Welcome to Collis Nursery

A typical day in the nursery

Characteristics of effective learning

Letters and Sounds

Staffing – the Nursery Team

Ruth Birrell (Teacher)Abi Mcgovern (Teacher)Zoe Plunkett (Nursery Practitioner)Clare Sandy (Nursery Practitioner)Donna Maycock (Learning Support Assistant)Sophie Harrison (Learning Support Assistant)

Collis Aims and Values …

At Collis we celebrate excellence and achievementOur vision is that every child: Enjoys school Has high self esteem Respects and cares for others Is healthy and safe Achieves their potential

A typical nursery session …

Self registration; ‘free-flow’ learning

Focus group activities One-to-one activitiesWashing hands, toiletingSnack timeTidy-up timeWhole class teaching –

songs, stories, rhymesHome time routine

Our learning environment

A rich and wide range of activities and play experiences

Stimulating and accessible resources that foster open-ended play

Flexible indoor and outdoor space and resourcesCalm and orderly environment

Just playing?

Each day the children will feel like they are just playing and enjoying themselves … the emphasis in our curriculum is on learning through play.

Young children learn from everything around them: people, environment, atmosphere, routine and experiences

Children learn by having the opportunity to do things for themselves: by exploring, investigating, watching, listening, talking, discussing, creating, communicating … in other words – playing!

Children learn in different arrangements

In a small group with an adult directing the learning

In a group with other children in learning that the children initiate themselves

In a whole

class environmentOne-to-one with

an adultAlone

Playing and exploring - engagement

Finding out and exploring – developing curiosity, using the senses, interests, open-ended activity

Playing with what they know – pretending, imaginative play, acting out experiences

Being willing to: ‘have a go’ – seeking challenges, ‘can-do’ attitude,resilience and taking a risk

Active learning - motivation

Being involved and concentrating – maintaining a focus, attention to detail

Keeping on trying – perseverance, resilience

Enjoying achieving what they set out to do – enjoying the process of learning for its own sake and not just the end result, pride in their own achievement

Creating and thinking critically

Having their own ideas – finding ways to solve problems, new ways to do things

Making links – seeing patterns in their experience, making predictions, ‘I wonder what will happen?’, grouping, sequences, cause and effect

Choosing ways to do things:deciding how to do things, ‘plan-do-review’; ‘what do you like about …?’; ‘How would you do it next time?’

Working together:helping your child to learn

Talk with your childRead to your childSing with your childMake things togetherPlay simple gamesGet plenty of exerciseWords and numbers in the environmentBuilding and construction materials Imaginative and ‘small world’ toysTrips!

Children learn from everything around them: people, environment, atmosphere, routine and experiences

Learning to read

Unlocking the door

Read a book every day

ImaginationKnowledge of the worldVocabularyStory structure‘Book talk’ – cover, illustration, author, …Listening skillsConcentration skills

What books should I choose?Books with rhyme and repetition are great

as they encourage your child to join inLet your child choose the books they want

you to share with them – it will make them feel involved

Share books about things that excite your child like trains, football or fairies

Read your child’s favourite books over and over (and over!) again

Poetry books are fun too! (repetition, sounds and rhythm of the words)

Top tips for sharing books

Set aside some time Find somewhere quiet without any distractionsAsk your child to chose a bookSit close togetherPoint to the picturesEncourage your child to talk about the bookDon't be afraid to use funny voicesRelate a story to your child’s own worldAnd lastly and above all - make it fun!

Phonics in the nursery

Letters and Sounds: children have regular planned opportunities to listen carefully and talk about what they hear, see and do.

Each aspect has three strands Tuning into sounds (auditory discrimination) Listening and remembering sounds (auditory memory and sequencing) Talking about sounds (developing vocabulary and language

comprehension)

All activities are designed to help children: Listening attentively Developing vocabulary Speaking confidently Discriminate Phonemes Blending Segmenting

Supporting your child with phonics: seven phases of ‘Letters and sounds’

1. Sound discriminationSounds all around us..... When walking down the

road listen to different sounds, a car revving, birds singing etc. Try to remember the sounds when you get home.

Make a secret knock for entering rooms

Supporting your child with phonics: seven phases of ‘Letters and sounds’

2. Instrumental sounds Listen to different music

with your child and encourage them to move in different ways and talk about the instruments. 

Make your own shakers/instruments putting different things inside.

Play guess what is inside the instrument.

Supporting your child with phonics: seven phases of ‘Letters and sounds’

3. Body Percussion:

sounds we make with our bodies... Listen to the sounds your feet make when

walking/running skipping stomping (develop sound vocabulary such as soft fast slow etc.)

Play clapping games; make a pattern for your child to follow

Sing action rhymes: ‘wind the bobbin up’

Supporting your child with phonics: seven phases of ‘Letters and sounds’

4. Rhythm and rhyme Bounce your child on your knee to the rhythm of a song

or nursery rhyme. Add percussion when singing nursery rhymes. Chant together ... “2, 4, 6, 8, hurry up or we’ll be late ...” Read books that rhyme.

Supporting your child with phonics: seven phases of ‘Letters and sounds’

5. AlliterationUse your child’s name to play with the same sound e.g.

Jumping Josie.Talk about everyday items e.g. shopping lovely luscious

lemons, sizzling slimy sausagesPlay games Old MacDonald had a farm everything

must start with the same sound e.g. sheep, shorts and shoes

Use the correct letter sounds stretchy sounds bouncy sounds

Supporting your child with phonics: seven phases of ‘Letters and sounds’6. Voice sounds Sing known songs using sounds e.g.. Twinkle, Twinkle to la,

la, la. Ask your child to guess the song. Read and tell sound stories such as ‘We Are Going On A

Bear Hunt’.

Supporting your child with phonics: seven phases of ‘Letters and sounds’

7. Blending and segmenting:

building words taking them apart!Play mummy/daddy says e.g. Mummy says touch

your n-o-se then say nosePlace a few objects in front of you and play I spy

using objects e.g. I spy with my little eye a h-a-t then say hat.

Off on our learning journey!