Oxclose Primary Academy pupils in forest school

Share This Page

Early Years

Vision and Aims

At Oxclose Primary Academy we are passionate about working hard to ensure we provide a safe and nurturing environment to allow the children to develop and grow as a unique individual. We strive to provide opportunities for them to succeed in all areas of their development. We aim to encourage children to develop independence and confidence to support risk taking and to challenge themselves within the learning environment.

We believe that the Early Years Foundation Stage is crucial in securing solid foundations that children are going to continue to build upon throughout their lives. Children in our Reception classes follow the EYFS curriculum which has seven main areas of learning.

The Prime Areas:

Personal, Social and Emotional Development
Communication and Language
Physical Development

The Specific Areas:

Literacy
Mathematics
Understanding the World
Expressive Arts & Design

Sequencing Rationale

Mathematical skills are fostered through the White Rose Hub for Maths, which offers a progressive structure that builds on children's understanding of core concepts. This scheme promotes problem-solving and reasoning skills, thereby enabling pupils to apply their mathematical knowledge in various contexts. We use practical resources to teach and reinforce mathematical concepts.

For writing, we use the Literacy Tree programme, which is designed to enrich children’s literacy skills through storytelling and has a focus on high-quality texts. The sequence of learning in writing is crafted thoughtfully to develop vocabulary, comprehension, and composition, nurturing a love for literature from an early age.

Additionally, we employ the ELS Phonics scheme, which plays a vital role in developing phonetic awareness and early reading skills. This structured phonics programme ensures that children acquire critical decoding skills in a logical sequence, facilitating their transition into proficient readers.

Early Years Intent

Our Learning Enviornment

Reception Transition

Once you have accepted your child’s place at Oxclose Primary Academy, you will receive a phone call to confirm your details and then our Early Years Lead will contact your child’s nursery to arrange a visit and speak with their key workers. This helps us to gain a clear understanding of your child’s individual needs, interests and experiences, ensuring a smooth and supportive transition into school.

You will receive a welcome pack in the post containing all of the key information you need to prepare for your child starting Reception. We also offer opportunities for your child to visit the Reception classroom before September, helping them to become familiar with the environment, routines and staff. In addition, we hold a parent welcome meeting where you will be able to meet the team and learn more about school expectations and daily routines.

In September, we provide a graduated transition approach. Children initially attend in smaller groups for shorter sessions before gradually building up to full-time attendance. This carefully planned start supports children to settle confidently, build relationships and feel secure in their new environment.

Further details about the transition process can be found in your welcome pack.

Starting-Reception-Social-Story-2026.pdf

Key Dates and Information 2026 Starters

Parent Welcome Meeting
Tuesday 30th June 2026, 4.00–4.30pm

Parents-Induction-Meeting-2026.pdf

Start Date
Wednesday 2nd September 2026 (see welcome pack for graduated transition timings)

Reception Class Visits
You can arrange for your child to visit the Reception classroom on one of the following dates:

Wednesday 1st July, 9.30–10.30am
Thursday 2nd July, 1.30–2.30pm
Wednesday 8th July, 9.30–10.30am
Thursday 9th July, 1.30–2.30pm

If your child attends Oxclose Nursery, these visits will be arranged by the nursery. If your child attends a private nursery, please select a suitable date and time and contact the school office to book their place.

Consent Forms

Please return completed content forms from your welcome pack to school office by Friday 10th July and show birth certificate.

Uniform

Uniform can be purchased from

Oxclose Primary Academy (New September 2025) | The School Outfit

The School Outfit Unit, 11 Brockwell Road, Crowther Industrial Estate, Washington, NE38 0AF

Opening Hours: Monday - Saturday 9am-5pm Tel: 0191 416 8889

Supporting Your Child Starting in Reception

Preparing for Reception is not just about formal learning, such as reading or counting, but also about helping children to develop the confidence, skills and habits they need to feel happy, secure and ready to learn.

At Oxclose Primary Academy, we recognise the important role parents and carers play in this journey. Simple, everyday moments—such as talking together, playing, reading stories and encouraging independence—help to build the foundations your child needs. These small steps, developed over time, support children to settle into school with confidence and feel a strong sense of belonging.

We are committed to working in partnership with families to ensure every child feels supported from the very beginning. By building on the experiences children already have at home, we can work together to help every child make a confident, happy start to their school journey.

Further Information and Support

You may find the following websites helpful when preparing your child for school:

Helpful Documents

We also recommend the following guides to support your child’s independence and readiness for school:

Starting-Reception.pdf

Dressing-Skills-.pdf

Toilet-Training-Guide-1.pdf

Toothbrushing-1.pdf

Implementation

At OPA the child is the centre of our curriculum and we plan open ended activities designed to stimulate ideas, initiative and imagination allowing the child to follow their own path of learning.

We use a plan-do-review approach during continuous provision allowing our pupils to take charge of their own learning and to become reflective as they play. We believe children have potential and are curious, eager to participate in social interaction, establish relationships and build lessons for themselves, as well as the ability to adjust to the environment wonderfully.

At Oxclose we see the environment as the third teacher. We believe children flourish in environments that adapt to their interests and steps of development. We aim within the learning environment to foster children’s imagination, creativity, and curiosity. It is designed to provide a range of age and stage appropriate resources to ensure continuous provision and provocations build and extend on the children’s learning.

Our routine underpins a balance of adult led and child-initiated activities, catering to the children’s developmental needs. Children have access to both indoors and outdoors throughout the day. We aim to ensure provision is organised, tidy, stimulating and exciting allowing children to engage, be motivated and think critically in their play.

Our experienced practitioners play a vital role in scaffolding, listening and facilitating the learning to further establish how to plan or continue to enhance the learning of children. They assess continuously through observations in order to plan next steps, challenge and inform future planning ensuring children reach their full potential.

We have key texts and themes to support the curriculum based on the interests of our children.

We strive to embed the early skills of both reading, writing and mathematics within the Early Years curriculum.

We recognise that parents are the first educators in children’s lives and we actively encourage our parents to be involved in their children’s learning in school.