Acorns 2023 - 2024
Miss Skillen
Hello everyone! I am Miss Skillen, and I am the EYFS and EAL leader at Woodlands Primary School.
In my teaching career I have taught in EYFS, KS1 and KS2 and for the last two years led our KS1
phase; I am thrilled to be continuing my journey as EYFS leader in September. I am extremely
passionate about Early Years Education and believe that teaching life skills such
as team work, resilience and celebrating diversity in our community help children
become curious, lifelong learners. I have a real passion for the arts. I love designing, making, acting and singing- you will love hearing my angelic voice in class. You will often find me in the crafty corner helping children make their huge imaginations come to life. When I am not in school, I enjoy going to concerts, spending time with family and friends and going to see musicals. You will often find me in theatres singing my heart out to my favourite show tunes or belting out songs from the early 2000
Miss McDowell
Hello! My name is Miss McDowell and I am a new teacher to Woodlands this year. I am very much looking forward to teaching in Acorns whilst Miss Skillen is on maternity leave. I have previously taught in an SEN college, working with some amazing students who have a range of different needs.
Outside of school I enjoy running and competing in dog agility competitions. I have six dogs in total so they keep me very busy! You will often find me out and about walking in the beautiful parts of North Wales. I love to sing, particularly in the choir that I attend, and I also enjoy going to watch musicals with my family.
I am very excited to get to know all of the children in Acorns and I can't wait to have lots of fun learning together!
Welcome to Acorns class.
Acorns is a resourced provision class for reception aged children with an environment that primarily focuses on early communication and interaction skills. Children in our Acorns class follow the same themes as our mainstream reception classes; the children in Acorns have their learning personalised to meet their individual needs. Most activities will be child led, with a focus on their individual targets outlined in the child’s EHCP. Adults will also lead on other activities that are planned to ensure development and progression across key areas of learning.
We have 4 indoor spaces in our Acorns classroom environment and 1 fabulous outdoor learning environment that the children access regularly throughout the day. The children in Acorns also have access to the main EYFS areas/classrooms within the school.
Within the Acorns learning environment staff ensure the children have access to continuous provision areas throughout the school day. Resources are carefully chosen to engage the children in their learning, which reflect their interests, and in doing so, meet the needs of each unique child. Typical activities may include books in the reading corner, ‘messy play’ activities in the craft/creative area such as paint, play dough and crayons, building with blocks in the construction area or exploring in the home corner, sand or water play.
Each area of learning within Acorns has been designed and developed to promote opportunities for social and communication interactions to develop early communication skills. The experienced adults in the room consistently model to the children, using visuals, simple language and objects of reference to move children’s learning forward. Resources are carefully placed to support and develop children’s communication skills as they work with adults or as the child works independently.
Within Acorns we also offer an environment that provides opportunities for emotional regulation, such as our sensory circuits space. The resources in these spaces meet the needs and interests of the children and are adapted and changed to enable children to achieve their full potential. In these calming spaces, adults use visuals, simple language and objects of reference to develop and support children’s early social communication needs. These spaces are used to support co regulation to meet children’s sensory needs so they are therefore ready to learn.
Sensory Circuit Room
Our outdoor environment
Children also have access to an outdoor learning environment. In the garden there are opportunities for using climbing equipment, as well as exploring the water, playing in the huge sandpit or using the cosy corner to support self-regulation.
Spring
This half term our topic is 'Near and Far' and the children will be learning all about different journeys they can make, transport and how we move. They will have lots of journey-based enhancements added to the continuous provision both indoors and outdoors.
We will be celebrating World Book Day, Mother's Day and Easter through stories, songs and craft activities.
