Our Early Years' Unit
Welcome to our Neyland Community Early Year's Unit, supporting children to Play, Discover and Grow. We provide a happy, relaxed, safe environment where children learn through play and structured activities.
Our aim is to provide a high level of care and education for young children. We encourage, nurture and support each child in all areas of their development; building confidence and creativity. Developing the love of outdoors is a high priority and we have access to a well-resourced outside area for the children to enjoy.
In Pembrokeshire, children are eligible to attend school on a part-time basis from the first term after their third birthday and full-time basis from the first term after their fourth birthday. Please note that compulsory education commences from the term following their fifth birthday.
The date of your child's birthday determines when he or she can start school, regardless of the date when the term starts and the table below shows when your child may be admitted to school. Parents can opt to defer their child's start date anytime up until the child is of compulsory school age; for more information please contact the Admissions Officer at Pembrokeshire County Council.
Child's birthday falls between | Admission Term |
1st April – 31st August | Autumn |
1st September – 31st December | Spring |
1st January – 31st March | Summer |
For more information and applications please visit the Pembrokeshire County Council website: Appendix 4 Admission arrangements and oversubscription criteria for voluntary aided schools - Pembrokeshire County Council
Transition to our Early Years' Unit
Prior to starting to Part Time Nursery, parents and children are invited to attend a stay and play session where the children can see the Early Years' Unit and parents are informed of key school information.
In the days prior to the children starting school, Early Years' staff will carry out a home visit, giving the parents and staff an opportunity to gather information which will support the child's first day in school.
Our Session times are outlined on the School Day page.
After check-in time all children take part in a Literacy focused session. These incorporate speaking, listening and phonics skills.
The children will then have sessions of 'amser dewis.' Within this time, there are focused teacher-led activities and opportunities for them to develop their learning independently, through continuous and enhanced provision.
Our Early Years Unit comprises of four spacious open-plan learning areas, through which we can develop all areas of learning experience. The areas are as follows:
- Literacy area. This area consists of 'funky fingers', a calm den, a book nook and a doodle and draw area. In this area, we focus on Health and Well-Being and Language, Literacy and Communication.
- Maths area. This area consists of the home corner, curiosity cube, the independent snack area and continuous Maths and Numeracy provision. In this area, we focus on Maths and Numeracy, Science and Technology and Humanities.
- Creative area. This area consists of Byd Bach (small world), construction, music and artistic continuous provision. In this area, we focus on Expressive Arts.
- Garden/outdoor area. This area consists of sand and water play, pop-up role play/shed, outdoor Maths and Literacy resources and bikes and scooters to support gross motor development. In this area we cover all aspects of the curriculum, with a focus on Health and Well-Being.
All children have daily Maths and Numeracy sessions. These sessions are very practical and take place indoors and outdoors.
Other aspects of a typical week in our Early Year's Unit include daily Welsh songs and stories, daily mindfulness and yoga, tooth brushing and PE sessions. We feel strongly about developing the children's' fundamental movement skills, as research has shown that these are the key skills that children need in order to support further development with all other areas of learning. We also have daily Super 6 Guided Reading sessions and weekly PenPals where we develop our handwriting skills. The children also participate in weekly Jigsaw activities, which supports Health and Well-Being skills.
In line with whole school approach, we plan thematically following children's interests and questions. We enhance their learning with educational visits, visitors and enriching experiences.
Assessment
On entry, children are assessed in line with the Foundation Phase Profile baseline. We also carry out the Early Communication Nursery Screening, as well as the Dyslexia Early Screening Test (DEST.) Assessment of the children's progress and learning is on-going and primarily done through observation. We use Tapestry as a tool to support this. Tapestry is an online learning journal which can also be accessed directly by parents.
Useful Information:
- Children wear a full school uniform. Jumpers and coats can be purchased at the school office. Please make sure that all your child's items are clearly labelled.
- Please also bear in mind that Early Year's play can be very messy! Whilst we take every opportunity to remind children to wear aprons to protect their clothes in play, sometimes children forget or the aprons do not protect every part of their clothes. As such it is recommended that the children keep spare clothes in a bag on their peg in case of any accidents, and we will happily change them in order to keep them clean and comfortable.
- As we spend a lot of time outside, especially on Fridays, we request that children come to school in a sensible outdoor coat/clothing appropriate for the weather conditions. As the weather is unpredictable we recommend that the children have a pair of wellies in school so we can access our outdoor area whatever the weather. During the summer we ask that children are provided with sun cream and a sun hat to leave at school.
- Reading books will be sent home in line with progress in Read Write Inc (phonics.) This will range from wordless stories, blending books, and online Read Write Inc resources.