Reception Classes (EYFS)
Find out more about our Reception classes (EYFS) at Nottingham High Infant & Junior School. We are open for 2024 and 2025 applicants.
Welcome to NHIJS EYFS
Welcome
We are a committed team of Early Years specialists who work collaboratively alongside dedicated teaching assistants to ensure that your child begins their educational journey in the most successful possible way.
Each class teacher is responsible for your child’s holistic development and we pride ourselves upon our ability to know every child in our class incredibly well. With our small class sizes, we are able to nurture every child’s personality whilst supporting their personal needs and securing their academic growth. Every child who enters our classroom is part of our early years family and is loved and celebrated for who they are. We also take care to welcome every child’s family into the classroom through our soft drop off and collections, open classrooms, craft sessions, parent’s evenings, summer showcase and many other events throughout the year. It is through these times that we ensure a close working relationship between home and school so that you are fully informed of your child’s academic and pastoral progress.
Why choose NHIJS for your Early Years child?
You will want a supportive, nurturing, challenging and happy environment for your child where adult to pupil ratio is low.
At Nottingham High School, our planning encapsulates the fun of childhood. We believe you only encounter Primary School once and therefore it should be the most magical experience possible, paving the way for true happiness and success. With small adult to pupil ratios, we ensure that we know each child personally, academically and pastorally.
We know each child’s strengths and areas for development and through our bespoke tailored planning, we stretch and challenge every child on their individual learning journey, whilst supporting them throughout. We have the luxury of being able to react ‘in the moment’ with your child and adapt our environment and lessons to your child’s need and interests, whilst focussing on individual pastoral and academic goals. We accelerate our pupils’ learning and broaden, enhance and develop their experiences and interest in the outside world through music, sport, swimming, clubs and trips to really foster a love of learning and happiness in school. Each child’s journey is a unique and bespoke one and we ensure that our teaching is individually tailored to your child’s needs. We focus our attention on nurturing every child’s holistic skills, ensuring they are fully ready and enthusiastic to transition seamlessly into Year 1 both pastorally and academically.
How do children learn in the Early Years at Nottingham High School?
In all parts of our School, we believe that children who find learning engaging and fun make the best progress.
We start each topic with a specific event that will draw your child into that area of learning. For example, perhaps a dinosaur egg might appear in the middle of the class or perhaps Hamish, our pet Highland cow, has gone missing and needs to be found.
Our experienced and enthusiastic teachers understand that young children need time to consolidate, challenge and develop their learning subconsciously. This is done by allowing them time to engage with activities and specific resources chosen to foster and strengthen their learning. They believe they are playing, we know they are learning!
We involve our children in the planning of topics to give them ownership and develop a sense of responsibility towards success goals. We tailor specific 1:1 teaching to meet their discrete requirements and areas of interest and we ensure that we have regular communication with parents from the beginning of the academic year to create a safe and familiar environment for each child.
Our curriculum and planning is flexible & adaptable, having the luxury of being able to react ‘in the moment’ with your child to support them on their path of learning. Each child’s journey is a unique and bespoke one and is relevant and purposeful, engaging with what appeals to each child at that point in time. The curriculum is holistic and develops your child through the EYFS so that they are fully ready and raring to transition seamlessly into Year 1.
Infant School
The main entry point into the Infant & Junior School is Reception, however we welcome new pupils in all year groups subject to availability.
Admission for Reception follows a child-centred and age appropriate admission process which aims to be play-based and accessible to all. This is split into two parts; an individual activity followed by a group session, to establish if Nottingham High School’s approach to learning is suitable for your child at this stage of their development. To start your journey with us please fill out the enquiry form and our Admissions team will be in touch with the next steps.
We are committed to ensuring a seamless transition for your child into our school, putting them at the heart of our admissions process. We offer Super Nature Squirrel Sessions for two and three year olds, Taster Sessions for three and four year olds, Superhero Squirrel Sessions for three and four years olds as well as our Open Days; all carefully planned to familiarise your child with our School environment and members of staff. Please contact our admissions team at admissions@nottinghamhigh.co.uk or call 0115 845 2232 to book one of these sessions.
An example of a typical day in EYFS
| 8.00am | School opens and your child can be welcomed into class where their teacher or their TA awaits with a fun and engaging activity. |
| 8.30am | Registration happens and your child can pre-choose an option from our home-cooked lunch menu. |
| 1st lessons | This might be a focus on phonics or literacy, it might be some time in the outdoor classroom followed by activities to support learning. |
| Morning Play | A time for a healthy snack, learning to share and help friends and enjoy the fresh air. |
| 2nd lessons | Perhaps it is time for some numeracy or writing stories about our favourite things. |
| Lunch Time | Enjoy a healthy and home-cooked meal with friends and then time to let of steam in the garden, the trim trail or on the bikes and scooters. |
| Afternoon lessons | Time to make music, to swim or to enjoy a PE session. |
| 15:45pm | End of the school day, time to go home or to join in with one of our clubs or to join our on-site after-school club which runs until 18:00. |
Children learn best when they don’t even know they are learning! Meet our experienced staff responsible for EYFS.
Mrs Georgina Jackson: Head of EYFS and RJ Class Teacher (L)
Miss Mollie Andersson: RA Class Teacher (C)
Miss Abbey Bailey: RB Class Teacher (R)
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