Early Years
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Our Early Years Foundation Stage is at the very heart of St. Martins Primary School. Working with children of any age is hugely rewarding but, we in Early Years believe that there is something very special about being able to support and encourage our very youngest children, helping them take the first steps in their learning and watching them grow into curious, confident independent learners. It's where the magic begins!
At St. Martins we offer excellent outdoor and indoor provision, where children are able to develop key skills along with a thirst for learning. Our highly trained staff will work alongside your child to enable them to be the very best that they can be.
Hopefully our website will help you to gain an insight into what we offer and how we feel we can give your child the very best start they deserve. If you would like any further information or a tour please contact me on 01404 515409 and I will be happy to help.
Best wishes
Melanie Turl
Deputy Head – Early Years Lead
St. Martins Early Years Curriculum
At the centre of our curriculum is the unique child therefore we aim to provide an aspirational curriculum which celebrates and empowers our youngest learners as well as providing them with rich and varied learning opportunities to enrich their lives, opening up their eyes and hearts to the world around them.
Me and my world
- Weekly Forest School whatever the weather! Throughout each season the children learn what our forest has to offer including using tools such as drills and saws.
- Learning to look after and grow new life both within the forest and in our own Early Years Secret Garden.
- Exploring the world around me - Our Nursery visit to Cotley Farm to see the Reindeers alongwith visits for our Reception children to a local farm; Paignton zoo and Escot.
- Learning to cook - toasting marshmallows / making crumble. Learning how to weigh and use ingredients to create things we can eat.
- Learning to butter bread/toast & peel oranges and bananas in the Snack Cafe. Developing our fine motor skills to enable us to use knives effectively and independently.
- Seeing the wonder in where they play - Exploring our sand pit, mud kitchen, Secret Garden, gravel pit and many more...
- Pondering on the bigger questions - What colour is love? Does one thing make everyone happy?
- Seeing the Awe and Wonder in the world around us - Using our scientific knowledge to investigate how things work and the impact they have on the world around us
- Finding out about the place in which they live and how it compares to other places
Me and my voice
- Experiencing the joy and wonder in singing together, as a class and as part of the wider school.
- Chatting to my friends and teachers, learning to share my needs and interests with others
- Learning rhymes and sharing them with others - experiencing the joy of spoken language
- Sharing books, building up our bank of well known authors and our favourite stories
- Telling my own stories. Using our imagination to create our own stories and being brave in sharing them with others
- Taking part in a performance! Our Nativity Christmas performance / Class assemblies and celebrations
- Listening to/singing and dancing to a variety of music from a range of different times and cultures
- Having a go at using words from a language different to mine
Me and my friends
- Being with my Buddy in Yr 6 - Getting to know someone new, sharing my knowledge and working together on joint ventures such as sewing our own Christmas decoration to take home.
- Playing with my friends, learning to take turns and share with others
- Dressing up! World book Day - Sharing the excitement of whole school activities
- Playing without toys! Learning new games to play outside such as Duck, Duck Goose or What’s the time Mr Wolf
- Using kind words and kind hands with others - Learning that kindness can be easy to show and have a wonderful impact on others
- Enjoying being together, learning to be confident when part of a larger group: Going to a movie/ Teddy Bears Picnic / The Lantern Walk
- Meeting new people from different walks of life, being able to ask them questions and tell them about ourselves: Father Christmas / The Bear / Animals2YouSouthwest / The Caretaker
- Celebrating what’s different and what’s the same with my friends- What do I celebrate with my family and how do my friends celebrate?
Me and my body
- Building up strength in my fingers and using them to work wonders!- dough disco/cooking/learning to sew
- Learning to ride a scooter and bike - Developing gross motor skills and building confidence when taking a risk
- Feeling confident with a range of tools: scissors, pencils, drill, needle
- Developing my balancing and coordination skills when outside on the adventure trail, slide and EYFS playground
- Thinking about what’s special about me and what is special about my friends - celebrating diversity
- Sharing the success of how wonderful my body is and how I can look after it: Sports week / Forest School / Healthy eating
Useful Links
Reception - Chicks & Ducklings