Welcome to our Nursery Class!

Miss Turner - Nursery Teacher & EYFS Lead

Mrs Bullen - HLTA

We also work closely with the Reception children and staff.

Times : 8.45am - 11.45am every morning

We are an educational setting and work as an Early Years Unit, this means that the Nursery children work alongside the Reception staff and children. We are qualified teachers and support staff with a wealth of experience. The children have access to an environment rich in resources and opportunities. We work hard to settle the children and help them learn and develop into happy, confident individuals, eager to learn about the world!

When the children arrive at nursery in the morning, they hang up their coats and put their bags away. They will find their picture to self-register, and get busy with a wide range of activities. At nursery, the children learn about being part of a group, how to share and take turns, and their first steps to being independent. Velcro shoes, easy pull-up trousers, and loose clothing will all help the children to be independent. 

Nursery Routines

During the session there are times for child-initiated play and we also work with small groups of children at specific, planned activities, for example; speech and language games, listening games, maths tasks and activities to develop turn taking and social skills. 

At the end of each morning we come together as a group to listen to a story and join in with a variety of songs and rhymes. 

We encourage the children to wear aprons and waterproof clothing, but sometimes they get very messy, so please ensure they wear their old clothes. It is a good idea to write their names in their coats and shoes too. 

Play, Planning and Learning

The children can choose where they would like to spend time during continuous provision sessions and it might look like they are just playing, but this is how young children learn. As children access areas inside and outside, we plan 'in the moment.' It is our job to observe them, to see what interests and fascinates them and, when the opportunity presents, the adult can provide a 'teachable moment.'

This might look like;

Narrating alongside the child as they play

Developing sustained shared thinking, 'I wonder what will happen if....?'

Setting a challenge

Demonstrating and explaining

Offering further resources to support their play or ideas

Scaffolding their language to help develop their vocabulary

Encouraging some mark-making or maths through their play

Finding a text to support their interest

Modelling communication and interaction e.g. how to ask for a turn with something

Encouraging the child 

Questioning

We document our teachable moments.

There are planned opportunities for learning too, such as early maths opportunities and phonics.

We have Focus Children each week and during this time, we spend more time observing and engaging with that child and building up a picture of the child's current interests and learning and development skills. We share our observations with parents on Tapestry and meet with parents too.

Outdoor Learning

The children can choose to play inside or outside throughout the morning, whatever the weather. When they go outside, we will be encouraging them to change into welly boots. Please ensure they have a suitable coat, e.g. a warm coat for cold, windy days or a waterproof coat for wet, rainy days. It is very helpful if you encourage and help your child to be more independent at home too, especially with things like putting on their own coat and shoes. We will also be visiting our woodland area regularly, where the children will learn about the changing seasons, insects and nature. 

Library

Each week you will be invited to come into Nursery and choose a library book with your child. We hope this will encourage the children to develop a love of books and learn how to use them carefully. Please help them by sharing the books at home. This will support them to know how to turn pages, talk about the pictures, and point to the words as you tell the story. Sharing books with children from a very early age can really help them with their vocabulary and  learning. To help the children learn to keep school books safe and look after them, you can buy a school book bag for £6.00, from the school office. These are very hard-wearing and will last for a long time.

Snack

The children can have a drink and a snack when they are ready, it is available through the morning. They can choose milk or water, which they pour into an open topped cup to drink. They are encouraged to be independent, choosing fruit or vegetables, such as bananas, apples, carrot sticks, cucumber etc. We also provide a range of other healthy snacks, including cheese and crackers, breadsticks or toast. Sometimes we will cook with the children, making soup, cakes, pizzas etc.

To cover the costs of these additional snacks, ingredients for cooking and making play dough etc., we ask for a contribution of £5 each half-term or £10 per term.

Woodland Learning

The children will visit our woodland area each week, and will experience the changes through the different seasons. We talk about how the leaves change colour and fall from the trees, we look under logs to find centipedes and woodlice, we dig in the soil to find worms, plus many more experiences to help children learn about the natural world. 

It is really helpful if the children have their own warm and  waterproof clothing for the woodland days, as we visit in all weathers. The children are happy to play and don't notice the wet or the cold, if they are dressed appropriately.