Please download the following policy and useful documentation.

Additional information such as weekly parent’s information letters and parent’s plans can be found on theBlackbirds class webpage.

WHAT DO OUR NEW EARLY YEARS CHILDREN SAY ABOUT ST LEONARD'S? (Autumn 2019)

(comments coming soon!)

INDUCTION AND TRANSITION PROGRAMMES

Please click on the links below to view our induction to school and transition to Key Stage 1 programmes.

St. Leonard's Induction programme

St. Leonard's Transition programme

NEW! St. Leonard's updated Transition programme    (May 2018)

EARLY YEARS CURRICULUM - SPECIFIC AREAS 

We hope you enjoy looking through this slideshow which celebrates achievements within the specific areas of the early years curriculum.

GYMNASTICS

We have been lucky enough to receive gymnastics coaching from Blackburn Rovers Community Trust. Over 5 weeks we developed many new skills, including rolls, stretches, shapes and sequencing a variety of skills using benches and mats. We had a fantastic time and it very much supported our Physical Development skills and knowledge.

OUTDOOR LEARNING

We have been spending a lot of time working with our children, their interests and ideas to create an interesting and exciting outdoor classroom. We are fortunate to benefit from both sheltered and open areas. Here you can see some of our outdoor spaces and the children's learning linking to phonics, problem solving, independent writing, planting and growing, building and imagining.

COOL WEEK

We are excited to be joining in with some exciting activities next week during COOL week. (19.6.17)

We will add photographs of our learning as we take them.

(See below)

KEEPING SAFE... A VISIT FROM THE POLICE

Our first day of COOL week has started and we have had a fantastic visit from Lisa and Caroline from Lancashire Constabulary. 

They told us the 'Zig Zag' story which helped us learn all about road safety.

We got to look at a real police car and find out what it did and what was inside it. We loved dressing up as police officers too.

Thank you to the police for such a wonderful learning opportunity, it has certainly supported our 'fun in the sun' and keeping ourselves safe theme.

ALL ABOUT MOUNTAIN RESCUE

Today we had a visit from the Mountain Rescue. We looked at ways we might be rescued if we were out and about. We were fascinated to see how the rescue stretcher went from soft to hard and how we could be lifted up safely in it.

BELONGING TO A CHURCH SCHOOL

At St. Leonard's we are committed to ensuring our children benefit from growing in faith through daily worship and Gospel values. We spend time in our church and enjoy Religious Education, particularly as we listen to Bible stories and begin to understand what happened and what this means for us. Understanding God's love for us ensures our children are nurtured with excellent personal and social skills. They are quick to recognise acceptable behaviour and how what Jesus taught us, is relevant to their lives today and how they interact with each other.

Recently our children were asked two questions.

1. What do you remember about the Bible?
2. What is your favourite Gospel value?

Here are some of their responses...

• "When there was a wounded man... the robbers hurt him. The Samaritan helped him." "Forgiveness... because you forgive people, it's because it's nice and lovely and you still love people." (Annabel)

• "When the tombstone was rolled away. Jesus was risen up to Heaven because to live with God." (Ella)

• "Noah and the ark. God flooded the world, it was going to rain. A rainbow came, that was a sign God was never going to flood the world again." "Forgiveness...because forgiveness lets you have fun together." (Georgina)

• "Joseph and his brothers. He got a rainbow coat and his brothers weren't happy cos he's got one." "Perseverance...cos when you're stuck on something you just persevere." (Jenni)

• "Daniel and the lions. Some people put Daniel in the lion's den. They tried to eat him but they didn't cos the angel from God came." (Evie)

• "The big picnic - all Jesus' friends wanted o eat... they thought that there wasn't enough food. So Jesus got a few things and there was food for everybody...that was amazing!" (Ben)

• "I remember the one about the lost sheep. One of the sheep ran away. The shepherd found it." (Edward)

• "God's creation - He created the sea, He created two humans Eve and Adam. God, He had a rest on the seventh day." "Compassion...because you help somebody." (Sam)

• "Forgiveness...because you don't be friends and then you come back together again." (Heidi)

• "In the Good Samaritan when the man gets hurt. no one helps but the third man did but he didn't like him. In the lost sheep the mane loses his sheep, he shows our Gospel value of perseverance." (Chloe)

• "I remember Jesus being born. It was a special day and the news was spreading everywhere and three wise men were going." "Love...because I like caring about people." (Isla)

• "My favourite Bible story is David and Goliath. David with the giant and he was better. He was strong and brave." "Justice...I help people when they fall over." (Joseph)

FOCUS ON WRITING IN THE EARLY YEARS

Following on from successful phonic teaching and learning and providing children with a large range of opportunities for writing with a real purpose, we have added some of our children's sunflower books that they designed and made themselves.

They included a contents page alongside information about sunflowers and their first-hand experiences of growing them in our outside classroom. The children used the ipads to take photographs to add to their books, drew diagrams to label, wrote instructions and flower facts. 

LEARNING IN CHURCH

This morning the children have enjoyed learning from a range of reflective areas set by by Reverend Tracy. The children's learning has been practical and clearly supported their communication and language skills as the children expressed their own thoughts and understanding. This had supported their awareness with regards to people and communities too.

The children made paper aeroplanes with a message about being sorry and sent them flying. They wrote prayers on hands for someone special and used a plaster to show that the prayer was for them. They said prayers and drew flags for people all over the world. They decorated stars to reflect on Jesus the light of the world, we too can shine like Him.

ALL ABOUT BAPTISM

As part of our Religious Education and People and Communities learning, we went to church with Reverend Tracy today to find out all about Baptisms. We also brought in photographs of special occasions or places that we talked about with our friends.

Reverend Tracy had a book of Baptisms. Some of our names were in there because we have been baptised at St. Leonard's church.

Before we left, we thought of questions to ask Reverend Tracy like...

"Does the water stay in the font all the time?"

"Can you get married if you haven't been christened?"

"Can you be christened twice?"

Thank you Reverend Tracy for taking the time to help us with our learning.

PUPIL CONFERENCING

On our final day in Reception, we asked our 2016-17 children about why they think St. Leonard's Foundation Stage is the best.

Here are some of their responses:

"Our teachers are very nice." (Oliver)

"We've got a big classroom." (Edward)

"We are well behaved." (Fatima)

"We've got so many books." (Evie)

"We have got lots of friends." (Finley)

"We've got kind teachers and they let us play and learn." (Miley)

"We've got lots of space." (Lilly)

"We have an adventure trail." (Poppy)

"We are good at learning." (William)

"We have yummy food." (Riley)

"We have a lovely field and playground to play on." (Isla and Jensen)

"We are very kind and friendly towards one another." (Chloe)

"Our teachers help us learn and write." (Izzy and Sally)

"We learn lots of things." (Jenni)

"We've got really good teachers." (Ben)

We would like to take this opportunity to thank all of our wonderful children and their parents for all their hard work and support this year. We wish you all lots of luck as you move on to new and exciting adventures in Year 1.

Well done...‘Shine like stars in the world.’ Philippians 2:15

SUPER STAR SINGING

Well done to our fantastic Reception children who after only seven weeks at school, produced an amazing concert for family and friends.

This experience provided our youngest learners with the opportunity to develop their self-confidence, listening and attention and expressive arts and design (music) skills.

The children really did themselves proud, what beautiful singing.

Perhaps some of you will be on the X Factor in years to come just like our former pupil Grace Davies.

WE ARE AMAZING WRITERS! 

Take a look at our fantastic writing. 

We love writing about traditional tales.

We have been learning to say our own sentence and then write it down. (We did these all by ourselves!)

Can you see our capital letters at the start, finger spaces and full stops?

USING TRADITIONAL TALES FOR ADDING AND COUNTING

We have used our key time this week to talk about traditional tales and have fun counting and adding story characters together. Look at how well we have done!

LEARNING IS A PROCESS 

We have been designing our own models, starting with things we might like to play on at a playground.

Here is how we designed, made and evaluated our learning.

As we make more models over this term, we will add new photographs for you to see. We are going to try and design some new houses for the three little pigs or build a new bridge for the three billy goats gruff without a troll!

ONLINE SAFETY

The children have been thinking about the technology they use in their homes. Many have tablets and enjoy using technology to play games and help them learn.

We have been talking about how important the Internet is and what amazing things it can do.

However, today we shared the e-story about 'Smartie the Penguin' and we looked and listened to how Smartie was a very sensible penguin who checked with a grown-up if he was unsure about anything when he was online.

If you would like to find out about the story we used and its' key messages to help keep even our youngest children safe online, please visit www.childnet.com and search for Smartie the Penguin.

FROG MAKING!

We are reading the book 'Tuesday' by David Wiesner this week. Not only are we writing our own funny frog phrases, simple rhyming lines and interesting frog facts but we have even decided to make our own frogs.

Can you see them below? Let's hope they don't hop away!

ST. GEORGE'S DAY WORSHIP

Wow! We led whole school worship in church today. (24.4.18) We told the story of St. George along with some facts about him.

We all spoke into the microphone, knew our lines and everyone heard everything we had to say!

At St. Leonard's we pride ourselves on the confidence and resilience we impart on our children. It is fantastic to see children successfully leading an audience of over 300 people in worship and praise.

CULTURAL DIVERSITY WEEK       

This week we welcomed Prags from Cultural Educ-asian. Not only did she work with all the classes in school but she visited us twice!

We took part in some Bollywood style dancing and dressed up in some amazing outfits. This really helped with our movement and co-ordination alongside listening and responding to music from other cultures.

We also did some Rangoli art, using pulses, wheat and other natural materials to create the most amazing canvases. We understood pattern and different kinds of art. We will try and make our own patterns soon!

Here is our photo gallery from this special week.

GIVING SOMETHING BACK 

      OUR COMMUNITY LINKS         

This summer we have been growing sunflowers from their tiny seeds. We grew extra ones and donated these as a gift from us to Langho in Bloom. We are excited to try and spot our sunflowers in and around the village over the summer for everyone to enjoy!

RECEPTION GRADUATION 2018

Well done to all our amazing stars this year who graduated today. (19.7.18)

All the children led worship brilliantly and looked fantastic in their graduation caps.

We spoke, sang and played music for our school family to enjoy.

Afterwards we celebrated our special day bu sharing a picnic with our teachers, friends and familiars.

Thank you to all our parents and carers for all your support this year. We wish you all a happy and relaxing summer.

From all the Early Years Team

PARENT'S PERSPECTIVES

We create sustained and supportive relationships with our parents and carers. At the end of the year, we ask parents about their views regarding the experiences they and their children had received this year. 

Below are some of the responses to the following questions:

Q. Considering the year as a whole, what did we do that was particularly helpful or beneficial to you or your child this year?

• "Lots of opportunities for communication between home and school."
• "Listening to and following up on any concerns."
• "Home-learning activities."
• "The Stay and Play days."
• "Homework and notes home."
• "Parent's Evenings."
• "From the start our child has received the BEST in care, attention and a learning plan that has suited her and her ability. I always felt involved which was important to me and you have given my child confidence in herself."
• "Homework books were very clear and easy to follow."
• "Good home/school communication."
• "Approachable staff who have the children's best interests at heart."
• "Giving my child intervention groups to help his particular skills."
• "Brought him even more out of himself. His confidence has soared!"
• "Regular contact and feedback."
• "Provided an environment that she has flourished in and settled easily into school life."
• "Our child's reading and writing skills have particularly impressed us."
• "I found the Stay and Play sessions and the extra Phonics meetings very helpful. It enabled me to keep up to speed with where my child was up to and hoe we could help him at home."
• "The Stay and Play sessions were fabulous they gave a real insight to how well my child had settled into school."

Q. How would you describe St. Leonard's Early Years department?

"Excellent! Our child has never once said he doesn't want to go to school. He has loved every minute and we are thrilled with his progress."

"Very good and very well managed."

"Level of service - superb! Just a huge thank you!!""

"It has been a very good year with no issues. The EYD seems very well organised and run."

"Fantastic and although this year the classroom has been affected by the building work the children's learning hasn't suffered."

"A breath of fresh air! Approachable, supportive, fun, a real credit to the school."

"Excellent and supportive."

"I have never has any issues. My child is happy going to school and is happy when he comes home. For that I cannot thank the Early Years team enough."

"Absolutely brilliant. I am astounded as to how much my child has learnt. There has not been one day in the entire year that he has not wanted to go to school. I have always found the teachers very approachable and always willing to help."

"The Early Years department have been great. The information sessions have been really helpful particularly the one about Phonics."

"I think you have all been truly amazing. You have given our daughter the best possible start to her school life."

MUSICIANS

We love to sing, dance and make music in Reception.

During our Reception year we also play the Ocarina - a tuned round instrument similar sounding to a recorder.

We promote rhythm and song on a daily basis to encourage and stimulate young minds.

MARVELLOUS MATHS

We asked the children what they thought about Maths, one said "We know lots of shapes and numbers and sizes!" This is because we love to take part in our Marvellous Maths times together. We also like to find out about Maths all around our setting.

BRILLIANT BUILDERS

We looked in our inside classroom and decided that it needed some new furniture for our imaginative play.

It came flat packed and so we took it out of the boxes and Mr Harris (one of our Governors) spent time with us, helping us to build it. We were great a matching the right pieces, looking at shapes and sizes and we even used the allen key correctly to fix everything together. We now really enjoy using our furniture and making the most of it!

WE ARE WRITING!                        

We have been trying exceptionally hard to write independently. Using alphabet mats to help us check our letter formations and phase 2 and 3 phonics mats, we have written our "At the weekend..." sentences.

We are very proud of ourselves!

ABOUT US

At St. Leonard’s we pride ourselves on nurturing independent and happy children who take risks and enjoy challenges. Our indoor and outdoor classrooms help each individual child develop their own unique personalities and find their own paths of interest from which to form their own learning journeys.

We benefit from our wonderful woods and the children experience our natural world and a place for reflection and worship as they grow in the footsteps of Jesus Christ.

EARLY YEARS CURRICULUM - PRIME AREAS

Here is a slideshow of some of our children as they develop their skills and knowledge across the prime areas of the earl;y years curriculum.

PHONICS FOR PARENTS POWERPOINT AND HANDOUT

Please have a look through this information following our meeting. If there are any questions you have, please do not hesitate to ask us.

Langho Phonics for parents handout

WE HAVE ARRIVED!

WELCOMING OUR NEW RECEPTION STARTERS TO SCHOOL

We are very proud of how well our new Reception starters have settled into school life. Look how busy we are exploring our new setting and enjoying our playing and learning.

CELEBRATING A HALF-TERM OF SUCCESSES

Wow! The time really has flown by and our new starters are now not so new! Here are some photograph to show you just how busy we have been. The children have made a fabulous start to their school lives and we can't wait to see what they will achieve during the remainder of the term.

FUN ON THE FARM

Here we are on our recent farm visit. The children were provided with real-life learning opportunities that really enthused them and gave first-hand opportunities from which to develop. They were excited to go on the farm safari, stroke and feed a variety of animals and learn all about what goes on down on the farm.

CELEBRATING ACHIEVEMENTS - THE YEAR SO FAR

We are proud to celebrate all our children’s achievements and have the privilege of seeing how they flourish within a school year.

STAY AND PLAY                    

We have held two stay and play sessions for our parents and carers today. The slideshow immediately below is from this morning and the second, from this afternoon.

It was a privilege to be able to share the children's learning with their family members and have quality time together.

The slideshows show the children developing their computing skills in our Information Highway room. Additionally, we see a variety of skills and knowledge being shared in our indoor and outdoor classrooms.

These stay and play times are an opportunity to let our children show their family what and how they learn. The children guide their play and activities build on their current experiences and interests. Some of our children were showing their family how to use a mouse, draw a detailed pictures with care, share snack and chat time, problem solve and work together and celebrate their achievements just before they  graduate from Reception in just four weeks!

Well done to all our children and a big thank you to those family members who came. We have our drop in sessions after school and anyone who couldn't attend today is always more than welcome to see us and visit at the end of the school day.

KEEPING OURSELVES HEALTHY - OUR NURSE VISIT

We really demonstrated our knowledge of keeping clean by washing our hands properly today. Charlotte the Nurse talked to us about what she does in her job and taught us the correct way to wash our hands and when we need to do it. We sang the alphabet song to make sure we washed them for the right amount of time. Thank you Charlotte for helping us with our learning.

FIREFIGHTERS

It has been so busy today because we have been finding out all about fire safety and what firefighters do. We looked at the hoses and protective clothes that the firefighters wear. How exciting!

PARENT'S VIEWS ABOUT US AND WHAT THEY SEE

We have been delighted with the successes of our stay and play sessions this year. Here are some of the comments made by our parents following their vists and time with us.

"I was really impressed with my child's focus and independence throughout the morning..." 

"I loved the chance to see the outdoor play..."

"I was really impressed with the way our children co-operated with each other."

"My daughter showed my some lovely writing and how she uses the computers Independence to play a range of games."

"I was very impressed when my child was on a scooter and then offered it to a girl that was waiting."

PROMOTING CONFIDENCE THROUGH WORSHIP     

Worship is central to our daily lives at school. We were very proud of all our children today as they took part in leading whole school worship all about our Gospel value of thankfulness. We shared a new song from fischy music with our school family.

When children can address and lead learning successfully at such a young age, it is testament to the rates of progress and strengths they have made within the Personal, social and emotional aspect of the EYFS.

PROGRESSION AND CHALLENGE IN P.E.

The children have been using the outdoors to practise co-ordination and  extended physical skills. We have incorporated 'fast feet' along our alphabet snake, counts and directional sequences on the floor squares and hopscotch balances. We used the wall to help us catch and the children decided when they were ready to challenge themselves by either using smaller balls or adding claps to the throwing sequence, e.g. wall, clap, bounce, catch.

The children reflected on their learning afterwards and decided that next time they will need to use bats and balls to further their skills.

PARENT'S PERSPECTIVES

Here are some of the comments and opinions from our Reception parents and carers following our evaluation questionnaire and the receiving of their children's end of year report.

We asked what their views were about the strengths of St. Leonard's Foundation Stage...

• "...individual needs are really well met."
• "It's been lovely to see him develop and blossom."
• "Relationships between children and staff."
• "Communication with parents."
• "Clearly accelerated and promoted progress in all areas."
• "Clear instruction on what is expected of children at that particular stage, re phonics stages, numeracy challenges, great homework."
• "An enthusiastic team of people who make learning challenging and fun."
• "Giving the children good values."
• "Facilities - outdoor area / woods."
• "Close links with St. Leonard's church."
• "Dedicated teaching staff."
• "The teaching has been exceptional."
• "I have appreciated the detailed comments and thorough understanding of how well my child has progressed this year." (Referring to end of year report)
• "We are happy that teachers have challenged her throughout the year."
• "...with being at school and with the support and teaching from you and your wonderful team she has blossomed in so many areas."
• "He quickly settled in and the teaching team have done an excellent job at making the transition a smooth one."

LOOKING FORWARD TO THE FUTURE - WHAT NEXT FOR OUR FOUNDATION STAGE IN 2017-18?

"It's a journey and not the destination."

At St. Leonard's we pride ourselves on continually striving to the best we can possibly be. This means regular reflections on our current practice and setting ourselves new aims and aspirations.

Having consulted parents and deciding as a team of professionals, below are our future goals:

• The completion and achievement of 'Step into Quality in the Early Years' award. (We hope to then go on to achieve further awards as we work with the Early Years advisory team to ensure current and relevant early years learning)
• Regular and sustained 'stay and play' sessions to embed the understanding and practice of working alongside parents and carers as co-educators and contributors to their children's learning. 

Having achieved our above two goals we have decided on our new continuing professional development goal which is to achieve the 'Step into Maths' award this year.

We are currently working with our parents and carers so we are able to set ourselves a second goal in relation to focusing on home-school links.

Achievements and Progress

We are delighted to have been awarded the 'Step into Quality in the Early Years' award. This has been achieved over a year and was presented to us in December 2017. The evaluative programme really supported us in ensuring we provide excellent care and education for all our children.

CHINESE NEW YEAR

We have been so excited to celebrate Chinese New Year. Our teachers and special visitors have shared many exciting facts with us and we have even spoken in Chinese during registration!

Below you can see the learning we have been doing.

TIME FOR TECHNOLOGY

We have been exploring technology and developing our mouse control at the same time.

We are finding out about the parts of a computer, how to switch it on and shut it down properly - we can even log on!

Here you can see us busy with our learning and the pictures and patterns we have made.

MAKING A DIFFERENCE

We were very excited to welcome special visitors from the Guide Dogs charity.

We found out about using our senses and how important the work of the Guide Dogs is. We decided we wanted to make a difference to blind people in the future and donated some money. Here is our certificate!

SUNFLOWER STARS!  

Over recent weeks we have planted and cared for a range of flowers, including sunflowers. We have made sure they got as much sunshine as they could and we watered them and watched out for garden creatures!

As part of our computing, we have drawn our sunflowers and used our phonics to type our own sentences.

RECEPTION GRADUATION 2018

Here is our celebratory slideshow for this year.

OUR VISION AND FUTURE DEVELOPMENT

We are committed to self-evaluation and reflection and learning from each year.

Below are some of the responses to the following question we asked our parents and carers at the end of summer 2018. Following the response is the action we have taken or will take from September 2018.

Q. Considering the year as a whole, what suggestions can you make to help us improve or develop any areas in the future.

• "Key word sheet - to know what is meant by phrases used, e.g. split digraphs." This will be added to our Phonics meetings and provided during the year as part of home-learning experiences.
• "Making the paperwork for the Stay and Play sessions more basic. Or have a few example copies so if we are struggling to know what to write we can see the sorts of things we are meant to put." As part of future Stay and Play sessions, we will provide examples to support parents and carers as they make direct contributions to their child's learning, development and journeys.
• "Perhaps have more Stay and Play sessions but have less parents at each session. That way there would be more space but also parents could get to the resources left out." Future Stay and Play sessions have now been booked over two days so to achieve this. As part of our new refurbishment, our Early Years department has increased in size which should support an improved use of the space."

THE EARLY YEARS VISION 2018/19

We continue to embed our vision into 2019/20

This vision has been brought about by a culmination of several factors:

• The opportunity to re-modernise and re-design Early Years through the basic needs expansion.
• The constant drive to build on from our ‘Step into Quality’ award.
• Continuing professional development that seeks to challenge practitioners and the work they do to provide excellence in Early Years.

The vision:

“To ensure the well-being and involvement of both children and practitioners – using nature to nurture.”

“For the glory of God we are building a part of His kingdom here on earth.”

New developments and the impact of:

• `Theta and a Quiet Place’ environments
• Plants in the indoor environment
• Calming atmospheres through colour
• Leuven Scales
• Building resilience
• Teaching mindfulness to children
• Well-being audit
• Making the most of what outdoor learning offers and the play opportunities it enhances for young, enquiring minds Please come and talk to us about any of our future plans and developments if you would like further information. Thank you.

AUTUMN LEAF DANCING

We believe in creating a love for the outdoors for our children and began with autumn where we combined seasonal changes with nature and dance. We thought about how leaves move in the environment and tried to replicate these through our own movements.

OUR ENTITLEMENT TO THE OUTDOORS

Our children enjoy a range of outdoor leaning opportunities that celebrate and allow for learning within nature. Happy children - who love to explore.

MINI KANDINSKYS

We have enjoyed looking at Kandinsky's famous circles painting. This was very good as it helped us with our painting skills, understanding shapes in art as well as concentrating. We are very proud of our finished masterpieces!

WELL-BEING AND INVOLVEMENT

We have been using the research of Professor Ferre Laevers who has developed ideas about children's emotional well-being and involvement as they play.

We have used the theory associated with this to ensure that our children's well-being constantly remains a focus and priority for us.

We have developed our setting through colour, space, plants and enhanced learning through peer massage. The children have responded with laughter and enjoyment, showing security in their relationships with one another.

WE DID IT!

We are very proud to achieve our second Lancashire Quality Award. It acknowledges our constant drive for further professional development and celebrates the importance of Maths within our curriculum.