At Barley Fields Primary School, our Nursery provides a safe, nurturing and stimulating environment where children can begin their early learning journey with confidence and curiosity. Our focus is on exploration, play and discovery, helping each child develop social, emotional, physical and cognitive skills in a fun and supportive setting.
Our curriculum is based on the Early Years Foundation Stage (EYFS), ensuring children experience a rich variety of activities that build a strong foundation for future learning. We focus on developing key skills across all areas of learning, including:
- Expressive Arts and Design – creativity through art, music, role play and imaginative activitiesWe work closely with parents to support a smooth transition into school life, celebrate achievements, and foster a love of learning from the very start.
- Communication and Language – listening, speaking and understanding
- Personal, Social and Emotional Development – confidence, independence and building relationships
- Physical Development – fine and gross motor skills, coordination and health
- Literacy and Mathematics – early reading, writing, counting and problem-solving
- Understanding the World – exploring people, places, nature and technology
Observational Assessment in Nursery
Our Nursery curriculum is built around children’s interests and their emerging learning. We use observational assessment to understand each child’s learning, development and individual needs. Our teachers carefully observe children as they play, explore and take part in activities, noting their progress and interests.
Observational assessment helps us to:
- Identify each child’s strengths and areas for support
- Plan activities that match their interests and stage of development
- Monitor progress across all areas of the Early Years Foundation Stage (EYFS)
- Ensure every child receives the guidance and encouragement they need to thrive
Observations begin reflection, staff observing children initially and considering the best ways to facilitate learning. They capture photographs and comments to document the child’s start point and then negotiate play alongside the child to be able to extend learning. Children are seen to be masters of their craft and adults ask questions, and introduce problems for children to solve, in a way that encourages children to share their knowledge whilst boosting self-esteem. Staff present challenges for children to overcome and find ways for children to apply new skills to embed learning.
Learning is collaborative and our EY team actively engage in child-initiated play to ensure that there are no missed opportunities. Whether a child wants to talk through an idea, seek access to resources or even if they want to showcase their talents and ask an adult to model their latest creation, we pride ourselves in knowing we are the first people they turn to.
We also share these observations with parents through regular updates, meetings and Seesaw learning journals, so you can see your child’s progress and celebrate their achievements together. We hope our interactions inspire your play and communication at home and that your child will enjoy sharing their achievements with you by looking through Seesaw.
We use ‘Time to Talk’ stickers in some of our observations as prompts for discussion at home. We warmly welcome feedback from families in response to our Seesaw uploads and actively encourage children to explore this learning platform with their grown-ups.
Nursery Home Learning
At Barley Fields , we believe that children learn best when school and home work together. We value the role of parents and carers as partners in your child’s early learning journey. We keep parents informed through regular updates, learning journals and workshops and encourage you to share your child’s interests, achievements and experiences from home. By working together, we can support your child’s development, celebrate their successes, and ensure they feel happy, confident and ready to learn.
Our strong partnership with parents helps us create a nurturing and supportive environment where every child can thrive.
Each week, we share resources that our families can use to develop key skills and to build on the activities we present during the school day. We recognise the benefit of developing skills across the curriculum to provide children with a toolkit for successful learning when they move into full-time school. You can expect to receive videos from staff, example questions and suggested activities to try at home.
We have developed our home learning offer to mirror our practice in school. Throughout the nursery school year, we introduce children to a range of stories to instil a love of books and to develop curiosity, imagination, discussion and engagement. We strive to be creative in finding resources and texts to underpin learning and to generate speaking and listening opportunities.
Supporting Videos
We also aim to develop children’s physical skills in preparation for early mark-making. Early Years staff understand that the writing process starts much sooner than the point where children put pencil to paper. We believe mark-making is a sensory journey that children need to be immersed in to accelerate the progress they make. Please refer to our ‘Flipper Flapper’ and ‘Squiggle while you Wiggle’ demonstrations below as examples of how we find ways to develop mark-making.
Flipper Flappers
We like to practise flipper flapper routines in Nursery to develop our gross motor movement. This routine challenges us to use our whole body so we develop an awareness of ourselves and how to coordinate our movements. Flipper flapper dancing also encourages us to use both sides of our body at the same time. We practise forming pre-handwriting shapes using our whole body. This helps to embed a visual memory of how to form each shape to support us with our mark-making skills.We like to practise flipper flapper routines in Nursery to develop our gross motor movement. This routine challenges us to use our whole body so we develop an awareness of ourselves and how to coordinate our movements. Flipper flapper dancing also encourages us to use both sides of our body at the same time. We practise forming pre-handwriting shapes using our whole body. This helps to embed a visual memory of how to form each shape to support us with our mark-making skills.
Squiggle While You Wiggle
We spend lots of time exploring pre-handwriting shapes in Nursery. This is one of the ways we prepare children for mark-making. We practise forming I – o + X \ / △▢before we explore letter formation. The movements required to form these shapes help us to write letters with accuracy, using the correct pencil movements. We like to explore squiggle using both hands to develop our bilateral movement.
Parent Feedback and Next Steps
Our families have the opportunity to share experiences and feedback from home on our online learning platform, Seesaw. We love taking inspiration from Seesaw and find that this can be a fantastic catalyst for learning in the classroom. Take a look at how Seesaw uploads from home can be used to develop play and interactions in Nursery.
