Nursery

At Ark Franklin, our Early Years Team is committed to providing children with the best possible start to school, by providing children opportunities to follow their interests to ensure future success. We strive to ensure our children are happy, enthusiastic, and confident learners with aspirations to excel in whatever they choose to do. Our Early Years department, like the rest of the school, is inclusive and celebrates each child’s differences and milestones, no matter how big or small. We recognise the unique child and work to cater to the needs of all children to ensure progress is made. 

Our nursery holds 65 children and is led by a qualified teacher and a team of support staff. We offer full and part-time places, including top-up and 30-hours options to meet the wide variety of needs that we see among our diverse parent community.  

Our school values are embedded within the learning environment and throughout the day. The children are fully aware about the ‘ARISE’ values right from the start of their journey as we all speak about the importance of: Achievement, Respect, Integrity, Support & Effort.  

We aim to develop a love of learning by providing children with a safe and stimulating environment that builds on each child’s needs and interests. We believe learning should be fun, engaging and suitably challenging. The EYFS curriculum is split into 7 areas of learning:  

The Prime Areas include: 

• Personal, Social & Emotional Development  

• Communication & Language  

• Physical Development  

The Specific Areas include: 

• Literacy  

• Maths  

• Understanding the World 

• Expressive Arts & Design  

Our EYFS provides children with a broad and balanced curriculum of play-based activities alongside f adult-directed learning opportunities. In the nursery, there will be a mix of child-initiated exloratory play alongside whole-class carpet sessions and focused small group work, for example on early phonics or number skills.  

Our classrooms are accessible to all, allowing children to gain independence whilst exploring and learning safely. The immersive learning environments, both inside and out, are highly stimulating and provide opportunities to develop crucial social, emotional and communication skills. We value the importance of outdoor learning and believe that it should provide children with opportunities to develop their thinking and problem-solving skills. We love to be outside and exploring, whether that be blowing bubbles, planting and growing, a nature walk or just developing our strength on the climbing frames or bikes.  

We aim to replicate real-life experiences and provide practical learning opportunities that will enhance children’s knowledge and understanding of the world around them. We also love to cook and try different types of food as part of our ‘Flavour School’, making sure that children are confident to try new experiences of all types as part of their Early Years education. 

Parent and carer partnerships are a key factor in the progress that children make during their time in the Early Years. We value parent communication to achieve the full picture of each individual child’s development and learning journey. This evidence is shared via the Seesaw app and is used as a talking tool for children to share their home learning experiences. We will see  you at the classroom door every morning and every afternoon so that we can build our shared relationship, focused on the development and well-being of your child.  

Within our EYFS, our teachers pride themselves in knowing every child. Therefore, assessments in our phase include on-going assessments, which is what the teachers do on a day-to-day basis. This allows our staff to make informed decisions about what the child has learned or what they can already do and supports planning for next steps. Our end of phase assessment is based on evidence provided from both parents and the school so that every child builds towards reaching the end of year Early Learning Goals in each of the 7 areas of learning. 

If you would like to come and see our Early Years, please look out for our open events each Autumn or book an appointment with the school office.