The Acorns Primary & Nursery School
Caterpillars 2023 - 2024
Miss Lewis
Caterpillar Class
In Caterpillar Class, we take children from the age of 2. We have highly qualified and experienced staff (to degree level) to care for your child. We aim to provide a variety of sensory play experiences to encourage language and develop explorative senses. We follow the 'Development Matters' document, focussing on the prime areas which are: personal, social and emotional development; communication and language, and physical development. Each child has a key person who is responsible for their observations and assessments.
We offer morning sessions - 8:30 - 11:45 am. We take pupils with 2 Year Free Funding or alternatively charge £12.50 per session.
'Me' Books
During home visits, we will take photographs in the family home to use in 'Me' Books (and keyrings). We really appreciate parents/carers sending us additional photographs to add to these throughout the year. 'Me' Books help to share with us anything special you have done at home. We regularly look at the books with the children during the sessions to develop communication and language. Furthermore, having familiar faces from home in the setting has a positive impact on co-regulation.
Stay and Play
Stay and Play sessions for parents, grandparents and carers to spend time in Pre-School with the children happens daily. As part of our transition policy, adults are encouraged to stay in session for as long as they feel appropriate. Parents tend to stay most days for the first 20 minutes to engage with welcome songs and sensory play. Having our parents stay in sessions also gives them the opportunity to see what the children do as well as promoting high-quality interactions.
Parent Support
Please take a look at the links and websites below for ideas and information that you may find useful for supporting your child at home:
IMPROVING OUTCOMES FOR 2-YEAR OLDS
Parent Feedback
Please read some feedback we received from parents:
"I'm so so grateful for the caterpillar team. You all go above and beyond every single day. You're all fantastic! Her confidence and speech have improved significantly; I'm so proud of her. The skills and knowledge you all have is truly amazing. I'm also so impressed with her learning journal and the references to different skills she is achieving. You're all stars!"
"I can't believe all of the things she gets up to every day. She is so busy! She loves coming to 'school'!"
"He absolutely loves 'school' and asks to come every day when I drop off his big sister. I'm so happy that he is enjoying it."
"He has settled in so quickly and is making so much progress and getting better and better every day. It is all because of the team and the hard work put into helping him. Thank you all so much."