Welcome to Chestnut class which is a new Resource Provision classroom. Our class has 12 places for children age 4-5 years who require some additional support and whom will benefit from being in a smaller class with a high adult ratio. Children attend Chestnut class 5 full days per week, starting at 8.45am and finishing at 3.15pm. The class is led by Tina Harris who is an experienced Early Years teacher supported by a strong team of experienced Teaching Assistants.

Our aim is to develop happy, confident and capable communicators and learners and we recognise every child as an individual with a unique starting point. We spend a lot of time working on communication to help your child make their needs known and to build up their language and communication skills. We use intensive interaction as a strategy to help children to develop their communication and shared attention skills. We use gestures, signs, symbols and objects of reference to communicate with the children. Every child is treated as an individual and we get to know their needs really well from listening to you as their parents and from listening to and observing the children. Each child has a One Page Profile, so that all adults who work with the children know what is important to them. Every child has an Individual Education Plan that we work on each term and review as and when necessary so that we see progress in areas that are most important to your child’s needs. These targets are taken from your child’s EHCP and are shared termly with parents.

The Chestnut classroom is a large, bright space and we set up resources that interest the children and provide a variety of continuous provision areas for the children to access throughout the school day. This includes home corner, book area, areas for craft, malleable and messy play. Our second room offers a space that meets your child’s sensory needs, which is important in keeping them well regulated and ready to learn. We also have a small room dedicated to teaching in an environment that is quiet and distraction free, a great space for 1:1 work or for small group activities such as ‘Bucket Time’. We have a small Sensory Room that offers a calm environment when your child needs to take some time out and relax.

We have a wonderful outdoor environment at Ganneys and we can access an area with climbing walls, hammocks, water play and a large outdoor sandpit. We also have a large Orchard garden where the children can move with freely exploring our forest area and developing their gross motor and body control. We reduce the number of transitions that the children have to make by eating in our classroom and we staff this with adults that the children know and trust. Snack time is also recognised as an excellent teaching opportunity, a chance to develop social and self- help skills, as well as introducing some new foods.

We love working with your children and seeing them develop during their time with us. Your child will be assigned a key person who will get to know them extremely well, and with the support of Mrs Harris, plan for every child to make progress. The team have been working closely with Helen Bibby, who has provided training on Intensive Interaction and Attention Autism. We also work with a Speech and Language Therapist and other professionals to ensure all children make progress and their education plan is tailored to their individual needs, We are proud of the close professional relationships that we build with parents and look forward to sharing your child’s learning journey with you.