Welcome to Nursery; also known as Class Caterpillars! Our Nursery team consists of Miss Gallie, Miss Timmins, Miss Manuel and Miss Hennessey. Our goal is to create a safe, secure and welcoming environment for each child so that they have the confidence to make friends, play and explore. We can’t wait to get to know your child and we look forward to sharing many new learning experiences with you throughout the year! Please look over our Seesaw and Class dojo pages for regular updates about what we have been up to. It is important that you are connected to your child’s pages so that you can see their learning journey and we can share exciting opportunities with you.
Our time in Nursery is always spent having lots of fun, exploring the indoor and outdoor environments. We aim to help your child become inquisitive, engaged and enthusiastic in their learning. We work hard on developing our friendship skills and language development through carefully planned play based activities.
We invite parents to be a part of your child’s learning and development by providing a variety of different stay and play sessions for you to come along and enjoy your child’s learning with them. Our first stay and play session is around Mathematics and Phonics, taking place on Wednesday 9th October from 10:45am (morning session) and from 2:45pm (afternoon session). More information to follow.
Nursery Themes:
Throughout the school year we introduce new themes to the children to provide opportunities for children to develop new interests and reach their full potential. Please look at our EYFS curriculum page to look further at the EYFS curriculum.
Autumn One:
Marvellous Me
Autumn Two:
Let’s Celebrate
Spring One:
Heroes
Spring Two:
Once Upon A Time
Summer One:
The Great Outdoors
Summer Two:
Explorers
Attendance:
Regular attendance is crucial in supporting your child to develop essential skills. We believe good attendance is essential if children are to be settled and take full advantage of the learning and development opportunities available to them. Our doors are open from 8:30am – 8:40am (morning and full time sessions) and 12:30pm – 12:40pm(afternoon sessions).
Morning sessions start at 8.30am. The gate will close at 8:40am, please arrive as close to this time as possible so no learning time is lost for your child. Your child should be collected at 11.30am promptly.
Afternoon sessions start at 12.30pm. The gate will close at 12:40pm, please arrive as close to this time as possible so no learning time is lost for your child. Your child should be collected at 3.30pm promptly.
Full day sessions start at 8.30am and finish at 3.30pm. Children are able to either bring a healthy packed lunch or purchase a school meal. All children receive either water or milk at lunch time.
Water bottles:
Please ensure your child brings their water bottle to school every day, filled with fresh water. All the hard work and learning in Nursery is thirsty work and therefore it is essential the children stay hydrated! Juice is not permitted in school and all water bottles must have a sports screw lid and clearly labelled with your child’s name.
Uniform:
At Gwladys Street Nursery children wear a blue tracksuit, consisting of a blue jumper, white polo and blue tracksuit bottoms. These can be purchased on the school website and main office. Alternatively, you can purchase these items from the local shops such as ASDA; they do not have to have the school logo. Alongside their uniform, the children wear black shoes, ideally slip on or velcro shoes are best – this way your child can become more independent when getting changed. Please ensure all your child’s clothing is clearly labelled with your child’s name.
Remember to send your child to Nursery with spare sets of clothes (socks, underwear, trousers, top, shoes etc.), especially if they are still learning to use the toilet independently. These spare clothes can be left in a bag on their peg until needed.
Snack:
Children have the opportunity to access snack daily. Snack consists of a range of healthy foods such as fruit, vegetables and bagels. Children are provided with access to milk and water throughout the day. Throughout the year, we take part in different baking opportunities and encourage the children to explore new foods.
Outdoor Learning:
At Gwladys Street Nursery, we believe that children should have access to indoor and outdoor learning to help strength their skills and learning. In Nursery we spent lots of time outside developing our exploration and problem-solving skills. We encourage you to please make sure your child comes dressed appropriately for the weather, with warm waterproof coats and suitable footwear (wellies for wet days).
During winter months, please ensure your child has a hat, scarf and a pair of gloves which are clearly labelled with your child’s name. Nursery children have access to waterproof wetsuits and wellies which they can wear when exploring the mud kitchen and wet weather.
Toilet Training
By three years old, children should be communicating their toileting needs. We would like to support your child to use the toilet independently if they are ready for do so. If you need any support with toileting, please speak to a member of staff.
At Gwladys Street Nursery, we constantly promote independence. Please continue this at home by encouraging your child to dress and undress by themselves and support them to independently fasten their zip.
Reception baseline information for parents
Supporting Early Language:
FS1
https://ican.org.uk/i-cans-talking-point/progress-checker-home/
https://www.nspcc.org.uk/keeping-children-safe/support-for-parents/look-say-sing-play/
https://hungrylittleminds.campaign.gov.uk/
https://www.bbc.co.uk/tiny-happy-people