About
Our Nursery opened in September 1997 and received glowing recognition from Ofsted in November 1997. We use the upstairs room of the Church Hall for our Nursery. It is a large bright room with plenty of space for creative, experiential and physical play as well as areas for quieter play such as a book corner and computer area.
In the Nursery we operate a self-registration system. This helps to encourage the children to recognise their own names. We ask parents and carers to assist their child in finding their name and placing it on the registration board.
Curriculum
We follow the Early Years Foundation Stage Curriculum and have introduced the Letters and Sounds phonics scheme. We use a variety of activities to promote phonic awareness. Examples of this are Grandma’s Footsteps (using different musical instruments for different types of footsteps), Follow the Sound (copying a body percussion sound) and Drum Outdoors (using sticks to experiment with sound outdoors). In addition, we have a daily phonics table which is linked to the sound of the week and the children are encouraged to bring items from home beginning with the sound of the week.
We have introduced ‘forest school’ activities for our Nursery children. Forest school sessions help children develop curiosity and learn through engagement with nature, the seasons and the elements. Feedback from our parents has been one hundred percent positive!
Our Nursery children take part in a range of small group activities throughout the week which include:
- Letters and Sounds
- French
- Music
- ‘Forest school’
All the children receive individual attention to prepare them for school. The Nursery children are provided with folders which store their ‘work’ and a comments book. They are encouraged to write their own names and to develop number, pre- reading and writing skills. The Nursery children’s comments book liaises between Busy Bees and home. This book records the child’s progress, interests and general observations and allows parents, siblings, grandparents and carers to write any comments or suggestions for us to see.
As with the Preschool, the Nursery has a half-termly theme which incorporates the full range of learning objectives from the areas of learning and development. Our themes are based on the children’s interests and have included celebration, our senses, favourite stories and minibeasts.
Each year Bookstart Bear visits our Nursery children and shares his favourite stories with them before giving out their free Bookstart bags
We also have an annual minibeast hunt at Skyswood School. Our Nursery children are escorted to the School’s environmental garden by the Year 6 children and the morning is spent exploring, sharing new experiences, making new friends and together, drawing what they have seen. A great time is had by all the children.
Admissions
Parents are no longer able to apply online for places in our Nursery. We have our own application form and we provide a Nursery information evening which explains how we operate and how the application process works. We give priority to children currently attending our Preschool. We recommend a minimum of 4 morning sessions for our Nursery children.
