Welcome to St. Mary s Catholic Primary School Nursery playing together, growing together

Transcription

1 Respect Ourselves, Respect Others, Respect our School, Love God Welcome to St. Mary s Catholic Primary School Nursery playing together, growing together 1

2 St. Mary s Catholic Primary School Calcutta Road, Tilbury, Essex. RM18 7QH Telephone Fax: admin@tilburystmarys.thurrock.sch.uk Website: Headteacher: Early Years Lead: Nursery Staff: Mrs M Jones Mrs M Awolola Mrs Anna Garcia - Nursery Teacher Miss Lisa Mitchell - Nursery Nurse Miss Tanya Wright Nursery Nurse Nursery admin@tilburystmarys.thurrock.sch.uk Nursery Session times: Term Time Only Either: Morning 08.30am am (Older pupils where possible) Or: Afternoon 12.30pm pm (Younger pupils where possible) 2

3 ABOUT ST MARY S NURSERY St Mary s Nursery is part of St. Mary s Catholic Primary School, in the centre of Tilbury. We have been established for 30 years and serve the local community of Tilbury. We have close links with our neighbouring church, Our Lady Star of the Sea. ALLOCATION OF NURSERY PLACES Places are offered to children in accordance with criteria laid down by the school Governors. Children can start Nursery the school term after they are three years old. Once a place is available, you will be contacted by the head of the Nursery. HOME VISITS Once a place is available, we will arrange a mutually convenient time to do a Home Visit before your child starts Nursery. This is a very valuable opportunity for us to meet informally to exchange important information and for us to get to know your child. Home Visits are an essential part of your child s transition into St Mary s Nursery. 3

4 LEARNING THROUGH PLAY Play is a child s work. Whilst playing with other children and staff, children apply and challenge their existing knowledge. The Nursery curriculum is planned in accordance with the guidelines set out in the national Early Years Foundation Stage document. THE CURRICULUM The Early Years Foundation Stage Curriculum covers seven areas of learning, which are: Personal Social and Emotional Communication and Language Physical Development Literacy Mathematics Understanding the World, Expressive Arts and Design You can find further information at ACTIVITIES Each session we provide a wide range of activities and resources for the children to explore and participate in. Some activities will be adult led while others are child led. We include lots of sensory play and craft activities. Writing/drawing materials are always available and often incorporated into other situations such as the role-play area. We compile a scrapbook of photographs showing lots of the things we have done and 4

5 our learning objectives. You are welcome to look at them! Children make use of the outside area during every session, where we offer a range of opportunities to play and learn. Children can choose whether to play inside or outside. NURSERY ORGANISATION We run a morning and an afternoon session daily, Monday to Friday, with 30 places available in each session. We have three members of staff who work full time in the Nursery. We are an integral part of St. Mary s School and so the Nursery children will become familiar with members of staff throughout the school. Sometimes other teachers spend time with groups of children in the class and we participate in whole school celebrations and activities as appropriate. KEY PERSON We run a Key Person system at St Mary s Nursery. This person will work closely with your child to develop a bond and provide security and continuity of care. It is important to realise that this adult will not be the only member of staff who will be working with your child. All the children and staff will develop relationships together. ARRIVING AND COLLECTING YOUR CHILD The morning session starts at 8.30 am. Please enter by the Nursery gate on Dock Road. We will shut the door promptly at 8.40 am.the morning session finishes at am. Please collect your child by entering through the Nursery gate on Dock Road. Staff will bring your child to the door individually to ensure their safety. We will shut the gate promptly at am. Please make your way to the school main office if you arrive after this time. The afternoon session starts at pm. Please enter by the Nursery gate on Dock Road. We will shut the gate promptly at pm. The session finishes at 3.30 pm. We will shut the gate at 3.40pm. Please make your way to the school main office if you arrive after this time. 5

6 KEEPING SAFE Please bring your child right in to the Nursery classroom to be welcomed by the staff. Don t leave them at the gate. When you collect your child, please hold their hand near the road. Always inform staff if someone other than yourself will be collecting your child from Nursery. This must be an adult. Lets us know immediately if you move or your contact address and telephone numbers ever change. This is very important. CONTACTING NURSERY Our telephone number is the main school s telephone number which is should you need to contact us. It is useful if you could let us know if your child is ill and will not be attending, or absent for another reason. Please leave a message with the School Office. COLLECTION OF CHILDREN We understand that you may not always be able to collect your child from Nursery. In such cases, only those adults named on your child s authorisation form will be allowed to collect your child. There may be occasions when someone is to collect your child who isn t on this form. On these occasions we will ask the person collecting your child for the security password that you have chosen. It is important to update this information if circumstances change, as we CANNOT allow anyone to collect a child who isn t on the form or does not know the password. 6

7 THE FIRST DAY On your child s first day in Nursery, you are welcome to stay for as long as is necessary to settle your child. Some children are ready and happy to wave goodbye without a problem. Others take a little longer to settle. We recommend that when you are ready to leave, you say goodbye and then leave. It is not unusual for a child to cry; we are used to dealing with that. We are able to phone home to reassure any new parent who needs it. WHAT YOUR CHILD WILL NEED FOR NURSERY! UNIFORM This is the Nursery blue polo shirt and sweatshirt. Trousers/ dresses/skirts can be navy, grey or black and can be purchased anywhere. Girls can wear a blue cardigan if they wish. Summer dresses are blue and white check and can be purchased anywhere. Please put your child s name in EVERYTHING! Nursery sweatshirts and polo shirts and cardigans are available to purchase from the school office, every morning before school. COAT Your child will need a coat on cooler days as they will have free access to the outside area. Please do not spend a lot of money on a coat as they are likely to get dirt, sand and paint on it at some point! Make sure it is a washable coat and has your child s name inside! 7

8 SHOES SPARE CLOTHES WELLINGT ON BOOTS SUNCREAM/ HAT Children can wear shoes that are suitable for running around in and climbing. It is very helpful if the shoes have Velcro straps, NOT laces, so the children can put their own shoes on by themselves. NO flip flops! You are welcome to leave some spare underwear and clothes on your child s peg in case of accidents. Either buy a school blue drawstring bag from the school office or use a carrier bag kept on their peg. No ruck-sac type bags please as they take up too much space. We try to get outside all through the year so if your child has their on Wellington boots, that would be helpful. Please make sure you put their name inside. These are essential during the hotter weather. Please apply sun cream at home before Nursery. You are also welcome to send it in with your child for us to re-apply on very hot days. Sun hats MUST have their name inside. JEWELLERY No jewellery is to be worn at any time with the exception of small stud earrings. TEDDIES Sometimes children want to bring a teddy or similar with them to Nursery. We don t mind as some children need this extra bit of comfort in the early days. 8

9 BOOK BAGS Your child will be given a book bag to use while they are at St Mary s. This will be collected back at the end of their time at Nursery. Your child is free to choose a book to enjoy at home. Most children like to change their books once a week although once they ve found a favourite book they often like to stick with it for some time. That s fine too! Please bring the book bag to Nursery every Wednesday so we can change their book. Please note we do NOT look in these bags every day. So if you have a letter or snack money for staff, please hand it directly to us. HOME BOX We have a big box at Nursery called The Home Box. If your child brings something to Nursery or some work to share, we put it in the Home Box for safe keeping. We usually empty the Home Box on Fridays. If your child has put something in there and they want it back before Friday, please come in the Nursery and help them find it! SNACK All children are offered snack half way through the session. They can have milk, water, fruit and other healthy snacks. We also do some cooking in the Nursery. To enable us to maintain this provision, we ask you for a voluntary contribution of 5 per half term (6 or 7 weeks). This is collected at the beginning of each half term. Please put your contribution in an envelope marked with your child s name and hand it to a member of the Nursery staff. Please note: you do not need to provide your child with any food or drink for Nursery. BIRTHDAYS If parents want to, you can send in a little cake to share with all the children when it is your child s birthday- BUT YOU DON T HAVE TO! If you want to, you can send in a bag of sweets to share- BUT YOU DON T HAVE TO! NO party bags, drinks, etc please. 9

10 PRAYERS All the children say a prayer at the end of each session. To help parents recite prayers with their children, these are the prayers we say every day Morning prayer: Bless us O God, as we sit together, Bless the food we eat today Bless the hands that make the food, Bless us, O God. Amen Afternoon prayer: Thank you for the world so sweet, Thank you for the food we eat Thank you for the birds that sing, Thank you God for everything. Amen SPECIAL NEEDS Children who have special educational needs are supported in school by all staff and our SENCO (Special Needs Coordinator) and, if necessary, by the Educational Psychologist. We are also able to call upon the services of other professional advisors, such as the Speech Therapist. If you have any concerns, please speak to the Nursery Teacher. PROGRESS AT NURSERY We operate an open-door policy in the Nursery and parents are welcome to talk to us about their child informally on a daily basis. If a longer chat is required, it is best to make an appointment with the Teacher so that we can meet your needs effectively. We also hold Parent Open Sessions, which are an opportunity for you to visit the Nursery to discuss your child s progress. Throughout your child s time at Nursery, we complete developmental records and will be happy to discuss any areas with you at a convenient time. These records are passed on to the Reception teacher. 10

11 PARENT STAY AND PLAY SESSIONS We run regular sessions for parents to Stay and Play in the Nursery. It is a chance to meet up with other parents and also to join in our Nursery activities with your child and have some special time together. SPECIAL EVENTS We have special days and activities throughout the year, such as Mothers Day activity day, Fathers Day activities, farm visit, library visits, Tropical Wings trip, pantomime trip, Nursery Nativity, Comic Relief charity day, Children in Need day and other special events. TRANSFER TO RECEPTION Children usually move to the Reception class at the beginning of the year in which they have their fifth birthday. Parents should apply online at Please note that transfer to full time education in the Main School is not automatic. At present all applications are dealt with by 11

12 the Local Authority and places are allocated in accordance with the criteria set out by the Governing Body. Things you can do to help your child before they start Nursery! Help them be as independent as possible with the toilet Practice washing and drying hands Practice putting on their coat Give them a good breakfast or lunch before coming to Nursery. Make sure they have plenty of sleep not too late to bed! Talk to them about coming to Nursery. Reassure them that you will come and get them when they have finished playing. Finally all the staff at Nursery want the very best for your child. Should you have any concerns, please do speak to us. We hope you and your child enjoy your time at St. Mary s Nursery! playing together, growing together 12