| BRAEBURN SCHOOL, ARUSHA - EARLY YEARS PROSPECTUS |
| Our
Philosophy
At Braeburn Early Years Centre (EYC) the children come first. We believe that it is our responsibility to provide opportunities for all children to excel academically and socially. We believe that self-esteem and confidence are essential ingredients in encouraging children to become motivated and active learners. The Early Years Centre is a community in which staff, children and parents work and play together to provide a stimulating, happy and caring environment. Our classrooms are colourful, stimulating and well - resourced and our teachers and teaching assistants are highly qualified and trained, to ensure that we can fulfil our school aims and deliver the curriculum effectively. In line with the British National Curriculum, our Early Years Curriculum is based on the UK's "Early learning goals". The period from age 3 to the end of the Reception Year is described as the foundation stage. Is a distinct stage and is important both in it's own right and in preparing children for later schooling. The foundation
stage curriculum is organised into six areas of learning: 'Stepping stones' objectives progress towards the early learning goals. The goals establish expectations for most children to reach by the end of the foundation stage. Our staff plan the children's work to ensure that these outcomes are achieved and that they are well prepared to move on to year 1 when they are 5. Play is at the centre of the early years curriculum. It is the child's work. Children develop their social, emotional, physical and creative skills through this most natural activity. We provide
purposeful play, in a secure and well-planned environment with effective
adult support to enable the children to: Pre-nursery
- Children must be 2 years old on the first day of the term of entry (should
they be accepted earlier they may have to complete one or two extra terms
in Pre - nursery to be the correct age to enter Nursery). Children will only be accepted at the EYC if they are toilet trained. (Nannies can stay with the Pre- nursery children for the first week, there after they are encouraged to take a step back) The ratio of children to adults in each class will not exceed 8:1. When classes are full children can be registered and will be placed on our waiting list until a place becomes available. Entry into Year 1, the 'formal' start of Primary School, is in the August/September following a child's 5th birthday.
Please ensure that, if another adult delivers your child to school, they understand these safety precautions. Children should not arrive at the EYC before 8:00am. There is no afternoon class on Fridays for any EYC children. Pre-nursery and Nursery children should wear comfortable 'home clothes' that help them to dress independently. Reception children should wear the Braeburn uniform navy blue shorts / trousers (boys) or skirts / trousers (girls) with a pale blue short - sleeved shirt. Ties are not compulsory for Reception but can be purchased from the Primary school. Uniform can be purchased at 'The Uniform Shop' in Swahili Street or anywhere of your choice. All children should bring a change of clothes in case of accidents. These should stay in their school bag at all times, as we do not always have the correct size available. If the weather is wet children may need a waterproof jacket and an extra change of shoes or pair of welly boots. On sunny days you may wish to provide a sun hat and apply sunscreen before they leave for school. For P.E. - comfortable home clothes that allow free movement and running shoes. Please ensure that all clothing and personal properties are clearly labelled. The Early Years Centre cannot take responsibility for unlabelled clothing or other items of personal property if they are not clearly marked. Children must be delivered into the care of a teacher or teaching assistant at the beginning of the day and collected from the classroom at the end of the day. If another adult is delivering or collecting your child please ensure that the teacher is informed. We will not hand over the children to unidentified strangers. Please be punctual at the beginning and the end of the day. It can be very distressing for young children to have to join a class late or wait for parents after their classmates have been collected. Please ensure that we always have a phone number where you can be contacted. If your address or telephone number changes please inform us so that we can update our records. Also any change in personal circumstances, which may affect your child's behaviour, such as the birth of a new baby or a death in the family, could be shared with the class teacher. If your child suffers from any medical condition or allergy, please talk to the class teacher about it and ensure that we have that information on the child's registration form. Any child bringing medicine to the EYC must bring it in a container clearly marked with name and dosage and handed over to the teacher by a responsible adult. We have an 'open - door' policy. You are welcome to call in anytime to see what is going on in the classroom. Obviously if you wish to speak to your child's teacher or the Head Teacher at length you will need to make an appointment so that they can make some non- teaching time available. Calendar dates and newsletters are sent out each term and are also put up on the front notice board. Schemes of work and weekly lessons plans can be viewed in your child's classroom where teachers will always be willing to answer your questions about our topic - based approached to lessons. A Parent Welcome Evening is usually held early in the first term to enable parents to meet socially and talk to staff. If you anticipate keeping your child away from school for any reason please inform us in writing. All children require a break time snack - a drink and a healthy snack of fruit, biscuits, sandwiches or crisps (fizzy drinks, sweets, gum and chocolate are not encouraged) please do not send glass bottles or infant feeding bottles. If your child has a birthday it is quite acceptable to send in a birthday cake to share at snack time (between 10:10 and 10:45) Children in Reception, who attend Early Years all day, are served with a hot meal at lunchtime, (this should be paid for at the Naaz Hotel, who provides our catering service) or a packed lunch from home. Expensive or treasured toys should not be sent into school since we cannot guarantee their safety. If however your young child will settle better with a familiar toy to cuddle we will not separate them from that security. We also encourage children to bring in topic-related books and toys to promote class discussion - but they should be clearly named. Children
receive reports at the end of the first and third term, and in the middle
term parent meetings provide a specific opportunity to discuss your child's
progress with the teachers. Click here to visit the Primary School prospectus. |
On this Page: |