Early Years

Core Values in Early Years

Through our carefully planned curriculum we want our children to be able to:

Pre-school	Nursery	Reception
Use their manners and say please and thank you	Be happy and confident	Be independent, resilient and reflective
Co-operate with others and understand yes and no	Be a good friend	Make decisions and be responsible for their choices and actions.
Try new activities and have a go	Share and take turns	Be inclusive and respectful to others
Feel safe and have secure attachments with their key person	Follow rules and routines	Compromise and negotiate with others
Be curious	Understand right from wrong	Work in a team
	Talk about their emotions	Be organised and take care of their belongings.
	Be proud of their achievements	Be resourceful and creative
	Be courageous and take risks	Feel empowered to meet their own needs and those of others
	Speak confidently with unfamiliar adults	Feel valued and know their voice is heard
	Support and help others	Be considerate to others ideas

We offer a 40 place Pre-School – 20 children in the morning session and 20 children in the afternoon session.

We offer 15 hours 2 year old 'Time to start' places funded through Walsall FIS and places for 'working parents' funded through UK government.

To check eligibility for 'Time to start places' use the link below:

https://www.walsallfamilyhubs.co.uk/0-2/childcare-walsall/check-see-if-you-are-eligible-time-2-start

To check eligibility for 'working parents' use the link below:

https://www.gov.uk/apply-free-childcare-if-youre-working

You need to re-apply every 3 months to be given a new code to be eligible for the free 15 hours.

The morning session starts at 8.40 am until 11.40am.
The afternoon session starts from 12.25pm until 3.25pm.

In our Pre-School there are 4 full time early years qualified teaching assistants.

Parents and carers need to provide:

nappies or pull ups, nappy bags and wipes daily
a spare pair of clothes in a bag in case the child has an accident and needs changing
a healthy snack daily for their child
suitable coat to wear daily
hat, gloves, scarf in winter and a sun hat in summer

Please see the document below on what is free, needs to be provided by parents/ carers or are optional charges.

We have a 65 place Nursery at Beacon Academy and children can start the term after their 3rd birthday.

We offer our children 15 hours of provision which is broken down into 5x3hr sessions (morning or afternoon).

The morning session starts at 8.40am until 11.40am.
The afternoon session starts from 12.25pm until 3.25pm.

In our Nursery there are 3 full time adults – our Nursery teacher and two early years qualified teaching assistants.

Parents and carers need to provide:

suitable coat to wear daily
hat, gloves, scarf in winter and a sun hat in summer

If your child is not toilet trained you will also need to provide:

nappies or pull ups, nappy bags and wipes daily
a spare pair of clothes in a bag in case the child has an accident and needs changing

Please see the document below on what is free, needs to be provided by parents/ carers or are optional charges.

The Reception day starts at 8.45am and finishes at 3.15pm.

Please see the document below on what is free, needs to be provided by parents/ carers or are optional charges.

Our Learning Environment

In Early Years, our children follow an active curriculum both indoors and outdoors. Our indoor classrooms are bright, stimulating and caring to meet the needs of our youngest children. We are developing our ‘outdoor classrooms’ to ensure the children have access throughout the day – no matter what the weather!

The Early Years Curriculum

Children in the Foundation Stage follow the ‘Early Years Foundation Stage’ curriculum which covers all 7 areas of a child’s development.

There are 3 Prime Areas of Learning:-

Personal, Social and Emotional development
Communication and Language
Physical development

There are 4 Specific Areas of Learning:-

Literacy
Mathematics
Expressive Arts and Design
Understanding of the World

We observe our children to understand and consider their interests, development and learning- planning for and facilitating the 3 ‘Characteristics of Effective Learning’.

Playing and exploring - children investigate and experience things, and ‘have a go’;

Active Learning - children concentrate and keep on trying if they encounter difficulties, and enjoy achievements; and

Creating and thinking critically - children have and develop their own ideas, make links between ideas, and develop strategies for doing things.

For more information on the curriculum and what we offer click on the links below:

The Curriculum

Special Educational Needs and Disabilities in EYFS (SEND)

Our EYFS staff are alert to emerging difficulties and respond early to concerns. We work alongside parents/carers and carefully listen and understand when they express concerns about their child’s development.

Our curriculum is carefully adjusted to meet of the needs of the pupils within our school alongside our school SENCO, we actively tailor resources and the timetable according to the children’s specific needs and requirements. Beacon has clear arrangements in place for identifying children’s additional needs and we promote equal opportunities for all of our children.

For further information, please view our SEND section of this website, talk to one of the EYFS staff or contact our SENDCo - Mrs S Papadopoulos or Mrs E Maddison