Welcome to Nursery

On behalf of the team, I would like to welcome you to St Mary’s and to Nursery. We are so glad you have chosen to become part of the St. Mary’s family. I am the Early Years Lead which covers both Nursery and Reception. Mrs Binks is the Nursery teacher and the team also consists of some super teaching assistants (Mrs Roberts, Mrs Falconer and Miss Wilson).  Your child will be part of a key worker group with one of the members of the team.  This gives them the opportunity to be welcomed by the same friendly, familiar face each day.  We have a team approach and although the children are in key worker groups, the nursery and outdoor area are shared so all the adults work with all the children. Your child will work within the Early Years Curriculum which is for children from Birth to 5. Learning opportunities are planned in to ensure they make progress through the various stages of development for 3-4 year olds.

It is vital that children are settled and feel safe and happy in nursery.  Our initial aim is to ensure this is the case for your child.  We have a strong ethos for children developing skills and independence through play and real-life experiences.

We want your child to learn to become independent as this leads into self-confidence and believing that they can achieve even if it takes effort.  Plenty of support and encouragement is given to each child.  As a team we are always rooting for your child and celebrate when they make progress and don’t give up.

Each day, children will be welcomed by their key worker, this also provides an opportunity for parents/carers to pass on any messages (e.g. if something has happened at home that morning).  In their key worker group they will do a funky fingers activity (this is to develop their fine motor control and is a prerequisite for writing) and will be encouraged to have a conversation with their key worker and with other children.  There are various planned activities for the children to access through the day to help them develop skills across the 17 strands of curriculum. There is always a Let’s read time every day for your child to listen to and engage with a story.

Your child will be given a Middleton St Mary’s book bag and they can choose a story to take home from the book box by the entrance to Nursery.  Please feel free to change this as frequently as you want, we just ask you to return the previous book before taking a new one.  Listening to stories every day at home has been proven to have a huge impact on children’s language and vocabulary.

Please do not hesitate to get in touch if you are concerned about your child's learning or would like to know how to support your child at home more and help them to progress further. We also hold regular meetings to show parents how to support your child’s learning at home and the Tapestry app provides a constant line of contact for parents.

Mr A Young, Early Years Lead

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Each half termly newsletter explains what children will be learning and the kinds of events we have planned!