The Huckleberries ( Class 1)

Here in Huckleberries, we allow our imaginations to take us to fantastical and magical places – through role play, stories, songs and immersion in our curriculum; enabling a hands-on approach to learning through play and exploration. We are a mixture of EYFS (3-5 years) and Key Stage 1 (5-7 years). This positively impacts on our learning by developing our creativity, responsibility and independence as part of a wonderful team – allowing collaboration, peer support and challenging our explanations, leadership and problem-solving skills.

We use a mixture of indoor and outdoor learning alongside our Story Circle, Quiet Area and Forest School, in our friendly and nurturing environment to become the very best version of ourselves, supporting development and confidence and promoting ownership of learning. Using props such as Gerald the Giraffe, we work together to highlight good examples of growth mindset and weekly, someone is chosen for their efforts for the week and Gerald gets to spend the weekend at home with them.

Anyone who has never made a mistake has never tried anything new. — Albert Einstein

We use Class Dojo as a method of praise and this can be linked to home to allow an up-to-date snapshot of just what fun your child is having and we aim to add a variety of photographs each week to reflect our currently learning and activities. This also allows an additional platform for us to share independent learning successes instantly with home.

We actively encourage the creativeness and free flow of ideas, developing the skills of problem solving, reviewing and modifying that are built upon and used throughout school. We actively promote growth and the use of our school values to support our learning and interactions – ensuring children feel safe, secure and supported.

Phonics and reading

Huckleberries partake in daily phonics sessions, having the opportunity to practise their articulation, formation and apply this in their reading. Each week, small fluid reading groups read a targeted phonics book to an adult, 3 times – focusing upon the graphemes (written sounds) and phonemes (spoken and heard sounds) on session 1, prosody: which allows a development in fluency and articulation and comprehension on session 3, where we support the understanding of what has been read and question further. We also aim where possible, to hear the children 1:1 read, as this allows us to develop our relationship with the children and target their needs further. An additional reading for pleasure book is sent home alongside the specified phonics book and we ask that each child is read with at least 3 times at home and this is recorded in their reading record. We have had great success with the Little Wandle scheme, reaching 100% pass rate last year in the compulsory government Phonics Screening Check.

PE Sessions

Huckleberries take part in PE sessions on: Thursday afternoons with our specialised sports coach and we are lucky to participate in many additional and extra-curricular events. We ask the children to bring their PE kit and leave it at school for the week to allow a change of clothes if needed and support additional PE session/outdoor sessions when required.