Early Years (Nursery and Pre-School ages 2-4)

It all starts here!

Early Years at Copthill is a nurturing, safe and stimulating environment where the youngest children in our school begin their lifelong learning journey.

We encourage curiosity, social skills, listening, playing, and sharing, whilst ensuring every day is an adventure. Picking blackberries, visiting the Copthill farm animals, pottery, music, dance, painting and baking are typical activities. There’s also an important emphasis on fine motor control, practised through sculpting, cutting, building, threading and pressing.

As you’d expect at Copthill, there’s a strong emphasis on getting outside.  Waterproofs and wellies are standard kit and our pre-school children spend a whole day per week outdoors, even eating their lunch in a Copthill yurt. Our nursery children spend half a day each week in the great outdoors too.

Screen time is restricted to less than 15 minutes per day, and instead, we incorporate mindful moments, encouraging children to slow down, breathe and find calm. For younger children, naps are encouraged for those who need them!

Each term sees the introduction of a topic such as pets, friendships, or the environment, and Early Years’ children enjoy the main school’s specialist facilities and teachers, including PE, music and French. Exploring the main school is the perfect introduction to reception and beyond.

Our specialist teaching based on the ‘Dimensions’ framework means we adapt activities for each child. For example, a play tray might have diggers or dinosaurs, flowers or teddy bears.

Parents can look forward to an observation report every week, shared via a system called Tapestry.  This provides highlights of their children’s Copthill week and allows continuation of learning themes and activities at home.