Tiny Acres (2 Year-old Provision)

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Tiny Acres Curriculum

Welcome to our Tiny Acres

At Acre Hall Primary School, our Tiny Acres setting provides a warm, nurturing, and stimulating environment specifically designed to meet the needs of our 2-year-old children. We understand that this is often a child’s first experience of being away from home, and we work closely with families to ensure every child feels safe, secure, and happy. With a strong focus on wellbeing, communication, and learning through play, Tiny Acres gives children the very best start to their learning journey.

Before we tell you more about our Tiny Acres, we thought it would be useful to explain the following for those who are not already familiar. The EYFS curriculum sets standards for the learning, development, and care of children up to 5 years old. At Acre Hall this includes our Tiny Acres, Nursery and Reception classes.

Our EYFS school ethos: At Acre Hall we are passionate about our children being happy and well-rounded learners. We celebrate each child’s individuality and take a holistic, nurturing approach. We work in partnership with parents to provide stimulating learning experiences, through high quality interactions, in play. As your child embarks on their school journey, we strive to foster in them a lifelong love of learning.

A Safe and supportive start

We pride ourselves on providing a calm, caring environment where children can grow in confidence, develop independence, and build positive relationships. Our staff-to-child ratio is 1:5, allowing for:

• High levels of individual attention
• Strong relationships between staff and children
• Tailored support for each child’s development and wellbeing

This low ratio is especially important at this early stage, ensuring children receive the reassurance, guidance, and encouragement they need.

Learning through play

In Tiny Acres, children learn through carefully planned play-based activities that support development in all areas of the Early Years Foundation Stage (EYFS), including:

• Communication and language
• Physical development
• Personal, social, and emotional development
• Early literacy and numeracy skills
• Exploration, creativity, and problem-solving

Activities are designed to be fun, engaging, and developmentally appropriate, helping children to explore, investigate, and make sense of the world around them.

Indoor and outdoor learning

Children in Tiny Acres have access to both indoor and outdoor learning environments, allowing them to:

• Develop physical skills through movement and play
• Explore nature and sensory experiences
• Build confidence and independence

Outdoor learning is an important part of our daily routine and supports healthy, active development.

Wellbeing and personal care

We place a strong emphasis on emotional wellbeing and personal development. Our staff support children with:

• Settling into nursery routines
• Building secure attachments
• Developing independence
• Personal care needs, including toileting and hygiene, where appropriate

We work closely with parents to ensure consistency between home and nursery and to support each child’s individual needs.

Working in Partnership with Parents

We believe that strong relationships with families are key to children’s success. We offer:

• Regular communication about your child’s day
• Support during transitions and settling-in periods
• Opportunities to discuss your child’s progress and development

Parents are always welcome to speak with staff if they have any questions or concerns.

Smooth Transition into Nursery and Reception

Tiny Acres provides an excellent foundation for children moving into our Nursery and then into Reception at Acre Hall Primary School. Staff work closely across Early Years to ensure:

• Familiar routines and expectations
• Strong continuity of care and learning
• Confident and positive transitions

How to Apply or find out more

If you would like to apply for a place in Tiny Acres or arrange a visit, please contact the school office:

Email: admin@ahps.bright-futures.co.uk
Telephone: Please contact the school office to arrange a visit

Application forms can be downloaded from our website NURSERY APPLICATION FORM or collected from the school office.

Our intent

Our main focus in Tiny Acres is to develop children’s ‘Prime Areas’ of development, enabling them to become socially aware and able to play and learn alongside others. Children become familiar with the rules and daily routines of school life and their continuous provision learning environment. The learning environment both indoors and outdoors is set up to be open ended, developing children’s characteristics for effective learning by building their independence to learn and explore. Adults support this development through modelling language, demonstrating, exploring, recalling and providing a narrative. We also plan activities and provide opportunities for children to develop their fine and gross motor skills, such as painting, gluing, dough, chopping up their snack, which are essential for early reading and writing as they enter Reception.

We follow the statutory guidance for the EYFS and complete EYFS Baseline assessments, as well as the EYFS Profile at the end of the Reception year. The EYFS Curriculum is organised into seven areas of learning:

Educational Programmes	Early Learning Goals
Three PRIME areas:
Communication and Language	Listening, attention and understanding Speaking
Physical Development	Self-regulation Managing self Building relationships
Personal, Social and Emotional Development	Gross motor skills Fine motor skills
Four SPECIFIC areas:
Literacy	Comprehension Word reading Writing
Mathematics	Number Numerical patterns
Understanding the World	Past and present People, culture and communities The natural world
Expressive Arts and Design	Creating with materials Being imaginative and expressive

The importance of a play-based learning curriculum for children

In play a child develops physically, intellectually and emotionally. Play develops key communication and social skills such as negotiating, discussing plans and sharing resources. Play underpins all development and learning for young children and it is essential they have opportunities to play both indoors and outdoors.

How we monitor and celebrate your child’s progress

Our EYFS team observe your child daily during independent self-initiated play and guided learning. As well as celebrating achievements in class, the team make written, photographic and electronic observations of each child’s achievements. These observations are linked to and assessed against the EYFS curriculum they are also uploaded to a secure online system to which you will have access.