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12/11/24

REMINDER:We're looking forward to welcoming prospective families to view our school tomorrow at 10:00am and 1:45pm.To book onto a tour, please contact the school office:Telephone: 01279 437590Email: admin.org.uk https://t.co/iHXwLs8LG8

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08/10/24

OPEN MORNINGWe're looking forward to welcoming prospective families to view our school on Wednesday 13th November at 10:00am & 1:45pm.To book onto a tour, please contact the school office:Telephone: 01279 437590Email: admin.org.uk pic.twitter.com/Xk50F6EjJ7

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18/07/24

We celebrated our Young Carers this week with a fun trip to the park with Bertie, our therapy dog! 🐶 They were also treated to a delicious lunch on a VIP table! What an inspirational group of children! 💚 pic.twitter.com/Ju49gEh5l9

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16/07/24

☀️ Thank you to everyone who supported our Summer Fete on Friday! We were treated to range of stalls, a performance from our Dance Fusion pupils and some delicious ice cream! 🍦 pic.twitter.com/kz0KLryjhy

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15/07/24

🎸 We were treated to a wonderful musical performance last week from our Rocksteady pupils! 🥁 pic.twitter.com/xBruUqEj3j

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28/06/24

🏏 We had a fantastic day hosting our annual Sports Day! The children showed incredible sportsmanship and enjoyed testing out their skills on a variety of activities!Thank you to all the families who came to support and who joined us for a picnic afterwards! 🧺 pic.twitter.com/WAFy9Znozc

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21/06/24

📰 Our EYFS and KS1 pupils enjoyed a visit by a journalist!Some pupils also took part in a workshop where they interviewed staff, wrote an article and created a front page about an upcoming community project. What a fantastic end to Careers Week at Cooks Spinney! pic.twitter.com/rusuGA8xsB

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21/06/24

👮🏽‍♂️ Thank you to the fantastic police officers from who came in this week to talk about their careers. Our pupils were truly inspired!👮 pic.twitter.com/6o2072qUKm

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19/06/24

✏️ To continue our Careers Week celebrations, we had a host of wonderful visitors deliver Q&A sessions to our pupils. 🍕From a mobile pizza company owner and train driver to a nursery practitioner and freelance artist. Our pupils learnt so much! 🚂 🎨 pic.twitter.com/htvVTpmqly

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17/06/24

💇‍♀️ 👨🏾‍🍳To kick-start Cooks Spinney’s Careers Week, we asked some of our pupils what they would like to be when they grow up… We are very much looking forward to welcoming our visitors this week: police officers, journalists, artists & many more 👮🏽‍♂️👩🏻‍🍳 pic.twitter.com/WuwwCBYORt

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14/06/24

🍦 Well done to the children who got chosen for ice lolly Friday today! Keep up the hard work! 💚 pic.twitter.com/H6cNswYZP0

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10/06/24

🍦 Well done to the fantastic children chosen for Ice Lolly Friday! Keep up the great work! ☀️ pic.twitter.com/EsRivH0bvP

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06/06/24

🧗‍♀️ Our 6 pupils are having a fantastic time on their residential trip at Carroty Wood! So far, they’ve been rock climbing, pedal karting and mountain biking!🚵 pic.twitter.com/Q01fkkvvOf

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06/06/24

🔥 Our Year 1 pupils had a fantastic time recreating the Great Fire of London this week! 🔥 pic.twitter.com/a5gLXvw8Jq

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24/05/24

🎶 Our EYFS and KS1 pupils enjoyed singing their favourite song in singing assembly this week! 🎶 pic.twitter.com/Tp49sqzScD

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23/05/24

🎭 🎨 Earlier this week, we had an exciting curriculum day that focused on celebrating the arts! Pupils enjoyed participating in a range of activities from dancing to Footloose to singing along to the Beatles! 🎶 pic.twitter.com/kcvJP5WEHx

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17/05/24

🐑 🐐 To end ‘Our Furry Friends’ topic, Nursery pupils had a fantastic visit from Ark Farm!🌾 Tam and Arron from the farm taught as all about the animals, what they give us, the food they eat and how we look after them. pic.twitter.com/WQbZZr6GtW

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17/05/24

🥳 Well done to our fantastic Year 6 pupils for all their hard work during SATS week! We are all so proud of you!Thank you to our wonderful catering team who prepared a delicious breakfast each morning for our pupils💚 pic.twitter.com/JdNjGF6emp

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16/05/24

✈️ Today, Year 2 had amazing time seeing all of the different types of planes at Duxford. We learnt about how the planes have been used throughout history. They even got a chance to take a look inside a Concord. ✈️ pic.twitter.com/gd8GBoHJ13

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10/05/24

☀️ What’s better than hot chocolate Friday? The sun shining and ice lolly Friday instead! 🍦 Congratulations to our wonderful winners in Years 1-6💚 pic.twitter.com/ikupS2vSmf

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Early Years

The Early Years Foundation Stage (EYFS) is the statutory framework that all early years settings must meet to ensure that children learn and develop. In school this refers to both the Nursery (Pixie class) and Reception (Unicorns and Sprites classes).  It promotes teaching and learning to ensure children are ready for school and gives children the broad range of knowledge and skills that provide the right foundation for good future progress through school and life.

The framework can be found here Early Years Foundation Stage (EYFS) - Schools.  

EARLY YEARS PRINCIPLES

To ensure all pupils have the best start in their education, Cooks Spinney has six Early Years Principles:

1. Settling In

Children are more likely to settle when they feel safe, secure and have a strong relationship with staff members. Cooks Spinney understands that settling in can be one of the most challenging aspects of school for young children. In order to ensure children settle, Cooks Spinney will; conduct home visits so pupils and families have the chance to meet their key workers and class teachers; children will be invited to visit the school and classrooms prior to starting during our 'stay and play' sessions; children will have a settling in week of partial timetable to get used to the daily routines at school, and finally; learning environments are made to be interesting, welcoming and fun.     

 

Settling in also important for parents and carers. This can be a difficult period, even if your child has attended nursery or pre-school beforehand. Cooks Spinney will ensure parents are helped to support their child's development at home. We encourage parents to share important information and/or concerns about their child. The school will value this information and use it to help plan the learning and development for each child. We use the Tapestry App to ensure parents and carers so are kept in the loop at all times.  

2. Learning Through Play

'Play is the work of the child'  - Maria Montessori

Play and exploration gives children opportunities to develop a range of valuable skills. Cooks Spinney will provide children with opportunities to play that are satisfying and successful, helping children to remain enagaged. Staff will plan to support the children in making their own choices and the learning environments have easy access to toys, books and other resources. 

3. Behaviour Expectations

Children will be happy and emotionally secure when they are supported in managing their feelings and behaviour. The roles of the class teacher and support staff are critical in supporting the management of childrens' feelings and behaviour. Clear expectations of behaviour are shared and modelled with all children on their first day. Teachers and staff will carefully observe interactions and behaviour to ensure we support children to manage their feelings. 

4. Language and Communication

Children are more likely to suceed if they are able to listen, understand and share their thoughts and feelings. Children's communication and langauge skills will develop rapidly during the Early Years stage of education. Our learning environment is designed to support this. Children will learn to communicate at various phases of the day for example whilst playing or through structured 'carpet time'. Children's communication skills will also be developed through interactions with teachers and support staff. 

5. Physical Development

Cooks Spinney believes children will have more opportunities to learn when their movement and coordination is allowed to flourish. Being able to run, climb, jump and balance is important to children's overall development including thier health and well-being. Cooks Spinney's learning environments provide ample opportunities for children to develop fine and gross motor skills. Children are also taught twice weekly by specialist PE teachers. 

6. Understanding Learning

Children are more likely to gain an understanding of learning when they develop a growth mind set. We encourage children to see mistakes as valauble learning opportunites. This form of thinking will be incredibly important for each child's future learning at Cooks Spinney.

Reception Curriculum Overview

The National Curriculum for Early Years  comprises seven areas of learning covering each Early Learning Goal (ELG).

The prime areas of learning are:

  • - Communication and language     
  • - Physical development
  • - Personal, social and emotional development

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The specific areas of learning are:

  • - Literacy (Reading and Writing)
  • - Mathematics
  • - Understanding the world
  • - Expressive arts and design

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For full details of our Early Years curriculum, please download the overview at the bottom of this page.

Tapestry App - Keeping Parents and Carers in the Loop!

At Cooks Spinney, we use the Tapestry App in Nursery and Reception to keep parents updated on daily acheivements, important news, school events and home learning activites. Access to the Tapestry App is free of charge to all parents. Once your child is enrolled, you will be sent an activation letter. 

 

Assessment of your child's learning is based primarily on observation of daily activities and events. Teachers and EYFS co-educators note (often using the Tapestry App) the learning a pupil demonstrates independently and consistently in a range of contexts. Accurate assessment takes account of a range of perspectives including those of the pupil, parents and other adults who have significant interactions with the pupil.

 

How to use Tapestry - a guide for our parents - Little Explorers |  Childrens Nursery in Suffolk

EYFS English Curriculum

From their first day, pupils in Nursery and Reception begin learning to read and write at Cooks Spinney using the Read, Write Inc programme. For more information regarding this programme please click HERE

 

We also prepare pupils for later life by encouraging a love of reading. We do this by reading to our pupils - lots and lots! We share excellent books during our fun and engaging 'Spinney Stories' sessions.  

 

Please see the English curriculum document below to see how we promote a love of reading and a full list of books we share with our Nursery and Reception pupils. 

 

 

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