What to expect at St Mary’s Church Nursery?
We have produced a comprehensive Prospectus to give parents and guardians lots of information about St Mary’s Church Nursery and Preschool.
As well as our welcome letter for parents/guardians it includes details about the daily routine and activities including cooking, our outside area and woodland learning zone. In addition there are details of what children need to bring to nursery, our uniform and food and drink information.
You can also find our staff qualifications, information about Tapestry – our secure online educational software app and how we help children to get ready to start school.
There is even more information below and you can always contact us with any questions you may have.
The Nursery Day
We provide a variety of stimulating activities to encourage children to learn through play. We offer a mixture of child led and adult led activities.
Each day the nursery offers a range of activities which are set up inside and outside. We are fortunate to have not only an outdoor space but we also have access to our Woodland Learning Zone, which is a space that is used for bug hunts, storytelling and it has also been turned into Santa’s grotto at Christmas time.
The children register themselves each morning by finding their named apple and placing it on the registration tree and then they put their belongings in their named basket.
The nursery is set up each morning with a quiet corner i.e. book corner, small world activities, construction, a role play corner, maths area, a writing table, an investigation station and messy play corner which includes sand, water, mud kitchen, shaving foam, playdough etc. These activities are changed after each session.
The children are observed throughout the day using an online app called tapestry, this allows staff to upload daily photos of the children throughout the session along with any observations. These observations allow us to plan for each child’s next steps and their future development. Parents can also add anything onto tapestry which helps us and you as parents to work together to support the child.
We offer a healthy snack each day which gives the children the opportunity to try a variety of new and exciting foods, during snack we take into account any dietary needs and allergies. The children have the opportunity to cook every other week and have made some delicious foods.
After the children have had a free play, we have adult led activities such as P.E time, rhyme time and story time.
Woodland Learning Zone
Our woodland learning zone provides our children with excellent opportunities to explore the world around them and the changing seasons.
Outdoor learning encourages children to develop self-confidence, independence and self-esteem. It allows them to connect with the natural world and have first hand experience of life and growth.
This opened in September 2018 and is regularly used for bug hunts, bird watching, story times and much more.
Supporting your child through their early years journey
We follow the Early Years Foundation Stage (EYFS) which covers the 7 areas of learning. Our activities are planned taking into account the children’s experiences and interests along with any seasonal celebrations and cultural events. We support the 7 areas of learning, these are divided into the 3 prime areas of learning which are essential for your child’s development.
These areas are Communication and Language, Physical development and Personal Social and Emotional development. The other 4 specific areas of learning include Literacy, Maths, Understanding of the World and Expressive Arts and Design.
We are a strong believer that children learn through play and we offer a language rich environment, where all children are free to express themselves.
Assessments
When your child starts with us you would have already filled in the “All about me” booklet which helps us assess and plot their starting point. Staff carry out regular observations and assessments which allows us to plan for your child’s next steps.
Your child is regularly tracked to make sure they are progressing with their learning and development.
Your child’s progress will be reviewed when they are between 2 and 3 years of age by an early year’s practitioner and health visitor. This is known as the 2-year-old progress check.
St Mary's art gallery
Inclusion
At St Mary’s Church Nursery we believe everybody ‘belongs’ from children and their parents to staff and any one else that is connected to the setting. We believe in promoting a happy, friendly, secure atmosphere in a learning environment where everyone’s values, beliefs and views count.
For more details please SEE ATTACHED POLICY.
Supporting children with SEN
Our objective is to ensure that all children achieve their full potential. The SEN policy promotes individual learning, it helps with early identification of the child’s needs and facilitates early intervention to give the best support possible, as well as collaboration between education, health and social care services.
For more details please SEE OUR POLICY HERE.
How to help your child get ready for school
To download our information sheet, click on the image below…
Policies
Ofsted and EYFS require all Early Year’s providers to have policies and procedures in place, this is to:
- safeguard their children.
- Each provider must meet to ensure that the children learn and develop well.
- Ensures children are kept healthy and safe
- Ensures the children have the knowledge and skills they need to start school.
These policies are reviewed on a regular basis and are available on request.
Safeguarding
Our highest priority is to ensure children are kept safe in our care, whilst providing them with the best quality education they deserve. We believe children deserve the best possible start in life, children develop quickly in the early years and a child’s experiences between birth and five have a major impact on their future life chances.
All staff take regular training in safeguarding. We have a designated safeguarding officer and a safeguarding lead; however, safeguarding is everyone’s concern.
For more details, please see attached our safeguarding policy.
Funding
We are registered to accept government funding for education places for 2, 3 and 4 year olds.
| A child born on or between; | Will become eligible for a free place from; |
|---|---|
| 1st April and 31st August | 1st September following their third birthday |
| 1st September and 31st December | 1st January following their third birthday |
| 1st January and 31st March | 1st April following their third birthday |
Those children eligible are entitled to 15 hours, a maximum of five funded sessions per week of at least 3 hours, for 38 weeks of the year. These five sessions can be taken solely with ourselves (subject to places being available) or can be split with another provider.
30-hour funding
- You may be able to get up to 30 hours free childcare if your child is 3 to 4 years old
- Visit the Government website HERE to see if you are eligible
Two-year-old funding
- We are eligible to receive the 15-hour entitlement for 2-year-old funding for those that meet the government criteria
- For more information, visit www.essex.gov.uk
