Proud to be In partnership with Early Excellence
For our upcoming training events click here: Early Excellence Training
| Name | Role |
|---|---|
| Josey Hall | Teacher |
| Kaylee Whattam | Teacher |
| Aimee Bell | Teacher |
| Kerry Quinn | Teaching Assistant |
| Emma Booth | Teaching Assistant |
| Shirelle Pugh | Teaching Assistant |
Welcome to the Rainbow Hub – the gateway to Park Grove’s exceptional and inspiring school journey.
A place where children are allowed to be individual – and respect others for doing the same. A place to inspire a love of learning and one where children enjoy the wonder and awe of childhood, having fun and learning through enquiry and play.
We are aspirational in everything that we do. No two days are the same. We aspire for excellence and we do so through our creative and inclusive curriculum.
Orange unit where Reception and Year 1 children can learn, play, thrive and enjoy the wonder and awe of childhood – as it should be!
We have a fantastic outdoor area, where we free flow and enjoy outdoor learning. Inside, we have 2 classrooms, a middle area with fantastic provision and a sensory room. Children free flow throughout the unit and we teach as a team.
No two days are the same in Rainbow Hub—but each one is filled with fun, learning, and the magic of childhood.
We begin each day with a morning circle. This is to check in with how the children are feeling. This simple act of connection helps children feel seen and heard, builds emotional literacy, and allows us to nurture each child according to their needs that day. From there, the day opens up into a world of play, exploration, and meaningful learning.Wellbeing is at the forefront of everything we do and it is for this reason that we also start each day with breakfast.
Play forms the foundation of everything we do. While our day may look playful and spontaneous, it is underpinned by careful planning and deep understanding of child development. Our team creates open-ended, enriching opportunities that support all areas of learning—through building, storytelling, imaginative role play, problem solving, mark-making, and so much more.
Reception and Year 1 children share the space and benefit from our rich provision. We carefully tailor learning experiences to meet their developmental needs, including short, focused sessions throughout the day. For Year 1, these are slightly longer and offer progression while still rooted in active, practical, and engaging approaches.
Our love of outdoor learning shines through every day. We make the most of our outdoor space and our dedicated Forest School area, which we visit regularly. Whether climbing, investigating wildlife, building dens, or simply feeling the weather on their skin, children learn deeply when they are outside. We are passionate about giving children these experiences and are out and about as much as possible—rain or shine
In Rainbow Hub, children experience a school journey that begins with joy, curiosity, and wonder. We aim to spark a lifelong love of learning—because when children are having fun, they’re fully engaged and open to new ideas.
Our curriculum is rooted in the EYFS Statutory Framework and the Year 1 National Curriculum, but we always begin with the children themselves—their interests, their needs, and their passions. While we meet and exceed the statutory expectations, our learning is shaped by the unique individuals in front of us.
In Rainbow Hub, children take part in the Early Years Enquiry, a rich, enquiry-based curriculum that gives their learning real purpose and direction. Each enquiry is designed around a meaningful end goal, and children are actively involved in shaping the journey. Together, we develop a carefully sequenced series of questions that guide our learning—encouraging curiosity, critical thinking, and a sense of ownership every step of the way.
Children in Rainbow Hub can expect a wide variety of experiences: from messy play to number games, from storytelling to outdoor adventures, from creative expression to collaborative projects. And through it all, we are quietly and consistently helping them build key skills for life: independence, resilience, communication, empathy, and curiosity.
Personal development is central to our approach. We offer opportunities that help children grow socially and emotionally, encouraging them to become confident learners who can navigate both the classroom and the wider world.
We believe that learning doesn’t stop at the school gates, and that the best outcomes happen when parents and teachers work together. A strong home–school relationship is vital to your child’s success.
We warmly welcome your involvement and encourage you to talk to us, ask questions, and share your child’s successes or challenges. We operate an open-door policy and are always happy to chat.
One of our key aims is to support children in becoming increasingly independent. You can help at home by encouraging your child to take responsibility for their belongings, practise self-care like toileting and handwashing, and develop fine motor skills through practical tasks like cutting food or dressing themselves.
When it comes to learning at home, short and regular bursts are best. Starting school is a big change and many children will be tired in the evenings, so keep it light, engaging and fun. Whether you’re reading a bedtime story, spotting numbers on signs, or playing with dough, you’re helping your child build the foundations for lifelong learning.
The Prime Areas of Learning:
The Prime Areas of learning include the core aspects of our curriculum – Physical Development, Communication and Language and Personal, Social and Emotional Development. Without gaining a secure base in these areas of learning,children will struggle to move onto further focused learning. These 3 areas of learning in Early Years underpin everything that we do. Our provision, timetable and focus learning supports these areas first.
Physical development comes into everything that we do. We start the day by warming up our bodies and hands before we begin with fine motor muscle use for handwriting. The children have access to the outside during all play time in the day. Our focus teaching includes getting the children moving and involved – and of course we have our PE specialist, teaching the children every Tuesday morning.
Communication and language is taught through daily interactions with the children. We have a strong focus on vocabulary and building this up so that the children can speak and articulate themselves freely. A huge focus of communicating is becoming a good listener. We level our expectations based on what child development theory tells us but also on the progress that the children are making. We use a programme called Wellcomm in Reception to support language development so you may hear us feeding back about this.
PSED – Personal, social and emotional development is also taught through the interactions and modelling that adults are doing in the areas of provision. We also have discrete focus sessions to support this area that is HUGE in Reception. Teaching children to regulate their emotions and become more resilient is a key focus, especially at this tender time of the year.
Support your children at home with these core areas of the curriculum and you will see progress throughout. Making time to move, be active, talk, take turns and discuss emotions are all key to success. Below are some links to useful websites/information to help support you in supporting your child at home.
Along with the Prime Areas of learning, we have the specific areas of learning – Maths, Literacy, Expressive Arts and Design and Understanding the World.
All of the prime areas of learning teach children the foundations that they need to succeed in National Curriculum subjects as they move through school. We are very lucky to have some expert teachers in school who work with the Early Years team to develop a curriculum that has a smooth transition from Early Years to KS1.
In Maths we use a programme from the NCETM – you can find lots of useful resources on their website. We will post a link to this on Seesaw for you to use at home if you wish. Maths in Reception is all about gaining essential number sense, understanding the need for Maths and having the basic knowledge that they need to tackle future challenge. By talking about number, amounts, shapes, measure, time etc. you can help your child with their early maths skills. In our maths sessions we keep the learning very hands on and active so that children can understand the concepts.
Expressive Arts and Design are a HUGE part of what we do in Early Years as well. From stories, to acting, songs, crafts, painting, performances!! So many things evolve around this. At Park Grove we are proud of our creativity and the school promotes Art with a passion. Alongside the daily activities where children can express their imagination and creativity, they also do the Tuesday morning Art with Mrs Stone and Miss Birch.
To build the foundations for History, Geography, Science and some RE, children learn how to understand the world around them. Understanding the world is very broad, but children in Reception are encouraged to become aware of the community and world around them.
Literacy is a big and exciting part of what we do in Reception. The children will all learn to do something amazing in their Reception year – read and write! Supporting your child with phonics, reading and writing is key to success.
Some key points to help your child at home
Some useful links to support your child with learning at home
Remember, the key to success is a good parent – teacher – child relationship. Keep in touch with us, so that together we can help your child thrive.
Throughout the Early Years Foundation Stage, the substantive knowledge that children gain is the understanding and access to the seven areas of learning outlined in the Statutory Framework for the Early Years Foundation Stage; communication and language, personal, social and emotional development, physical development, literacy, maths, understanding the world and expressive arts and design.. In the prime areas, this is building a broad and varied vocabulary as well as developing focus, listening and attention skills. Children also secure the gross and fine motor skills that they need to move forwards with their learning. Personal, social and emotional development underpins our curriculum and like our school aims – every unique child is celebrated. We have a focus on personal development. Ensuring that children become confident, happy and outgoing young people as well as gaining the knowledge they need to manage feelings, build positive relationships and learn further in the specific areas of learning. The substantive knowledge in the four specific areas is gaining the understanding pf the key concepts that are taught sequentially through adult led teaching as well as the natural, child led learning that takes place in Early Years. These skills and knowledge develop throughout the year through child led and deliberate practice and the children make huge progress.
Disciplinary knowledge builds on the substantive knowledge that children gain in Early Years. It is the independent interpretation of the knowledge and skills. The children become able to do things on their own, make sensible decisions and choose to learn more. Through teacher knowledge of each unique and individual child, alongside accurate assessments, we are able to build on each child’s skills, every child makes amazing progress. Disciplinary knowledge is secure when we see a child independently and consistently practising these aspects in play and everyday situations. Children become problem solvers who know how to use theory or tests to back up their knowledge, an example of this is in colour mixing or using phonics to read with a purpose.
