4- 5 year olds
Welcome to the staff in The Butterfly Room: Miss Rebecca (Room leader), Miss Hayley (Key Person), Miss Kay (Key Person) Miss Mia (Classroom Assistant).
At the age of about 4 years the children can move into The Butterfly Room. In the Butterfly room great emphasis is placed on supporting children to become independent thinkers and preparing them for the school environment. Children are encouraged to develop skills in memory and concentration and are given opportunities to consider the importance of making positive relationships through various group activities. Early reading and problem solving games ensure that children are appropriately challenged and that they make good progress towards the learning goals set out in the Early Years Foundation Stage Curriculum. Parents are asked to supply a change of clothing and adequate food for the day. Staff ratios in this room are 1:8
The Butterfly Room is organised so that children can access resources independently. There are various areas in the room including a book area, a role play room, a self-select snack bar, a creative development area, a writing area, a number area and a water tray. A door from the classroom enables free-flow indoor/outdoor access where children may choose to play outside if they prefer. In addition to this children have half an hour each session in one of a number of outdoor play areas. We aim to encourage children to be creative, independent thinkers by allowing them to choose the activities they wish to play with whilst presenting them with new ideas to extend their learning and confidence
All areas of the Early Years Foundation are covered in The Butterfly Room. As the children’s confidence increases they enjoy a stronger emphasis on exploration and investigation and are encouraged to use all their senses to find out more about the world around them. Children in The Butterfly Class learn how to take calculated risks and engage in more challenging play opportunities. Forest School is available twice a week, at our onsite location.
Daily plans are displayed in the room so that parents can see which activities are planned for the week ahead. This planning has been developed by ‘key persons’ in The Butterfly room and are based on the children’s current interests. Medium term planning is also incorporated to ensure that all areas of the Early Years Foundation Stage Curriculum have been covered throughout the year.
The Butterfly Class have regular Show and Tell days, which provide the children with the opportunity to develop their self-confidence along with their communication skills. Show and Tell is held on a Friday in the Butterfly room and follows weekly themes which are displayed along with the planning. The Butterflies also attend our onsite Forest School area on Monday afternoons and Wednesday mornings.