At Ridgeway School we have a mixed Early Years Foundation Stage / Year One class.  Ages within the class range from 2 – 6 years. The children are grouped for many activities and much 1:1 work is undertaken. The youngest children attend on a part time basis. Children extend their time according to their individual needs and the wishes of their parents and carers. Most children become full time in school around the time of their 4th birthday. The youngest children share the outside area with our children from the Primary Department. The children have a very wide range of physical, medical and learning needs.

We recognise what an important time starting school is and value the close links that we develop with families. We do this through having an open door policy, the daily home/school diary, and careful preparations for starting school, including joint home visits with medical and therapy staff and support from social care.   Starting school varies with each child, individual needs are always considered - some parents may spend the first few days with their child in class whilst others prefer to leave straight away. Families are invited to be involved in their child’s education by, for instance, attending open afternoons and assemblies, accompanying us on trips, contributing to IEP planning, undertaking simple ‘homework’ tasks.

In the Foundation Stage, we aim:

• To provide a broad, balanced Early Years Foundation Stage curriculum for our pupils, using a topic based approach.
• To provide a play experience which is emotionally, intellectually, physically and socially challenging.
• To enable children to learn at their own pace; to build on what children already know and can do.
• To include all children, ensuring that no child is disadvantaged because of ethnicity, culture, religion, home language, family background, special educational needs, medical condition, disability or gender.
• To provide well planned, purposeful activities
• To provide high quality care and education
• To support cognitive and communication needs
•  To support physical and medical needs
•  To set the foundation for close and lasting partnership with parents as the children move through school.

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We have close links with the rest of the school, when we join in whole school activities such as the weekly assemblies and fund raising activities. The whole Primary Department join together on a Friday for the ‘Golden Time’ integrated opportunities.

Our staff work very hard to provide a warm and supportive atmosphere, where children and their parents can feel welcome and settle quickly. We want children to experience a wide range of activities, while they learn and develop. Most importantly, we want all the children in the Early Years Foundation Stage to have fun, feel secure and for their parents to feel supported and to know that their children are well cared for as they start their learning journey at Ridgeway School.