Nursery Prospectus

“Children get off to a good start in the Early Years Foundation Stage where they settle quickly

into the Nursery classes. In both the nursery and reception children make rapid progress

because of the good and sometimes outstanding teaching that they receive and

because of the wide range of stimulating activities planned for them.”

Ofsted 2013

Nursery 22

Nursery Application Form

Contents

· Our Nursery

· Organisation and Staffing

· Attendance

· The school day

· Starting Nursery

· Safety

· Snacks

· Lunchtime

· Uniform

· Curriculum

· Focus Week

· How to help at home

· Outdoor play

· Transition to Primary School

 

Our Nursery

Welcome to Shawclough Nursery, a long-established nursery here at Shawclough Community Primary School. It has an excellent reputation for providing the very best care and education to children aged 2 - 4 years old.

Our aim is to provide a welcoming, friendly and secure setting where your child can thrive. We intend to help children gain the important skills they need for life. These skills include learning how to be independent, being kind and respectful of others and to develop qualities such as perseverance, confidence, enthusiasm and tolerance.

The children will learn through play and first-hand experience and be offered the opportunity to participate in a variety of experiences that will enhance their skills and knowledge.

We hope that this prospectus will provide you with the information you need to help you decide whether Shawclough Nursery is the right environment for your child. We encourage you to ring and arrange a visit to come and see the high quality care and education we provide.

 

Organisation and staffing

Nursery is made up of two rooms, Sky and Ocean we also have a covered outdoor classroom and our outdoor garden area. Sky is for our two year old children. We have two members of staff that work in Sky. Ocean is for our pre-school children. Children are allocated a place in Ocean the term after their third birthday. There are three members of staff in Ocean, one of which is the Nursery Teacher. The classrooms are set up in a way that children have access to activities that cover the whole of the Early Years Foundation Stage curriculum.

 

Attendance

It is important for children to attend Nursery sessions unless unwell. Getting children into good routines and habits as young as possible supports their learning and development. However, if your child is unable to attend school due to illness please call the school office on the first day of absence.

 

The School Day

Nursery Sessions are as follows:

8.30 – 11.30 Morning session

12.30 – 3.30 Afternoon session

8.30 – 3.30 All day session

All children aged between 3 – 4 years, in the UK, are entitled to 15 hours of government funded sessions. You may also be eligible for 30 hours free childcare. To find out if you are eligible apply at www.childcarechoices.gov.uk

We also offer funded 2 year old places for families that are eligible, to find out more please contact the school office on 01706 647991.

 

Starting Nursery

Before starting at Shawclough Nursery, you and your child will be invited to a visit session which will give you the chance to meet the staff and explore the nursery.

We will work with you to make the transition to Nursery as smooth as possible for you and your child. Staff are experienced in judging the time it may take for a child to settle but recognise the expert knowledge parents have of their child. Together it can be agreed how slowly or quickly settling in shall be.

We do ask that parents bring in a labelled bag of clothes for their child. This is in case of any toileting accidents or getting wet or dirty during their play.

Our expectation is that the children will be well on the way to being toilet trained. Whilst we encourage children to be sensible, independent and responsible for their own bathroom hygiene, we deal sympathetically with the occasional “slip”.

On your child’s first day please bring them to the nursery entrance at the allocated time, say a quick but definite goodbye, reassuring them you will be back soon and telling them what you will be doing whilst they are at nursery.

Collecting your child on time is really important, being left behind when all the other children have been collected can be very upsetting for children.

 

Safety

When dropping your child off at the start of a session please ensure that you bring them right to the door and that the member of staff at the door has seen them come inside before you leave. If you arrive late for a session the gates will be locked so please report to the main office.

Children should be collected by people who know the child and are known to the staff. When your child starts Nursery you will fill in a form detailing who is allowed to collect your child and you will then set a password that can be used in case somebody different needs to collect them. Your child’s security is of the utmost importance to all of us. Please let us know if someone else is going to be collecting your child.

If you are going to be late collecting your child please phone ahead so we can reassure your child that someone will be coming to collect them soon. A late fee of £2.50 will be incurred if you are more than 5 mins late to collect your child.

 

Snacks

During each session children will have access to water, milk and a healthy snack. There will be a variety of food, always healthy. It could be fruit, cheese, raw vegetables or toast. We will also be cooking and baking throughout the year and tasting different foods from around the world. We ask for a small contribution to be paid towards cooking and snacks, this is usually paid when your child starts Nursery.

Shawclough is a ‘Healthy School’ and sweets, crisps and sugary snacks are not permitted. Please do not give your child sweets when you pick them up or drop them off at Nursery there are plenty of healthy snacks that could be given instead like a piece of fruit or sandwich.

 

Lunchtime

Children that are in Ocean can have their lunch at school. They can have a school meal which is prepared and cooked in our on-site kitchen or a packed lunch. Nursery children go for lunch at 11.30 before the rest of school and they have designated lunchtime organisers to look after them at lunchtime. Once the children have finished their lunch they play outside in the Nursery playground weather permitting.

 

Uniform

School uniform is optional in Nursery but please dress your child in suitable clothing. They need to be able to run and climb and they will get their clothes dirty with paint, glue, mud, etc.

Suggestions: -

· Jogging bottoms, t-shirt, sweatshirt/cardigan.

· Warm and waterproof coat.

· Shoes/trainers with velcro straps.

· Please put your child’s name in all their clothes.

· Please leave a spare set of clothes at Nursery in a named bag (including underwear).

Children will play outside all year round. Clothing for wet weather is provided in school; however, your child will need to have Wellington boots to keep at school.

 

Curriculum

At Shawclough Nursery we deliver a curriculum based on the Early Years Foundation Stage framework. The framework includes seven areas of learning which are implemented through play.

The seven areas of learning include:

Personal, Social and Emotional Development

Involves helping children to develop a positive sense of themselves, and others; to form positive relationships and develop respect for others; to develop social skills and learn how to manage their feelings; to understand appropriate behaviour in groups; and to have confidence in their own abilities.

Physical Development

Involves providing opportunities for young children to be active and interactive; and to develop their co-ordination, control, and movement. Children must also be helped to understand the importance of physical activity, and to make healthy choices in relation to food.

Communication and Language

Involves giving children opportunities to experience a rich language environment; to develop their confidence and skills in expressing themselves; and to speak and listen in a range of situations.

Literacy

Literacy development involves encouraging children to link sounds and letters and to begin to read and write. Children must be given access to a wide range of reading materials to ignite their interest.

Mathematical Development

Involves providing children with opportunities to develop and improve their skills in counting, understanding and using numbers, calculating simple addition and subtraction problems; and to describe shapes, spaces and measures.

Understanding the World

Involves guiding children to make sense of their physical world and their community through opportunities to explore, observe and find out about people, places, technology and the environment.

Expressive Arts and Design

Involves enabling children to explore and play with a wide range of media and materials, as well as providing opportunities and encouragement for sharing their thoughts, ideas and feelings through a variety of activities in art, music, movement, dance, role-play, and design and technology.

In addition, the framework describes “Three characteristics of effective teaching and learning ... playing and exploring ... active learning and creating and thinking critically.” Characteristics of Effective learning advocate that in planning and guiding children’s activities, practitioners must reflect on the different ways that children learn, and then reflect these in their practice. A child’s individual learning characteristic will determine the way they respond to both the teaching and learning taking place in the environment. When a child is playing and exploring they will investigate and experience things, and ‘have a go’. When a child is being an active learner they concentrate and keep on trying even if they encounter difficulties, and enjoy their achievements. When a child is creating and thinking critically they have and develop their own ideas, make links between ideas, and develop strategies for doing things.

 

Focus Week

Your child will be a focus child once a term. During their focus week the staff will record your child’s experiences on a Learning Journey sheet. When the week is over your child’s teacher will invite you into school to speak about their progress and to look at their learning journey.

 

How to help at home

· Limit screen time and talk with your child. This may sound so obvious, but it is the most important thing that you can do, as it supports your child’s language development.

· Read stories together every day. Ask questions as you read and talk about the story together.

· Sing songs and nursery rhymes.

· Notice numbers in the environment, count up and down the stairs, explore the shapes of everyday objects

· Get out and about and have fun!

 

Outdoor play

All children will be given the opportunity to play outside throughout most of the day whatever the weather.

It is important that you dress your child for school appropriately: warm clothes and waterproof coat when it’s cold and wet; sun hat and sun screen when it’s sunny.

Children get wet, muddy and messy when they play outside. We provide protective clothing for them to wear, although you are required to provide a pair of wellington boots to keep at Nursery.

We will not keep children indoors at parental request as we believe it to be an essential component of young children’s learning and development.

Getting wet does not cause us to catch a cold. If the cold virus is around, we will pick it up regardless of whether we are wet or dry.

 

Transition to School

If your child is offered a place in one of our Reception classes, during the summer term they will be taken for visits to meet their teacher and familiarise themselves with the Reception classrooms and outdoor area. You will then be invited to visit on our transition day with your child to meet the staff and explore the different areas.

If your child will be joining a Reception class at a different school. The Nursery teacher will provide all necessary transition information to that school and we will support visits to your child’s new school.

 

If you have any further questions please do not hesitate to get in touch.

01706 647991

office@shawclough.rochdale.sch.uk