Life is an adventure at any age in the Prep School. But when you are just starting Pre-Reception and your school career, every day is a journey of discovery.
At Farringtons we welcome children from the age of three to our Early Years Department. Children are invited to join us for a fun, play based assessment.
We provide a holistic approach to learning: we pay great attention to a child’s emotional well-being. We believe if a child is happy, they are more likely to develop into successful and confident learners.
We cover the seven areas of learning in accordance with the Early Years Foundation Stage (EYFS) guidelines and so much more:
Our provision ensures that children experience a full range of learning opportunities including child initiated, teacher directed and group learning. Within the curriculum there are different ways in which children learn, known as the ‘Characteristics of Effective Teaching and Learning’. These describe how children learn across a wide range of activities.
At Farringtons we develop social skills alongside literacy and numeracy. Children are taught Music, PD (Physical Development) French and Forest School by subject specialist teachers. Activities for Early Years children should be engaging and stimulating and designed to promote questioning, exploration, problem solving and imagination.
We understand the value of outdoor play to develop many key skills and our expansive grounds give the children regular access to our Forest School.
Numeracy and literacy are introduced to our children during the early years and they develop a love for learning that will stay with them throughout life.
Children are taught synthetic phonics through daily phonics sessions following the government initiative 'letters and sounds'. The acquisition of phonics supports reading and writing development.
Regular assessment is key to understanding a child’s needs and allows staff to plan activities that will support, develop and extend a child’s learning. Assessment is undertaken through observations and discussions with children, parents and staff, all of whom contribute to the assessment process.
We value the contribution made by parents in helping their child to progress. We understand the importance of partnerships with parents. Parental involvement and regular contact is welcomed and encouraged. Children’s achievements are recorded in a ‘Pupil Profile’, this is a way of sharing their learning with parents and provides regular updates of a child’s progression.
| Time | Activity |
|---|---|
| 8.30 | Registration. |
| 8.40 | Phonics: group work based on ability where the children learn letters and sounds and how to apply them in reading and writing. They go on to learn digraphs and trigraphs. |
| 9.00 | Forest School: Where the children change into outdoor clothing and wellies. They attend the Forest School site and recap on the rules of Forest School. They talk about the weather and seasonal changes and risk assessing to take account of these. The children will then take part in child-initiated exploration then re-group for hot chocolate and biscuits. |
| 10.20 | Break. Includes a healthy snack (if they have not just been to Forest School). |
| 10.45 | Teacher led input: Maths or English focus, firstly with whole class input, then small group or 1:1 sessions on various skill areas, such as number bonds with equipment like ‘Numicon’ or bead strings. |
| 11.50 – 1.00 | Lunch. |
| 12.30 | The children have the opportunity to take part in street dance led by an external dance school. |
| 1.10 | Physical Development: There is a focus on independence when children change themselves. The teacher is a specialist sports teacher who helps the children to develop skills in throwing, catching, coordination and exercise. There is also a focus on reinforcing the week’s topic links, such as numbers. |
| 1.50 | Child-initiated: The children choose their own activities set up by the teacher and linked to current topics. The adults can then make observations for the child’s early years profile. There is also the opportunity for 1:1 reading sessions. |
| 3.10 | Story: teachers read the class choice of story. |
| 3.20 | The children are able to access many clubs through the after school, wrap around care at Farringtons Interactive Zone FIZ, based in the Prep School. |
Phone: 020 8467 0256
Farringtons School
Perry Street
Chislehurst
Kent
BR7 6LR
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