Hello, and a warm welcome to our class page!

My name is Miss Hallam, and I am the Nursery Class Teacher here at Christ Church. Our classroom is called ‘The Hive’ and we are full of ‘Busy Bees’ who work very hard! Starting school is such an exciting time, and I have the best job teaching the littlest and liveliest children in our school.  We have three wonderful teaching assistants; Miss Ince and Mrs Wells are in our class every morning, and Ms Braithwaite joins us every afternoon.

It is so exciting to teach in The Hive because it is where children learn the foundation skills that they will use for the rest of their lives. The sky is the limit, and I know we are all going to achieve brilliant things together! Whatever it is, we enjoy rolling up our sleeves and getting stuck in! You may find us making mud pies outdoors, creating beautiful pictures with our art resources, jumping in muddy puddles wearing our wellies, counting sticks and stones we have collected, or singing songs at the top of our lungs! Our Early Years team love offering unique and wonderful learning opportunities that children are excited to tell you all about when they go home!

Autumn 1

MAIN TOPIC: “MARVELLOUS ME!"

MINI TOPIC: “OUR BRILLIANT BODIES”

We have lots of fun activities and learning planned across the year. The first few weeks are extra special as we are settling into our new routines and building special relationships with other children and our teachers. As we play, we make new friends, learn to take turns and share, listen to instructions, talk about our experiences, explore new things, have a go at new challenges, and most of all, we have fun! There is never a quiet moment in The Hive!

Communication and Language Development

This area of development is essential for young children as it underpins all the learning we do in nursery and is the basis for the other areas to build upon. In the Hive, we value and nurture the development of children’s speech, language and communication. We love using Makaton signs and symbols throughout our school day, and you will often find us singing along to our favourite nursery rhymes and songs using Makaton. Every Monday, we have a Makaton ‘Sign of the Week’ to learn and practice with our teachers and friends. During each topic, we learn new signs for our core vocabulary and encourage the children to use Makaton in their play and learning.

Personal, Social, and Emotional Development

Our “Marvellous Me!” topic is a beautiful way for the children in nursery to develop their personal, social, and emotional skills. Everything we do in nursery is centred around children developing as individuals and building positive relationships. You will often find us taking part in circle time and group games where we build on our turn-taking, resilience, and listening skills.

Physical Development

Every day, we spend lots of time outdoors, in our incredible nursery garden, where we have lots of exciting activities that promote children’s physical gross motor skills. Some of our favourite outside activities include playing on our climbing frame, building obstacle courses with the blocks, using our imagination in our three bears cottage and splashing in the water area! Our workshop area and funky finger activities promote children’s fine motor development, ready for early writing skills.

Muddy Mondays & Welly Wednesdays

Each half-term, we take part in Muddy Mondays and Welly Wednesdays, where we get to practice getting dressed in our outdoor clothing so we can be out in the fresh air! We might be splashing in muddy puddles, dancing in the rain, or going on a nature walk across the school field.

Literacy

In Nursery, we love story time, where we get to take part in “book talk” and have discussions about our favourite stories and characters.  Every half-term, we have key texts which link to our topics.

Our workshop area and continuous provision support children’s early writing development. One moment we are busy taking part in funky finger activities and the next we are mark making with a range of resources.

Maths

We use every opportunity to incorporate Maths into our daily routine. During registration time, we always count how many children are in each day and look at the number on the calendar. Numbers and shapes are everywhere in our classroom to embed those important mathematical skills and develop their mathematical knowledge. We also use Numberblocks to teach mathematical concepts, which is very popular with the children!

Understanding the World

Our small world area has a diverse range of resources, including dolls, vehicles, animals, miniature houses, figurines, trees, and carefully selected natural materials. This variety encourages meaningful conversations and thoughtful discussions about the world in which we live.

As a Church of England school, we also embed Christian Values such as love, compassion, and peace in our classroom. Discussing different religions and beliefs is a key part of our curriculum, which we achieve by using a range of religious stories and resources.

Through the use of storytelling and circle time activities, we foster an environment that encourages children to engage in meaningful discussions about their personal experiences and family backgrounds. We also focus on our school values, which are:

Respect        Kindness       Hope         Perseverance        Curiosity          Community

Expressive Arts and Design

The Hive is full of opportunities for children to express themselves in a range of ways and have fun being creative. Exploring and handling playdough gives children the opportunity to use their hands to mould and shape the dough. They also have the opportunity to explore different tools in the playdough area and use their imagination skills to create freely.

In our workshop area, we have an abundance of resources that encourage children to delve into various artistic activities such as painting, drawing, collaging, and assembling materials. During circle time, children have the opportunity to engage with a range of musical instruments, where they can joyfully experiment and discover how to produce different sounds. Within the home corner, as well as in the small world and construction zones, the children can unleash their imaginations as they play together.