Across all the Portland Nurseries sites we embrace the start of the academic year. We started our autumnal term by inviting our parents to an informal open evening in preparation for an insight into the year ahead for our preschool children, in particular those that will be transitioning to school in September 2025.
The evenings provided the opportunity for parents to come into the preschools, meet the experienced teams and explore their children’s learning environments. We discussed how we will be supporting their children’s learning and development through our enriched curriculum and enabling environments to aid a smooth transition for starting school, building skills to become lifelong learners.
It was wonderful to see parents enjoying and actively participating in a variety of activities across the areas of provision in the preschool rooms and focused rooms from cooking club, science experiments, making their own playdough, putting on their listening ears for phonics and storytelling sessions, exploring funky finger activities and being an artist to name a few. They could see 1st hand how the children used their environments to become active learners, develop and refine skills which will be enhanced throughout the terms ahead of their school transitions.
From the minute the children enter the preschools to when they leave we take every opportunity for fostering teaching and learning experiences, children are encouraged and supported to prepare their own learning environments such as filling up their water trays, making their own playdough, mixing paints and being involved in the whole process of setting up and tidying away of daily activities, mealtimes and routines.
There were also samples of the delicious autumn and winter menu available to tickle parents taste buds, the nurseries are award winners for the Healthy Food at the Nursery World Awards 2023.
Information leaflets were available from Kirklees and the local schools for the parents to take home to enable them to support their child’s learning ahead of the upcoming school transitions. Focusing on the Kirklees START initiative such as working on independence skills, talk and listen, share and follow instructions, asking for help, ready to try new foods and using tools, toileting on their own. We discussed our strong links with local schools and how we work in close partnership for the school transitions.
Children who are eligible to start school September 2025 will need to register online for a school place by 15th January 2025.
