into Key Stage 1.
At Delamere we have developed our own bespoke EYFS progression Guidance which measures progress based on the children’s very individual starting points. The impact of this is shown on our assessment reports and through children’s individual leaning journeys. We also have formal annual pupil progress meetings for children in EYFS where progress is discussed and targets are set for the end of the year.
Once a child has an EHC plan in place then they will have personalised learning targets which link to their EHC outcomes.
The coordinator of Early Years is responsible for guiding and supporting teaching staff and teaching assistants within the Early Years team. The role of the coordinator is also to ensure that the team are following and are aware of the Early Years Foundation Stage Curriculum framework and its aims. This is achieved through the collection of relevant and documented lesson observations, acquiring resources and monitoring their use. It also includes providing training for staff either internally or from outside agencies. The coordinator takes responsibility for the day to day management and organisation of the Nursery Class within School. They are responsible for monitoring progress and achievement within this department
At Delamere, as well as teaching our children to develop their learning, we also offer support to families in a variety of ways. CLICK HERE to see what our parents say.
