The Nursery is part of the Early Years Foundation Years at Bentfield Primary School; an inclusive co-educational family orientated school with a strong sense of community. We provide a broad and balanced education with very high standards of teaching and learning which will enable your child to reach his or her potential. We believe in the importance of social skills, courtesy, and self-confidence. Your child will have many opportunities in a wide range of cultural, creative and physical activities within a community which values and respects individuals, celebrates achievement and broadens perspectives. 

We hope that as you explore these pages you will begin to discover what makes the Nursery so special. Please take the opportunity to come and visit us and see the school. You will be assured of a warm welcome.

Partnership with Parents

Nursery is usually your child’s first experience of school, and we aim to provide a welcoming, happy and secure learning environment.

We recognise that you are your child’s first teacher. For your child to do his/her best, we will need to work together, to build on your expert knowledge of your child, and his/her previous experiences.

Please do not hesitate to share any queries or concerns about your child with us. 

Nursery parents are full members of the school community. You will be invited to relevant Governor’s Meetings, receive newsletters and information about events run by the Parent Teacher Friends Association (PTFA).

Parents are always welcome in the nursery, and we value your support in many ways. You may be able to help for a session, or part of one, collect items for craft work, or assist in organising fund raising events. Please tell us if you have any special interests or skills that you could share with the children.

We may ask children to bring in items from home to support the topic, or the letter sound of the week. However we do try to discourage your child from bringing toys into the nursery on a regular basis, unless needed for security, as children can become distressed if they lose items of personal significance.

The Curriculum

Your child’s time in the nursery forms part of the Early Years Foundation Stage, www.foundationyears.org.uk which is the period from  pregnancy to the end of the reception year. The Early Years Foundation Stage (EYFS) sets the standards that all early years providers must meet to ensure that children learn and develop well and are kept healthy and safe. It promotes teaching and learning to give children the broad range of knowledge and skills that provide the right foundation for good future progress through school and life.  Nursery children will encounter a broad and balanced curriculum. Topics and activities are chosen and designed to promote learning within the framework of the areas of learning and development, and are delivered in a relevant and fun way.

The areas of learning and development 

There are seven areas of learning and development and all areas of learning and development are important and inter-connected. Three areas are particularly crucial for igniting children’s curiosity and enthusiasm for learning, and for building their capacity to learn, form relationships and thrive. 

These three areas, the prime areas, are: 

• communication and language; 
• physical development; and 
• personal, social and emotional development.  

Providers must also support children in four specific areas, through which the three prime areas are strengthened and applied. The specific areas are:

• literacy
• mathematics; 
• understanding the world; and 
• expressive arts and design  

By the end of the reception year the children will have received rich experiences in all of these areas:

• Communication and language development involves giving children opportunities to experience a rich language environment; to develop their confidence and skills in expressing themselves; and to speak and listen in a range of situations.   

• Physical development involves providing opportunities for young children to be active and interactive; and to develop their co-ordination, control, and movement. Children must also be helped to understand the importance of physical activity, and to make healthy choices in relation to food. 
• Personal, social and emotional development involves helping children to develop a positive sense of themselves, and others; to form positive relationships and develop respect for others; to develop social skills and learn how to manage their feelings; to understand appropriate behaviour in groups; and to have confidence in their own abilities. 
• Literacy development involves encouraging children to link sounds and letters and to begin to read and write. Children must be given access to a wide range of reading materials (books, poems, and other written materials) to ignite their interest. 
• Mathematics involves providing children with opportunities to develop and improve their skills in counting, understanding and using numbers, calculating simple addition and subtraction problems; and to describe shapes, spaces, and measures. 
• Understanding the world involves guiding children to make sense of their physical world and their community through opportunities to explore, observe and find out about people, places, technology and the environment. 
• Expressive arts and design involves enabling children to explore and play with a wide range of media and materials, as well as providing opportunities and encouragement for sharing their thoughts, ideas and feelings through a variety of activities in art, music, movement, dance, role-play, and design and technology.

We encourage the children to encounter new experiences, extend their skills, develop their confidence and independence, and build on their existing knowledge. They will do this through:

• playing and exploring - children investigate and experience things, and ‘have a go’; 
• active learning - children concentrate and keep on trying if they encounter difficulties, and enjoy achievements; and 
• creating and thinking critically - children have and develop their own ideas, make links between ideas, and develop strategies for doing things. 

During the year we will be taking photographs and video of the children engaged in various activities. Please do not hesitate to let the staff know if you have any objections. These photos/ video would only be used for display around the school, for in house and inter-school training, and information sharing.

Tapestry

Within nursery and reception we use Tapestry to photograph the children throughout the day.  This may include 'Wow' moments, group activities, art and craft and practical activities. These photos are then sent home directly to the parents via the Tapestry app enabling parents to see what the children have been enjoying each day.  A member of the Nursery Team will discuss the use of Tapestry with you prior to your child attending. 

Makaton  

All of the children will begin to learn some Makaton sign language throughout the day. Starting with signing for registration and at snack time. Further information can be found at www.makaton.org .

Illness

Please contact the nursery if your child is unwell. Children must not return to the nursery until 48 hours after any bout of sickness or diarrhoea.  Please see the Policies on Health, Hygiene and Infectious and Communicable Diseases.

Other Agencies           

Several other agencies support the work of staff, children and families within the Early Years Foundation Stage. At Bentfield we value this partnership and have regular discussions with our local health visitor, and from the reception class onwards our designated school nurse.

Milk and Snacks  

Milk is provided free of charge for all nursery children, and water will be offered to those children who do not drink milk.

We ask parents for a payment of £0.30p per session to cover the cost of a snack each day.  Full week, 10 sessions = £3.00 per week; 5 Morning or afternoon sessions £1.50 per week.   

The children will be offered a snack from a variety of different food which will enhance the government funded school fruit and vegetable scheme http://www.5aday.nhs.uk/sfvs/default.aspx . The focus for snack will be on promoting healthy eating, and may be linked to the current theme or a curriculum area. Any remaining money is used to buy extra resources to enhance the nursery provision. 

Snack time in an integral part of each nursery session, developing communication and social skills. It also provides a great opportunity to discuss different topics including making healthy choices, how we look after our bodies and any other interesting and often unusual subjects the children bring up. 

It is essential that the nursery staff are informed of any allergies that your child may suffer from.  You should provide medical evidence from your GP.  

Books

We encourage all the children to share books throughout each nursery session.  We will provide parents with a list of books that we read within nursery for each topic and the children will have opportunities to share books from home and and nursery throughout the year.  

Clothing

We suggest that the children wear comfortable play clothes and shoes, which they can manage themselves for P.E. or the toilet.

Except in hot weather, your child will need a suitable jacket or coat to wear outside.

Wellington boots are expected to be worn for digging or playing on wet grass. Children may use their own, but we do have a box of “spares”. In hot weather the children will need a sunhat and to have sun cream applied before the session. 

Please ensure that clothing is clearly named. 

In the summer term children will need a P.E. kit of shorts and a t-shirt, so that we can begin to practise getting changed for P.E, hopefully this will help with the transition into reception.

The nursery provides aprons for messy play.

Please do not send your child to nursery wearing jewellery, or their best clothes.

Security

Please inform a member of staff if a different adult is collecting your child. Please ensure that the cloakroom door is closed and the nursery gates are shut as you leave the building. Please remember to inform us of any change of address or telephone number.

Fire drills are rehearsed once a term. 

You will be asked to sign an accident form if your child should injure themselves during a nursery session.