Welcome to the Early Years Foundation Stage — the very beginning of your child’s exciting learning journey at Denham Village School!

In Acorn Class, we believe that every child is full of potential, curiosity and wonder. Our aim is to nurture a genuine love of learning from the very beginning, creating a safe, happy and inspiring environment where children feel confident to explore, discover, question and grow.

Our days are filled with play, exploration and creativity. We believe that children learn best when they are actively involved, so our classroom is always buzzing with opportunities to investigate, experiment, imagine and make sense of the world around them. Whether we are splashing in puddles, searching for minibeasts, building dens, creating masterpieces, sharing a story or discovering something new, there is always something exciting to explore!

Our indoor and outdoor classrooms provide rich opportunities for children to learn through first-hand experiences. Whatever the weather, we encourage our children to get stuck in, take risks, solve problems and follow their own interests, while being supported by caring adults who know when to step in, when to guide and when to simply let the magic of learning unfold.

Our Acorn Class Curriculum Goals 🌱

Throughout their time in Acorn Class, we want every child to develop into:

A confident learner – ready to have a go and believe in themselves
An independent individual – developing the skills to think and do things for themselves
A fantastic friend – showing kindness, empathy and care for others
A risk-taker – willing to try something new, make mistakes and learn from them
A food scientist – exploring food, making healthy choices and discovering where our food comes from
A brilliant bookworm – developing a lifelong love of stories, books and reading
A purposeful writer – finding reasons and opportunities to communicate through writing
A master of maths – developing a deep understanding of number, shape, space and measure
An eco-warrior – caring for our environment and understanding our responsibility for the world around us
A compassionate citizen – celebrating differences and showing respect and care for our community
A proud performer – expressing ideas, building confidence and sharing their creativity
A curious explorer – asking questions, investigating and discovering how the world works

Underpinning everything we do are our Denham Village School values: Respect, Resilience, Kindness, Aspiration and Independence. These values help us to build a classroom community where every child feels valued, supported and celebrated.

In Acorn Class, every day is an opportunity to wonder, discover and grow. We want our children to leave the Early Years not only ready for the next step in their education, but with the confidence to say “I can have a go!”, the curiosity to ask “I wonder why?” and the excitement to discover “What shall we learn next?”