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The Rising 3 Class and Pre-School
A continuous assessment is made of each child using the Early Years Foundation Stage Development Folder. The Rising 3 and Pre-School children are encouraged to develop at their own particular pace with all the support that is required. There is a structured and carefully planned approach to the daily activities which helps children to feel secure; however our routines are flexible to accommodate celebrations, visits such as from storytellers or the Fire Brigade and other exciting events such as snow.
An informative whiteboard is updated weekly for parents with current topics, phonics, letters and sounds we are practising, and updated daily with activities that children have taken part in. Key People are always pleased to discuss a child's welfare and progress with their parents, and parents are encouraged to ask questions and be part of the Rising 3 and Pre-School learning experience.
Glenhurst Rising 3 and Pre-School classes cover all aspects required by the Early Years Foundation Stage Curriculum, which includes the period from when a child starts in Nursery until the end of their Reception year. The EYFSC focuses on four areas of a child's early development, and full details of the four areas of a child's early development can be found on our EYFSC page.
From these four areas of a child's early development, the Learning and Development section covers a further six areas:
- Personal, Social and Emotional Development
- Communication, Language and Literacy
- Problem solving, Reasoning and Numeracy
- Knowledge and Understanding of the World
- Physical Development
- Creative Development
Full details of these further six areas of learning can also be found on our EYFSC page.
The Rising 3 Age Group
Children with Autumn birthdays may spend a year in the Rising 3 Class before moving to the Pre-School for their final year at Glenhurst, whereas a child who turns 3 in the summer months will move straight from Nursery to the Pre-School.
These children need more of a challenge now that they have progressed from Nursery, but they still need familiar adults and routines. The children are growing in confidence to try new experiences, foods and games, and become more confident when role playing familiar scenarios such as The Shop, Post Office, Doctors or Hairdressers. They need plenty of time for free choice and role play and lots of physical activity and outdoor play. Academically, they are continually expanding their vocabulary and general knowledge.
Parents are always consulted about their child's readiness to move to the Rising 3 Class. This always takes place at the start of a school term in September, January and April to ensure that they are inducted gently into the new routine, and, whenever possible, that children move up with a small group of friends.
The Pre-School Age Group
The Pre-School children begin to learn all their letter sounds through daily practice with Jolly Phonics activities, and are provided with related "homework" sheets to take home to practice if parents wish. Activities are planned to increase their pencil control, such as tracing, dot to dot and forming letters in dough, sand or on white boards, and they are given opportunities to practice emergent writing through real tasks and role play.
Other activities are planned to establish fine motor control, such as cutting and gluing, threading beads, puzzles and construction toys. Small world play helps to extend vocabulary and encourages co-operation and imaginative play. The children use the interactive white board or computer, both of which provide another stimulating variation to their learning of phonics and number. We aim for our Pre-School children to know all their sounds, write their name forming some or most letters correctly and to begin to recognise familiar words by school age, and, as their mathematical abilities develop, we expect children to be counting beyond 10, recognising written numerals and learning to shape them correctly. They learn to match with one to one correspondence, naming shapes correctly and sorting objects according to given criteria. Music sessions (singing, counting rhymes and instruments) take place every day.
Each child is given individual learning targets to match their stage of development and ability. These will ensure that every child is challenged to move on to the next level of learning when they are ready and that no child is held back.
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