Iam delighted to welcome you to Chinthurst! We are known as the school with heart because of the focus we place on developing strong relationships with our children. It is these relationships that ensure they feel happy, safe and are resilient enough to learn from their mistakes – key ingredients for learning.
Relationships begin in our Nursery classes, where we never forget that small steps are very important in a child’s learning journey. By paying attention to little successes, our teachers build genuine connections with the children, helping them to develop and thrive, fully prepared for the next steps of their education.
Ultimately, we aim to give all the children that come to Chinthurst the best start that they can possibly have, so that they are confident, inquisitive learners. We want them to bound through the door each morning, happy about coming to school and excited about what they might learn.
Toni Burton Head of Lower School
WHY CHOOSE NURSERY AT CHINTHURST?
Warmth, kindness and love are in abundance here, but there are additional benefits that come from being rooted in a school community:
• Experienced, highly qualified staff and excellent ratios means there is plenty of individual care and attention for each child.
• A head start thanks to purposeful, exciting and creative lessons. Carefully planned activities and thought-provoking questions develop all-important thinking skills. The concept of consistency might be explored by making jelly (and holding it upside down). The children think they are playing but we know they are engaged in learning.
• As a fully integrated part of Chinthurst School, children benefit from a seamless transition from Nursery to Reception. We have a joined-up curriculum spanning ages 21/2 to 11 years and access to excellent facilities and specialist teaching. Each child smoothly progresses to the next stage of their education, familiar with buildings, staff and routines and already feeling that they belong to the whole school community.
“Sensitive and caring teaching in the Early Years classes ensures that individual needs are at the heart of all decision-making and planning enabling children to make significant progress.”
ISI Inspection Report 2023
THE SCHOOL STRUCTURE
Chinthurst educates children from the age of 2½ to 11 years old. To ensure the very best education and support for the children, the school has a Lower and Upper School structure. This booklet has information about our Little Chicks and Kindergarten classes. Information about Reception, Year 1 and Year 2, is in a separate Lower School booklet.
Lower School
Little Chicks
Children join as soon as they turn 2½ years old.
Kindergarten
Early Years
The pre-school year. Children move up from Little Chicks into Kindergarten or join Kindergarten directly in the September before they turn 4 years old. Children can join mid-year if spaces become available.
Reception
Key Stage 1 Years 1&2
Key Stage 2 Years 3–6
The first year of ‘big’ school. Children move up from Kindergarten or join Reception directly in the September before they turn 5 years old.
Children move up from Reception. Occasional places sometimes become available for direct entry into these year groups.
Upper School
Occasional places become available for direct entry into these year groups.
Little Chicks and Kindergarten are based in our bright and airy Nursery rooms, which have their own playgrounds and outdoor space. There is a maximum of 13 children in Little Chicks and most children do a minimum of three mornings a week. There is a maximum of 25 children in Kindergarten and most do a minimum of five mornings a week.
THE CURRICULUM & LEARNING
The curriculum in Little Chicks, Kindergarten and Reception at Chinthurst is based on the Early Years Foundation Stage (EYFS). As an independent school, we are able to further developed this to suit the unique Chinthurst ethos. There is a careful mix of adult-led and child-initiated purposeful play, structured activities and experiences. There is plenty of free flow between the indoor and outdoor Nursery areas and we take full advantage of the facilities in the rest of the school too.
There is a focus on learning through investigation and exploration. Children are encouraged to keep on trying if they encounter difficulties and to enjoy achievements. They learn best when they are actively engaged in what they are doing, and we aim for them to become self-motivated and intrigued by learning. Children are given room to develop strategies for doing things by thinking creatively and critically.
“A
child’s experiences during their early years provide the essential foundations for life. Their development during this period influences their basic learning, educational attainment, economic participation and health.”
The Early Years Foundation Stage (EYFS) Review – Report on the Evidence 2011
PHONICS
“We love Read, Write Inc!”
“From the youngest to the oldest, pupils are encouraged not to fear failure, but to learn from their mistakes.” ISI Inspection Report 2023
Developed by Ruth Miskin, Read, Write Inc! provides a structured and systematic approach to teaching phonics. It is designed to create fluent readers, confident speakers, willing writers and able spellers.
From the very beginning, our Nursery children are taught to say the sounds of letters with the help of mnemonics and, when ready, to blend the sounds into words and read simple ‘blending books’. This gives them a flying start to their Reception learning.
“We recognise that children all learn at different speeds and we want to move them forward at their pace all the time. The consistency that is given by this scheme is really important as the children use the same language and methods with each teacher they have in school.”
Toni Burton
NUMERACY
“Pupils are highly numerate.”
ISI Inspection Report 2023
Numicon is used throughout the school and is designed to help children visualise numbers. From these visual pictures, they can see how to add, subtract, multiply and divide numbers and see the relationships between these operations.
Each week in Nursery, the children are taught a different number or shape. This allows for lots of play and exploration through inspiring and well-planned activities. When the children enter Reception, we continue to build on this wonderful hands-on learning with imaginative maths sessions to help the children to manipulate numbers, explore how they connect together and identify patterns.
We want children to love maths and have fun solving problems like, “Which 3D shape will move down the ramp in the quickest time?’’ Or “If the Hulk had ten playdough balls and he smashed one, how many would he have left?”
OUTDOOR LEARNING
Outdoor play and woodland learning are wonderful learning environments where the constraints of the classroom are removed, and the children have freedom to explore the world around them.
Our children play outside at every opportunity and benefit from regular woodland learning sessions. This environment naturally lends itself to creativity, invention, problem solving, trial and error, persistence, risk assessment and resilience. These are all fundamental lifelong skills that will help us in adulthood. This woodland learning experience encourages children to love and nurture our natural world.
“There is considerable evidence suggesting that time spent outdoors, in nature, increases life expectancy, improves wellbeing, reduces symptoms of depression and increases a child’s ability to function in school. And playing outside, climbing trees, making dens costs nothing, as Dr Tessa Livingstone, creator of the ‘Child of Our Time’ project concluded, ‘Even today, the things children love the most are free.’”
OPENspace Research Centre
THE CHINTHURST DIFFERENCE
ENCOURAGING INDEPENDENCE
We know how important it is to encourage independence in our youngest children. They gain a sense of accomplishment when they are able to complete tasks themselves and this boosts their self-esteem. We encourage children to take care of their space and their personal items. The children begin to learn the daily routine, and this helps them become independent. This may simply begin with putting their own coat on to go outside or selecting an apron for messy play. As their confidence grows, so does their ability to be independent in a range of areas.
SPECIALIST TEACHERS
As a fully integrated part of Chinthurst School, all children in Little Chicks and Kindergarten have specialist teaching in sport, PE, forest school, music and drama. Kindergarten children also benefit from specialist teaching in French.
STEAM IN EARLY YEARS
STEAM stands for Science, Technology, Engineering, the Arts and Maths and lessons draw together a wide range of practical skills such as problem solving, creativity and resourcefulness.
Nursery have weekly STEAM lessons which involve exciting activities designed to develop creative and critical thinkers. STEAM challenges young minds to plan, make decisions about how to approach a task, solve a problem and reach a goal. Most of all, they are great fun!
“In a world where you can be anything, be kind.”
Jennifer Dukes Lee
WELLBEING
Being kind to others boosts happiness and at Chinthurst our children are taught the value of kindness and how to care for each other through our Personal Social Health and Emotional (PSHEE) curriculum.
We recognise that children learn best when they are happy. Strong, positive relationships mean our children feel secure and loved. Expressing emotions is an important part of wellbeing and we support children to do this through stories and puppets, calming visual toys like oil timers or sometimes a cuddle. We encourage the children to work together, to be kind and to support each other.
Along with the rest of the school, Nursery follows the Zones of Regulation mindfulness programme. Nursery children participate in the school’s daily mindful minute, which allows them to practise a range of stress-relieving techniques: laying on their back and watching a teddy rise and fall on their chest to encourage calm breathing; walking barefoot on the tickly grass; or smelling different spices and thinking about the memories they conjure. Skills learnt at this early stage help children to manage and talk about their feelings as they mature.
“Pupils demonstrate tremendous maturity when discussing how they can regulate their own behaviour.”
ISI Inspection Report 2023
HOME / SCHOOL PARTNERSHIP
COMMUNICATION WITH PARENTS
We recognise the importance of having genuine partnerships with our parents. Our online learning journey on Seesaw provide parents with a photographic diary of their child’s progress and our progress meetings help teachers and parents to work together to support their child’s learning.
In Nursery, we have progress meetings each week and, as part of this, parents are invited in to see their child’s work and have a one-to-one discussion with their key worker. Of course, we are always available at drop off and pick up to chat through any issues arising during the day.
SETTLING IN & SMOOTH TRANSITIONS
We invite all children in for a taster session after acceptance of a place and before they start with us.
In the summer term before they join, we have a Teddy Bears’ Picnic and home visits are available for parents who desire them. There is a Meet the Teacher event at the end of June (prior to them joining in September), which provides an opportunity to meet with teaching staff and other parents and to learn more about the academic year ahead.
By doing all of this, we hope that the children will have already begun to form relationships with us, and we hope that families will feel a sense of belonging right from the start of their time at Chinthurst.
CHINTHURST COMMUNITY
We have a wonderful school community and parents are regularly invited to assemblies, curriculum evenings, sports days and musical performances. Our active parents’ association, the CPA, also arrange a host of activities throughout the year that are enjoyed by everyone.
WHEN CAN MY CHILD START?
Below is an indication of our normal entry points into Nursery and Reception, but we are delighted to welcome children at any time during the academic year if there are spaces available:
LITTLE CHICKS
Children are able to join when they are 21/2 years old.
KINDERGARTEN
September entry – children join in the academic year they turn 4 years old.
RECEPTION
September entry – children join in the academic year they turn 5 years old.
