‘Nurturing Individual Excellence’

Cohort Visit to Reception Class - 19th December 2018

Date: 2nd Jan 2019 @ 12:19pm

Reception Class, Foundation Stage 2, Foundation Second Year – call it what you will, it’s simply a great place to be if you’re 4 or 5 years old and attend Excalibur Primary School.

I prefer the name Foundation Stage. Delivered well, as it is at Excalibur, it achieves what it says on the tin. The foundations for learning are laid down – precisely, with care, to last a lifetime.

There, Mrs Rogers does a wonderful job – moulding rudimental learners into learners for life. Spend a morning with her, as I did recently, and you’re reminded that being a teacher is simply the best job in the world.

Every astronaut, engineer, doctor or scientist, every nurse, lawyer, electrician or dental hygienist, every web designer, midday assistant, accountant, hairdresser, writer, singer, dancer or dolphin trainer started his or her working life at a school. If your child is currently in Mrs Rogers’ class then they’re in the best place to start their journey in becoming astronauts, engineers, doctors or writers.

I visited on the same day as the Reception Class Christmas party. Children arrived dressed to impress, but all were happy to complete their morning tasks, laid out ready for them. Children were industrious from the moment they stepped into the classroom. As a teacher myself, I know the importance of setting high expectations from the outset. Even on party day, the children in Mrs Rogers’ class came to school to work.

During the autumn term, the children have learnt how to focus, to take turns, to listen to others and to express their own opinions. Important life skills such as these do not develop through osmosis. Teachers teach these and Mrs Rogers and Mrs Cheadle are a strong team that expect nothing less than their children’s very best, every day.

The most important thing that a parent or teacher can do for a child, after feeding, watering and keeping them safe, is to read aloud to them. I read five stories to the children, at different points during the morning, and several children joined in. Having a copy of the book at home meant that they were familiar with the linguistic patterns and the phrases used by significant authors.

Undoubtedly though, the highlight of my morning’s visit was the children telling their own stories, using the newly adopted ‘Helicopter Stories’ approach to storytelling. In its simplest form, Helicopter Stories lets children dictate their composition to their teacher, who then gathers the rest of the class around a taped-out stage, where the story is enacted with the rest of the children making up the cast. As Albert Einstein once wrote, “If you want your child to be intelligent, read them fairy tales. If you want them to be more intelligent, read them more fairy tales.” This year’s Reception class is sure to grow in intelligence as they tell their own stories. We should thank Mrs Rogers, for enabling this growth.

Jonathon Riley

Co-opted Governor

Excalibur Primary School

December 2018

Excalibur Primary School

Ivy Lane, Alsager, ST7 2RQ

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