Our Early Years provision is a warm, welcoming and nurturing start to every young person's journey at Fountaindale.

We provide a specialist Early Years learning environment where our young people can learn through play, exploration and meaningful experiences. Our approach is built around each young person's individual needs, interests and starting point, ensuring that they have the right support and opportunities to develop, communicate, explore and enjoy their learning.

Our highly skilled team combines specialist Early Years expertise with extensive training to support young people with complex and medical needs. This enables us to create an environment that is both nurturing and appropriately responsive to the individual needs of every young person.

A personalised curriculum

Our Early Years provision is led by Julie Bullock, who has worked within the Early Years department at Fountaindale for over 10 years. Julie and her team bring a wealth of experience and expertise to supporting our youngest learners.

Young people access a broad and personalised curriculum, with the pathway determined by their individual developmental needs. Depending on their starting point and learning profile, they may access elements of our Pre-formal, Semi-formal or Formal curriculum pathways.

Learning is practical, purposeful and play-based, with opportunities to develop:

• Communication and interaction
• Physical development and independence
• Personal, social and emotional development
• Early cognitive and literacy skills
• Early mathematical understanding
• Exploration of the world around them
• Creativity and self-expression

We recognise that every young person develops at their own pace. Our staff carefully observe, assess and respond to each individual's progress, using their interests and strengths to create meaningful learning opportunities.

Moving into Lower School

When a young person is ready to move on from our Early Years provision, we carefully consider their individual needs, developmental stage and learning pathway.

They will be allocated to one of our bespoke Lower School pathway classes, ensuring that their next step continues to provide the right level of support, challenge and opportunity for them to thrive.

Fountaindale Toddler Group

We offer a toddler group here at Fountaindale for families with young children with additional needs in the local area.

The group provides an opportunity for young people and their parents or carers to meet other families, explore our specialist environment, play and take part in a range of activities. It is also a chance for prospective families to become familiar with Fountaindale and meet members of our team.

The Toddler Group runs on the first and last Friday of each calendar month.

If you would like to find out more, including upcoming dates and how to attend, please contact the school.

You can download a flyer with information about the Toddler Group below: