Welcome to the Hill Top Class!

Our classroom is right in the middle of the school – we get to see the example of the grown-up children around us but also have our own special area outside, attached to our classroom. Our room has special learning areas for reading, writing, role-play, creative play , construction and music – this gets our brains and bodies working in lots of different ways. These are changed all of the time to reflect our new books or new interests.

Hill Top Class also have access to a covered outdoor area and a large spacious playground outside. Outside the children enjoy using the water, mud kitchen, climbing frame, sand and construction area where there are large materials such as tyres, wooden planks and crates to build with.

A typical day in our classroom looks like this…

We start our day starts by getting doing ‘funky fingers’ to get everything moving ready for learning, or if we are in nursery we get to start exploring the malleable area, where there is sensory play to engage with. We sing together and run through the day, so we all know what is happening.

Then we all get started with SuperSonic phonics daily phonics. Mrs Wright leads the Reception children and Miss Winters and Mrs Shaw work with the younger children. We enjoy practical maths activities, explore reading and writing through Drawing Club and all children engage with continuous provision throughout the morning. Snack time is shared altogether, which creates a good chance to practice our manners and independence.

In the afternoon we move over to the special outdoor area, with climbing frames, water, mud kitchen, bikes and trikes, garden and nature areas. We also get to join in with Forest School in the wood next to our space.

We love to end the day with Collective Worship (if we are in Reception) or a story in we are in Nursery. We are very good at clearing away our own things 😊

We follow the non-statutory guidance, Development Matters, which is underpinned by the four principles of the Early Years Foundation Stage Framework:

· A Unique Child

· Positive Relationships

· Enabling Environments

· Learning and Development

Full details of these aspects can be found here for free: https://assets.publishing.service.gov.uk/media/64e6002a20ae890014f26cbc/DfE_Development_Matters_Report_Sep2023.pdf

Every child in Hill Top class has their learning documented using the on-line platform, ‘Evidence Me’, where every aspect of a child’s learning journey can be followed by parents through the ‘Evidence Me’ App. The Hilltop team regularly upload observations of the children’s individual learning journey