Early Years Foundation Stage

We very much welcome visits to look around our flourishing school – please contact the school office on 01270 902055 or nantwichoffice@sbmat.org to book an appointment to come and meet us! Our school staff will be happy to support you with the admissions process and answer any questions you may have.

Children who are turning 5 between 1st September 2026 and 31st August 2027 will be starting Reception in September 2026. Applications for Reception places in Cheshire East Primary Schools in September 2026 have now closed but please visit Cheshire East Admissions for more information regarding making an application for our September 2026 intake.

Nursery places

We welcome new children into our teacher-led Nursery throughout the year. Our Nursery provides a nurturing first step into school life, supporting children to develop independence, confidence and strong social skills in a calm and caring environment.

Children can join our Nursery from the term after their 3rd birthday. All children are eligible to a free 15 hour place (morning sessions 08:30am – 11:30am). Families may be eligible for 30-hours funding – please visit https://beststartinlife.gov.uk for more details. Children staying for the duration of the school day can bring a packed lunch or have a school meal. We also offer before and after-school clubs from 7:30am until 5:30pm.

Autumn term theme

Our theme this term is ‘If you go down to the wood today…’. The children will be learning about what makes them special and unique, their friends, family and local area.

Our learning is very much driven by the children’s interests; we have asked them and their families to contribute to our planning ideas. Please find an overview of our learning below:

Communication and Language

We will be reading frequently to the children, engaging them in stories and non-fiction books and providing them with lots of opportunities to embed new vocabulary. In Nursery, we will be focusing on learning songs and nursery rhymes and using longer sentences. Children in Reception will be learning how to listen carefully and using new vocabulary in extended conversations.

​​Personal, Social and Emotional Development

We will be sharing the ‘Colour Monster’ book which will help children to identify and manage their emotions. With our younger children, we will be working with them to develop their sense of responsibility and feeling of belonging within our school community and developing new friendships. In Reception, the children will be considering the feelings of others and learning to be resilient. We will also be introducing ‘My Happy Mind’; a specialist programme designed for children.

​Physical Development

The children will be spending a lot of time outside which is great for developing their gross motor skills with our climbing equipment, bikes and trikes, gravel pit and space to run. Our weekly PE sessions (on a Tuesday) will focus on the fundamental skills of balance, movement and building core stability. We will also be developing the children’s fine motor skills with ‘Dough Disco’. ‘Squiggle Whilst you wiggle’ and lots of repeated and varied opportunities to develop their control and confidence with their hands.

Literacy

The children in Reception will start their daily phonics lessons learning how to recognise phonemes (sounds) and write them. This half-term, the children will learn how to blend sounds together to read simple words. In writing, we will be focusing on hearing the initial sounds in words and recording these as well as learning to write our names. Children in Nursery will be developing their phonological awareness with lots of listening games, rhyme and alliteration and will be encouraged to use a range of mark-marking tools and materials.

Mathematics

This half-term, our Reception maths sessions will focus on accurately counting objects, subitising (recognising amounts without counting) and the composition and comparison of numbers. Nursery children will be singing lots of counting songs, learning to recite numbers in order and exploring colour with the Colour Monster.

Understanding the World

We will be exploring the changes in seasons and what makes Autumn special as well as looking our for signs of Winter later in the term. We will be introducing woodland habitats to the children and comparing these to where we live.

EYFS Curriculum

The Foundation Stage Curriculum is based on seven areas of learning consisting of Personal, Social and Emotional Development, Physical Development, Communication and Language, Literacy, Mathematics, Expressive Arts and Design and Understanding the World.
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Our planning, supported by Development Matters, ensures that children learn across the seven areas of the curriculum. We plan that children learn in a variety of ways including child-initiated learning through play and adult-led opportunities both indoors and in our amazing outdoor area.

​​We promote learning through play as we value its importance. Young children learn best when they explore and experience things first-hand, often in playful ways. Play is essential to development as it contributes to the cognitive, physical, social, and emotional well-being of children. It allows children to use their creativity while developing their imagination, dexterity and physical strength. Play is also important to healthy brain development as it enables children to learn about themselves, their environment and the world around them.

​​Phonics

At Nantwich Primary Academy and Nursery, we follow ‘Little Wandle Letters and Sounds revised’ in order to teach early reading. Our Nursery children build their language development, story reading, phonological awareness and oral blending skills by following the ‘Foundation for Phonics’ programme. In Reception, the children start to learn GPCs (letter sounds) and blend these together to read words. Please visit the links at the top of the page from more information and view the videos below to see how to support your child at home.

Assessment plays an important part in helping families and school staff to recognise children’s progress, understand their needs, and to plan activities and support. Our ongoing assessment is an integral part of our daily learning; our EYFS staff know children’s level of achievement and interests and are then able to personalise teaching and learning experiences for each child reflecting that knowledge.​

We share some of our daily observations on ClassDojo portfolio so that families are kept up to date with their child’s progress and development.​

When children join us in Reception they will complete the Reception Baseline Assessment which is statutory for all children. This short and interactive assessment provides us with a starting point for children’s early literacy, communication, language and mathematics skills. At the end of the Reception year, the EYFS profile is completed for children which shows their progress across the seven areas of learning which split into 17 Early Learning Goals (ELG) – parents will be informed of their child’s progress towards these throughout the year and in a written report in the Summer term.

We see our parents, carers and families as having a vital role in their child’s education and staff meet regularly with them to discuss their children’s needs through termly parent meetings and also informal discussions in person and using our communication app ‘ClassDojo’. We use the portflio function of ClassDojo which allows families to see their child’s learning in school and also contribute to their portfolio by adding evidence of children applying their learning at home and any achievements they have reached.

​This year we will also provide workshops on phonics, reading and maths and how to support children at home. Our ‘Discover and Do’ sessions are particularly well attended and the whole family have all been known to thoroughly enjoy sharing the activities on offer and the opportunity to work with their children.

We are committed to giving our children the best possible start to their school life. We work in partnership with parents, carers and families to ensure their well-being and success in the future.