Starting school is an important and exciting time in a child’s life and at Chiswick and Bedford Park Preparatory School we are delighted to be sharing this special experience with children and their parents.

At aged three years children join our Nursery, which is situated in a separate building, close to the main school. At age four years, our Nursery pupils progress to the Reception Classes, in our main school building. Both of these years are part of the Early Years Foundation Stage of education.

As our Nursery and Reception children embark on one of the most important journeys of their life, our aim is to make this an exciting, stimulating and enjoyable experience which will establish the skills necessary for successful learning and development, and will also inspire within them the joy of discovery and the desire to know more.

The care and education offered in our Nursery and Reception Classes is guided by the Early Years Foundation Stage (DFE 2021). We aim to provide the children with interesting activities that are appropriate for their age and stage of development. Pupils also learn French in both the Nursery and Reception.

At Chiswick & Bedford Park we want to demonstrate a whole school commitment to the EYFS statutory framework to achieve quality in early years, giving children the opportunity to fulfil their potential, providing a place of attainment, not a place of containment. We present them with an appropriate curriculum, which is designed to challenge and inspire, yet will also enable them to be successful. Most importantly, we support them with a staff of highly qualified and experienced professionals, who are specialists in their field.

Children develop rapidly during this time – physically, intellectually, emotionally and socially. We offer clear and positive guidance of early learning through the Foundation Stage. We help our pupils to develop key learning skills, such as listening, speaking, concentration, persistence and learning to work together with other children. We also guide the development of our pupils’ communication, literacy and numeracy skills that will prepare them for Key Stage 1 and the National Curriculum.

The curriculum of the EYFS underpins all future learning by fostering, supporting and developing the children’s range of abilities. It is organized within the following seven areas of learning:

Mathematics

Developing a strong grounding in numbers is essential so that all children develop the necessary building blocks to excel mathematically. Children should be able to count confidently, develop a deep understanding of the numbers to 10, the relationships between them and the patterns within those numbers. By providing frequent and varied opportunities to build and apply this understanding – such as using manipulatives, including small pebbles and tens frames for organising counting – children will develop a secure base of knowledge and vocabulary from which mastery of mathematics is built. In addition, it is important that the curriculum includes rich opportunities for children to develop their spatial reasoning skills across all areas of mathematics including shape, space and measures. It is important that children develop positive attitudes and interests in mathematics, look for patterns and relationships, spot connections, ‘have a go’, talk to adults and peers about what they notice and not be afraid to make mistakes. 

Literacy

It is crucial for children to develop a life-long love of reading. Reading consists of two dimensions: language comprehension and word reading. Language comprehension (necessary for both reading and writing) starts from birth. It only develops when adults talk with children about the world around them and the books (stories and non-fiction) they read with them, and enjoy rhymes, poems and songs together. Skilled word reading, taught later, involves both the speedy working out of the pronunciation of unfamiliar printed words. Writing involves transcription (spelling and handwriting) and composition (articulating ideas and structuring them in speech, before writing).

Understanding the World

Understanding the world involves guiding children to make sense of their physical world and their community. The frequency and range of children’s personal experiences increases their knowledge and sense of the world around them – from visiting parks, libraries, and museums and meeting important members of society such as police officers, nurses and firefighters. In addition, listening to a broad selection of stories, non-fiction, rhymes and poems will foster their understanding of our culturally, socially, technologically and ecologically diverse world. As well as building important knowledge, this extends their familiarity with words that support understanding across domains. Enriching and widening children’s vocabulary will support later reading comprehension. 

Expressive Art and Design

The development of children’s artistic and cultural awareness supports their imagination and creativity. It is important that children have opportunities to engage with the arts, enabling them to explore and play with a wide range of media and materials. The quality and variety of what children see, hear and participate in is crucial for developing their understanding, self-expression, vocabulary and ability to communicate through the arts. The frequency, repetition and depth of their experiences are fundamental to their progress in interpreting and appreciating what they hear, respond to and observe. 

Personal, Social and Emotional Development

Children’s personal, social and emotional development (PSED) is crucial for children to lead healthy and happy lives, and is fundamental to their cognitive development. Underpinning their personal development are the important attachments that shape their social world. Strong, warm and supportive relationships with adults enable children to learn how to understand their own feelings and those of others. Children should be supported to manage emotions, develop a positive sense of self, set themselves simple goals, have confidence in their own abilities, to persist and wait for what they want and direct attention as necessary. Through adult modelling and guidance, they will learn how to make good friendships, co-operate and resolve conflicts peaceably. These attributes will provide a secure platform from which children can achieve at school and in later life. 

Physical Development

Physical activity is vital in children’s all-round development, enabling them to pursue happy, healthy and active lives. Gross and fine motor experiences develop incrementally throughout early childhood, starting with sensory explorations and the development of a child’s strength, co-ordination and positional awareness through tummy time, crawling and play movement with both objects and adults. By creating games and providing opportunities to play both indoors and outdoors, adults can support children to develop their core strength, stability balance, spatial awareness, co-ordination and agility. Gross motor skills provide the foundation for developing healthy bodies and social and emotional well-being. Fine motor control and precision helps with hand-eye co-ordination, which is later linked to early literacy. Repeated and varied opportunities to explore and play with small world activities, puzzles, arts and crafts and the practice of using small tools, with feedback and support from adults, allow children to develop proficiency, control and confidence. 

Communication and Language

The development of children’s spoken language underpins all seven areas of learning and development. Children’s back-and-forth interactions from an early age form the foundations for language and cognitive development. The number and quality of the conversations they have with adults and peers throughout the day in a language-rich environment is crucial. By commenting on what children are interested in or doing, and echoing back what they say with new vocabulary added, practitioners will build children’s language effectively. Reading frequently to children, and engaging them actively in stories, non-fiction, rhymes and poems, and then providing them with extensive opportunities to use and embed new words in a range of contexts, will give children the opportunity to thrive. Through conversation, story-telling and role play, where children share their ideas with support and modelling from their teacher, and sensitive questioning that invites them to elaborate, children become more comfortable using a rich range of vocabulary and language structures. 

Early Education Entitlement

The School offers 15 hours Early Education Entitlement for pupils up to the term in which they reach 5 years of age. This means that, should the system remain the same, the School will apply to the local borough for the 15 hours Early Education Entitlement on the parents’ behalf, up until the term in which the child becomes 5 years of age.