Village school sees children thrive with early years experiment

A West Devon village school headteacher has hailed a ‘revolution’ in early years’ classes.

The youngest pupils at Bere Alston Primary School are, he says, making better progress, after combining nursery school and new starters into a new unit along with tailored education.

Gareth Bemister, Bere Alston Primary School headteacher, said: “This is a major success story that has transformed early childhood education here.

“One year ago, we made the strategic decision to restructure our early years provision by combining our nursery and school starters into a single early years unit for children aged two to five.

“This restructure has fundamentally changed the educational outcomes for our youngest pupils.

“For the first time in years, every single child leaving our Early Years Unit this term has achieved ‘good levels of development’ across the early learning goals.

“The strategy has allowed us to create an incredibly concentrated reception class of just nine children this year, with ten currently enrolled for next year.

“While many local children start school in classes of 30 or more, our restructure means Bere Alston pupils receive unprecedented, targeted time with their class teacher, Emma Senior.”

The school’s daily drawing club session illustrated this change, the headteacher said.

“The club is a core part of our unit where the nursery children, known as the ‘Mini Miners’, join with the reception children to collaborate on language, writing, drawing, and imagination skills.

“The drawing club books that the children use to demonstrate and develop their writing and drawing skills, shows a dramatic improvement since the combined nursery and new starters were combined in September, compared with current results.

“Miss Senior teaches daily phonics session with the reception class (the four to five year olds) and at the drawing club session where she and the early years team work with all of the children in the new early years unit.

“While the unit allows for this vital collaboration and ensures a seamless, gentle transition into school life, it also maintains a clear academic progression.

“The older reception children regularly step up for focused maths sessions, formal school assemblies, and independent preparation for PE and ‘forest school’. The older reception children also still wear a school uniform.

“Supported by a vastly experienced early years team, this restructured model has delivered staggering results for our families and offers a unique educational model within the Bere Alston community.”