Welcome to the Infant Assessment Class
We are a Foundation Stage and Key Stage One High Needs Support Base providing education for up to 10 children with Special Educational Needs. Children aged 4 years to 7 years (Reception – Year 2) are allocated a place in the IAC by process of a panel meeting overseen by the Local Authority SEND team.
Our experienced team provides a high adult to child ratio, and we provide consistent and effective relationships for our small class.
We aim to support children to reach their full potential through high quality teaching which is matched to the needs of the individual child. We provide a safe, stimulating and nurturing environment which enriches children’s learning and motivates them to become active, successful and independent learners. Our children develop a sense of wellbeing, confidence and responsibility so that they can become well rounded members of society. We support children to develop a feeling of respect for themselves and others within our school.
We follow a modified curriculum, using differentiated teaching and learning styles to meet the children’s individual needs. Each child can access a bespoke timetable with appropriate levels of play, directed learning, movement breaks and individual sensory diet as appropriate. Children are supported to integrate with mainstream classes wherever possible. Children are supported by a clear visual timetable, now and next boards and visually clear routines and expectations. We utilise strategies and deliver sessions from a range of programmes including Read Write Inc. phonics, White Rose Mathematics, Attention Autism, Relax Kids and Forest School.
The children are taught through a mixture of play-based learning and adult-led small group activities. We incorporate multi-sensory approaches to all aspects of the curriculum. We aim to foster the development of the whole child. Children’s social, emotional and mental well-being is prioritised, and we work closely with parents and other professional agencies to ensure children receive the provision they need.
The IAC is a wonderful space consisting of a large classroom with range of provision areas including home corner, craft area, painting area, messy & malleable area, maths area, construction area and writing area. We have a separate quiet classroom, a sensory room and two further group areas as well as our own courtyard area for outdoor play.
We like to take part in whole school activities and celebrations whenever we can and integrate with mainstream school activities where possible. We join mainstream children for assembly, playtimes, lunch times, music lessons and PE sessions in our large sports hall. We access the fantastic mainstream early years garden multiple times each day. We like to visit the ICT suite and school library too. We enjoy gardening in our own allotment garden and polytunnel. We value outdoor learning highly and access our local woodland for Forest School activities every week as well as making trips in the school minibus within the local area.
Meet the team
| Mrs. Thomson | Class Teacher |
| Mrs. Bowmaker | Teaching Assistant |
| Miss Hopkins | Teaching Assistant |
| Mrs. Wilkie | Teaching Assistant |
Spring Notices
Information, Advice & Support
Important Information for IAC Parents
Attention Autism in the IAC
Mathematics in the Infant Assessment Class
Phonics & Reading in IAC
Relax Kids
Daisy Chain Project
MAIN – Taking Autism Personally
Ten Town
Oxford Owl
Read Write Inc.
Relax Kids
Redcar & Cleveland Borough Council – Families with Additional Needs and Disabilities
People’s Information Network | SENDIAS Service – Information Advice and Support Service for children and young people with SEND
People’s Information Network | CAMHS and LD CAMHS – Child & Adolescent Mental Health Service
Forest Schools
Forest School at St Peter’s CE Primary School
If you go down to the woods today…you might find a class of busy children learning and playing amongst the trees. Dressed head to toe in waterproofs and warm clothing they come to explore, learn, play and connect in nature every week, all year round.
The adventure begins with the journey to ‘camp’, the thrill of the chase across the school playing fields, then down into the ancient natural woodland. Children marvel at the seasonal change they see, feel, smell and touch. Carrying their own kit including water, snack, a piece of string, scissors a pencil and sketch book, children descend into the wooded valley and walk along narrow trails to find base camp.
On a cold winters day you might hear a sudden gasp of surprise as they realise the natural pinecone bird feeders, they had left the previous week have disappeared. A full-scale investigation must be launched to find the culprit…bird or squirrel? As search parties fork off in different directions the hunt transforms into something much larger… a rustle and a roar has been heard behind the holly tree…uh oh! A Diplodocus? A Triceratops? We must quickly form a tribe to defend ourselves!
Little feet need to keep warm in the winter so moving and playing is the answer. Hide and seek games are always a favourite, is it the owl looking for a mouse, a fox for a rabbit, perhaps a bird for a worm or is it a big hungry bear!? Quick HIDE!
Tummies start to rumble. A wisp of smoke rises from the campfire, it is damper bread today cooking on sticks over the fire, whilst a Kelly kettle bubbles with boiling water ready to pour for hot chocolate to warm chilly hands.
Rainy days can provide us with the thrills of sliding down muddy banks, creating muddy mixtures for potions or even camouflage paint. The rain brings us an array of curious little creatures to find and wonder at, slugs, snails, worms and toads. Tarpaulins are hastily rigged up using all manner of knots to create dry dens to shelter from the rain and listen to the pitter-patter.
Later in spring as the strong scent of wild garlic drifts down the valley you may hear a squeal of delight at the discovery of freshly bloomed bluebells which carpet patches of the forest floor with a vibrant blue… a good day for forest bathing and looking up at the canopy catching rays of sunlight that twinkle through the spring green leaves of the ash trees. Taking big lung fulls of clean air children swing in a hastily rigged up hammock…and relax!
In the warmer months longer days can be spent in the woods. More time to play. Play is a key ingredient to Forest School. Children follow their own enquiries, challenging themselves across uneven terrain, climbing fallen trees, hitting targets, and making up games together.
Woodcrafts and natural art projects are more easily explored in spring and summer. Wooden mallets tap out leaf printed flags, magic wands are whittled with knives and favourite story characters are purposed from sticks and bound with string. These might be used later to retell or create stories.
You might hear the shout of ‘WHO’s THAT TRIPPING OVER MY BRIDGE?’ As children get busy creating their own story scenes using logs, bark, leaves and stones. Soon a very scary mossy troll will pounce from under the log bridge. Clay creations adorn branches, stumps and fallen trees… hedgehogs, worms and snails, model birds and fairy kings.
A walk in the woods in autumn is a truly magical affair, woodland wildlife is at its’ busiest amongst the changing colours, and strange fungi pops up in surprising places. Who can resist an autumn treasure hunt from a list of nature’s bounty of treasures…berries, fungi, feathers, flowers, sticks, and rainbow leaves? Natural art pops up around the woodland as children discover the plethora of colours above their heads and beneath their feet.
A powerful formula is brewing down in these ancient woodlands, confidence grows, imagination explodes, skills and knowledge are absorbed, language is learned, bodies grow stronger, and minds grow happier. A sense of community is fostered through respectful connection to each other and to nature.
By Jennie Thompson
Forest School Vision Statement
Gallery
Our Area
.
Archive
2021 – 2022 Gallery
