Nursery World - Smooth operations

One early excellence centre is setting an example for the foundation stage, as Julian Grenier finds The thinking behind Ashbrow Infant and Nursery School's new Early Years Unit is explained by headteacher Ann Whitworth. 'We've always felt that five years old is a more natural break than four. So we have brought our nursery and reception classes into a single, open-plan area. This fits with our very well-founded philosophy about how young children learn, and about how we can organise the school to cater for that.'

The thinking behind Ashbrow Infant and Nursery School's new Early Years Unit is explained by headteacher Ann Whitworth. 'We've always felt that five years old is a more natural break than four. So we have brought our nursery and reception classes into a single, open-plan area. This fits with our very well-founded philosophy about how young children learn, and about how we can organise the school to cater for that.'

The unit in Huddersfield is made up of nursery children, who attend part-time, and reception children. At 9 am, all the children start together with their key worker. 'We think it is especially important for all children to have a special person to link with,' says Ann Whitworth. 'The children stay with the same key person for their two years in the unit, and many of the group times, like singing and stories, will be with that person.

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