A very warm welcome to St Mary’s Catholic Voluntary Academy Nursery and Reception Classes.
We follow the Early Years Foundation Stage Framework. The Early Years Foundation Stage (EYFS) is the curriculum that the Government sets for all early years providers (0-5 years) to make sure that, ‘all children learn and develop well and are kept healthy and safe.’ (Department for Education) There are Three Prime areas of Learning and Four Specific areas of learning along with seventeen early learning goals to be aimed for by the end of the Reception year in school.
The framework highlights the links between the child’s development and the environment in which they are cared for and educated. We see the partnership between home and school as the key to a happy and settled foundation year in education.
We support our children to be confident, articulate and creative learners and provide a stimulating and interesting learning environment for children to explore and investigate both indoors and outdoors.
Inside we offer a wide variety of activities for the children to develop skills across all areas of learning. We focus on developing the skills of early reading through sharing stories, singing and learning rhymes together as well as developing children’s phonological awareness linking sounds to letters.
We develop our early writing and mark making skills learning to write our names and developing our pencil control through fun activities such as our dough disco. In Reception these skills are developed further as we learn to write captions and simple sentences. We have opportunities to play games together to develop our understanding of early number and time to talk about our experiences and share our ideas together as we develop our communication and language skills.
Outdoors the children have the opportunity to explore all areas of learning on a larger scale engaging in mark making, water play and exploring in our mud kitchen. The children come into contact with nature through our Little Acorns and Muddy Things sessions out on the field and in the woods. They engage in activities that support the development of balance, core strength and co-ordination through the challenge of using the climbing frame, slide and our balance bikes.
Our curriculum is designed to allow children opportunities to follow their own interests and fascinations through child-led play experiences and also opportunities to engage in adult led learning experiences.
We work together as an Early Years Team and alongside parents and our whole school community to support our children to become confident, independent, happy learners.
Our Nursery Class
We are delighted to offer high quality teacher-led Nursery provision for 3 and 4 year olds in a caring atmosphere where children thrive.
Apply for a place at our nursery.
30 Hours Funded Childcare
All 3 or 4 year old children are currently entitled to up to 15 hours of free early education per week – term time only. From September 2017, this could increase to up to 30 hours of free childcare per week if you are eligible.
The school is offering additional hours. This may be available in the nursery class or as an extended day in our before or after school club.
Please contact us for more information.
If our offer of 30 Hours does not meet your needs, then you can search for childcare providers near you, look out for the 30 hours logo next to the providers name, so you know they are offering the extended entitlement.
Alternatively you may already be using additional childcare and are happy with this, then you can continue with this arrangement and just access the 15 hours at our school.
