NIANS Early Years Foundation Stage Unit

Information for Prospective Parents

Thank you for considering Nightingale Infant & Nursery School as a school for you child starting in September 2022. We are delighted to share further information with you here and look forward to meeting you soon!

Nuthatch Nursery and Kingfisher Reception Class

The Early Year Foundation Stage is described as a distinct stage with an identity of its own. It begins when a child reaches the age of 3 and finishes usually in the September after their 5^th birthday. To limit disruption to this seamless phase and to provide the very best possible provision Nightingale Infant School and Nursery have integrated the Nursery and Reception Classes.

 The idea of the unit is not as a means to introduce formal schooling at an earlier age but the aim is to prolong the benefits of good Nursery and EYFS play based learning for longer and reduce the trauma of change and upheaval for young children

Fledglings at NIANS

Fledglings Rationale

• Strengthens the relationships between practitioners and children and enhances their awareness of children’s needs and their formative assessment. It also helps the settings to establish stronger relationships with parents and carers and to involve them to greater extend in their children’s learning
• Our Children remain in the same environment with familiar adults and routines until Year 1, this reduces stress and helps build confidence and emotional security
• Our Children work at their experimental rather than chronological for longer
• Reception staff have the opportunity to work in a team and benefit from the expertise of trained Nursery and Early Years staff
• Children benefit from the broader range of skills of a team of practitioners
• EYFS have a more say in whole school policy as a shared voice
• Linking Nursery and Reception frees up our open plan space
• It creates greater freedom of movement and choice for our children
• Our children  have constant access to outdoor provision

How we provide for our Fledglings

• We provide long sessions of uninterrupted free flow play so children can follow their interests and motivations for extended periods
• We ensure outside provision is given high status and the children can have access to the outside most of the day every day
• We ensure team members are supportive and flexible around the outside especially in poor weather
• Our planning and interactions will evidence a good balance between adult led and child-initiated activities. 
• Our Unit teachers handle the day to day running of Fledglings with the support of the SLT and SLT have ultimate responsibility over the support staff
• We provide opportunity for staff to work together and share planning, concerns and enthusiasms
• We ensure we create links with Key stage 1 which informs the rest of the school of EYFS principles and how they could be applied to the rest of the infant stage
• Practitioners focus on children’s levels of experience rather than their age or level of ability
• We share responsibility for interactions and observations through the team to provide different observational perspectives on the children.
• Planning
• We plan activities for both Nursery and Reception. Directed tasks are flexible so that children can make sense of them for themselves
• Practitioners use their observations of how children respond to resources and their knowledge of individual children to adapt task accordingly
• We consider learning outcomes as well as planned learning intentions in activities
• Staff are responsive. We act observations and plan and tasks and themes that respond to children’s motivations and interests and support their learning needs
• We provide resources to stimulate and support child – initiated experiences and activities
• We make plans for individuals and groups in response to observations
• We have an overriding topic and theme but interests run constantly and concurrently
• We release Nursery staff and Reception to plan together
• We plan to have split base time but shared continuous provision
• We plan to the needs of the individual needs