Early Years

Welcome to the Early Years at Kings Mill.  

Many of our pupils arrive at school using the home-school transport, some are brought to school by their parents or carers.

We recognise that some may have been travelling for a while, may need a breakfast snack and definitely need time to move around or have a good stretch so our days starts with activities for the children to choose both inside and outside.  This gives our staff time to settle the children, offer a snack and attend to individual needs and the children have lots of fun exploring the toys and sensory materials on offer.

We then have a welcome 'Circle time', encouraging the pupils to sit alongside an adult with their friends to sing and sign 'hello'.  There is a short focussed activity when an adult introduces objects or toys and helps the pupils to make a choice.  We sometimes demonstrate how to play with something - a favourite being bubbles or balloons and especially cardboard boxes!

Within the class we incorporate sessions such as communication, nurture, sharing groups, guided reading and writing sessions, dough disco, see and learn, music, and attention autism.  staff work with individuals or pairs of children on activities that they find motivating.  We try to offer a wide range of activities over the week and encourage them to explore in all the areas of learning with an emphasis on the adults in the room modelling simple language to promote communication.

We have a secure outdoor learning area with water, sand, construction materials and wheeled toys linked to individual interests of the children or themes to enhance the pupil's learning.

We also visit different areas of the school over the week to access our specialist facilities including the hall space with soft play equipment, Sensory Therapy Room and Rebound Room where the pupils can get lots of exercise while learning to interact with adults and their peers.  Our Hydrotherapy pool gives the pupils chance to follow their physical development programmes or develop water confidence and early swimming skills.

Our location means that we can access the community and visit local park areas and shops in town to find out about the local area.  We also have the opportunity to use the school minibus to visit places further afield. 

We aim to promote the pupil's learning in a safe environment whilst having as much fun as possible along the way.