Miss Burr
Teacher ( Wed, Thurs and Fri)
"Words are, in my not so humble opinion, our most inexhaustible source of magic…” – Albus Dumbledore.
It will not be a surprise for any child or adult who knows me to hear that there is one series of books that has shaped my life. Yes, the magical world of Harry Potter is not just a set of fictional books for me, but an entire universe, which I have escaped into, lived in and regularly revisit! As JK once said, “Hogwarts will always be there to welcome you home.” The characters in the stories do not feel like characters but old friends; when they laugh, I laugh, when they cry, I cry… and that is the true magic of books! I love the series for the fantasy and adventure, but also because of all it teaches about the importance of friendship, facing your fears, and most importantly that love conquers everything!
More recently, I have discovered the author Onjali Q Raúf and have read (and loved!) three of her books this year: The Star Outside my Window, The Night Bus Hero and The Boy at the Back of the Class. They are beautiful stories and I am not ashamed to say that I cried my eyes out when reading two of them! Some other authors I love and will always recommend are Frank Cottrell Boyce (Framed is my favourite!), Jacqueline Wilson (I used to visit St Austell library every week to collect more of her books to devour when I was a child!) and Philippa Pearce (Tom’s Midnight Garden is a must-read!).
“I do believe something very magical can happen when you read a good book.” – Yep, that’s JK Rowling again!
Miss Attis
My favourite story is ‘Guess How Much I Love You’. This is my favourite book to read to my children. Every bedtime we snuggle down and share this story together. We all find that this is the perfect way to end the day.
Miss Dey
I like the books from the harry and the dinosaur collection, they remind me of reading with my sons when they were young. I like reading them to the children in nursery as they get so excited by the stories.
Mrs Prince
Teacher ( Mon, Tues and Wed)
A story that became a childhood favourite of mine was ‘The Magic Faraway Tree’ by Enid Blyton. I visited this series again and again and again, often sneaking to read more past my bed time. I have a particular memory of trying really hard to read the words of the book in the dark, as my dad had turned the lights off and told me to go to sleep! I fell in love with the magic of the story and wished I had my own faraway tree with magical lands at the top which I could adventure into. As an adult I still adore reading, there is nothing better than curling up with a good book at the end of the day! The Harry Potter series will also always have a special place in my reading list as I always seem to go back to these in-between other books!
Mrs Jackson
Support Staff
I absolutely loved reading the Dirty Bertie books by Alan MacDonald and David Roberts with my daughter when she was younger. They're so funny and definitely well worth a read and all about a grubby boy who is a trouble magnet, causing mayhem wherever he goes with his disgusting habits , crazy plans and wild ideas. Every night we used to snuggle down and read the these books .. oh how we giggled and proper belly laughed reading these books. We'd chat for ages about our favourite funniest parts in the story and couldn’t wait until the next one.
Mrs Begen
The smartest giant in town is my favorite classic tale,it tells the story of a kind man who gives everything he owns to help everyone he comes across.
In our Reception classroom, you may see children playing alone or with their peers, deciding on resources and choosing how to spend their time. You may see a child playing and listening to an adult, who is modelling how to achieve something or teaching a new skill that interests the child.
Adults may scaffold children’s play. This involves taking their play to higher levels of learning, entering the play as a co-creator and helping to provoke a framework for the children to go from “what they know” to “what else they could know”! Scaffolding enables a child to solve a problem, carry out a task or achieve a goal which is just beyond his or her abilities. During play, where foundational social and emotional skills are developed, scaffolding is a bridge to new skill levels using three key ingredients; modelling the skill, giving clues and asking questions while the child is trying out a new skill, and then as the child approaches mastery, withdrawing the support.
At Bishop Bronescombe, the EYFS teams decide what we want our children to learn in our classroom, through our provision, and the most effective ways to teach it. Each day, we stimulate children’s interests, respond to each child’s emerging needs and guide their development through warm, positive interactions coupled with secure routines for play and learning. As children grow older and develop their skills throughout the Reception year, we use more direct teaching and modelling and plan specific sequences of lessons. These strategies help us to focus on teaching the essential skills and knowledge in specific areas of learning so that children develop the skills and confidence required for the end of their Reception year.
In our Early Years we consider each individual child’s unique learning journey, thinking carefully about their current stage of learning and development. This then enables us to provide a curriculum which is specific and tailored to meet the needs of the children. Our curriculum overview details the skills we may cover each term through both adult led and child directed teaching. By following the children’s emerging interests and themes, we are able to adapt teaching to meet children’s current next steps and teach specific skills, whilst also providing inspiring and engaging high quality learning experiences.
Autumn 1
During Autumn 1 we will be busy supporting and settling each child into full days at school and getting them used to our daily routine. Through a nurturing, gentle and playful approach we will be building up our days and introducing important parts of our school day such as our rules and expectations, the routine and what to expect and learning about where things live and what is accessible in our new classroom environment. The children will get to know our school vision and start to understand the important Christian values that underpin everything we do. Our focus this half term is building relationships, getting to know every child thoroughly and where their learning will go next. As we get to know each child, naturally interests and themes may occur which will send us down a learning venture. In the meantime children will have the opportunity to share their all about me bags, participate in circle time and group games, be supported to build new friendships with their peers and build positive relationships with the adults who support them. On week two we will start our daily phonics programme using the scheme Read Write Inc. By the end of this half term children will participate in daily phonics, circle time and mathematics adult led learning and a weekly R.E session, surrounded by many opportunities to develop learning through play and child led learning.
Autumn 2
In Autumn 2, we will be continuing to embed our school rules, routines, and values. We will follow the children's interests and lines of inquiry to plan learning and enhance our provision. We will be celebrating the events of Bonfire Night, Remembrance Day, and Christmas, and will practice and perform our first school nativity! In maths, we will be continuing our learning of numbers, and will explore numbers up to 10 and their compositions. We will also investigate length, height, and time. Our daily phonics will continue, and children will begin to be able to write their first words and small captions. We will continue primarily learning through play, and adults will co-play with children to support each individual meet their next steps.