Welcome to the Early Years Phase of the Bridge School

The Early Years currently has pupils in:

• Reception aged pupils
• a very small number of pupils at nursery age who have very complex combined physical/medical and learning who will be in the Specialist Classes in the school 

Pupils who come to the Bridge Early Years should have an EHCP and pupils will have a profile with severe/profound learning disabilities. Many also have additional needs.  Our determination is that all pupils make the most progress they can individually from their starting point. We do this by working to engage each child in the curriculum, ensuring accurate assessment, implementing strategies e.g. for communication and working on the next step of learning. We meet with parents/carers to agree short term outcomes linked to the EHCP. 

Each class within the phase has a teacher and a Senior Teaching Assistant (STA) who takes responsibility for the class if the teacher attends meetings etc. All classes have support staff who work with pupils throughout the school day. Pupils in the Specialist Classes remain closely linked to the classes within the EYFS and access the entitlements within the EYFS framework. 

We recognise that starting school full-time and for many a new setting, that settling each child individually is a priority. We work closely with parents/carers before a child starts to plan this process. Teachers and usually STA's meet parents/carers to gain as much information as possible about each child starting. They access any previous records and reports from other settings or professionals. They think and plan carefully sessions when pupils start e.g. having favourite activities out, providing photo's or symbols to support initial transitions etc. If pupils move on to other settings then we work closely with the new setting linked to their processes and policies to do all we can to support transition. 

We encourage our parents/carers to share things they are pleased about and also anything that they may want to ask or talk through. The class teacher is the first point of contact but the Leadership Team across school can also be contacted. We will always do our best to offer support and advice or to signpost where this can be gained.  We encourage all parents/carers to  contact us as our prime aim in early years and across the school is each child's well being and learning in partnership with parents/carers. 

Further information on Bridge EYFS can be found on other tabs e.g. on the curriculum. 

We would encourage all new parents/carers to make contact with our Parents and Friends of Bridge Association and also PODS (Parents Opening Doors) which is an official parents/carers group for the area. They will support parents/carers making links with other parents/carers if they wish and also provide useful information (see tabs on our website). We would also encourage parents/carers to access their LA Local Offer page for links to services for Special Educational Needs and Disabilities. 

Our class teachers this year are Emily, Lorna and Cath. The  leadership of Early Years is Head of Early Years is Nicola Davis (also School Deputy Head) and Senior Teacher is Liz Masi. 

                             Nicola                                                                           Liz