Information about our Nursery

Which adults work in nursery?

Mrs. Kate Quant (Wed-Fri) and Mrs Despina Yiasoumi (Mon-Tues) are the teachers and keyworkers for all of the children. Mrs Chloe Donegan is the full time nursery practitioner in the class. We offer a choice of mornings only, or mornings with lunch, or 8:50-3:20.

8:50 Registration and time to introduce activities or teach phonics and Literacy.

9:10  Small Group time – Children complete a Literacy, Maths and Topic based task each week. These tend to be practical tasks such as treasure hunts, acting stories, games and problem solving e.g. How could you build a bridge across this river for the three goats? How can you share these people between the two hot air balloons? This broadens their play, introduces them to new children and helps us to get to know their interests and abilities so we can plan for their individual needs.

9:30 Child Initiated Learning. We provide a range of resources and activities, including sand, water, computers, playdough, small world play, instruments, investigation resources, construction and role play. Adults observe, play alongside and extend learning through careful questioning and challenges. This helps the children to develop social skills and become interested, self-motivated learners.

10:15 Maths carpet time – a short time together to count, sing number rhymes, solve problems on the SmartBoard, sort shapes etc.

10:25 Wash hands and have a snack – we provide milk, water, fruit and vegetables. The children sit at tables to chat and share the food. Water is available throughout the morning.

10:40 Time to be outside, developing physical skills, investigating nature and gardening as well as exploring small world, fine motor and role play activities

11:35 Story time, music, review our morning and complete the morning session at 11:50.

11:50 Optional lunch club with pupil’s choice school dinner.

12:20 Play in the nursery garden with friends after lunch.

12:50 Afternoon activities including dance, crafts, yoga and outdoor sessions.

3:00 Story and rhyme time before ending the afternoon session at 3:20

In addition to this, each week we do cooking, PE, create role play areas and the children choose book bags and maths bags to take home.

Our facilities

We have a self-contained nursery building at the rear of the school with full disabled access and facilities and a coded security entry system. There are toilets, a kitchen, an office and a lobby as well as the main classroom. This large, light space is kept at a constant temperature through heating and air conditioning and it’s divided into stimulating learning zones with a SmartBoard in the carpet area. Our enclosed garden is huge and is surrounded by fields. We have a lot of outdoor play equipment, including a large sandpit as well as a bug hotel, planters and other features to encourage the children to engage with nature. We have a canopy area to enable us to play outside in all weather conditions.

Dressing for Nursery

We encourage our nursery children to wear the Woodside school sweatshirt/cardigan with a white polo top and grey trousers/skirt/dress – it is a working uniform for our practical curriculum. It is great if they wear clothes and shoes that they can manage themselves. They do not need a book bag or PE kit but we do request that children bring a pair of wellington boots to keep at nursery and wear coats, gloves, sun hats etc. as appropriate.

How does Woodside prepare the children for starting nursery?

• Mrs. Quant visits the children at their pre-school settings in July and meets their keyworkers to discuss each child’s needs.
• Parents are encouraged to bring their child to nursery for an ‘open morning’, giving new children and parents a chance to get to know each other, the staff and the building.
• Mrs. Quant & Mrs Yiasoumi home visit each child to get to know each family.
• Children start nursery in small groups in order to settle them easily.

What happens at collecting time?

Parents come in the front gate, walk around the school and wait outside nursery. At 11:50/12:20/3:20 we open the top door and call the children out one at a time when we see the person authorised to collect them. Parents must write on a board (just inside the nursery door) if anyone different is collecting their child on that day. If plans change during the morning, please ring nursery on 01707 888333 and we will write it on the board for you. If you are late to collect, please phone us and we will wait with your child in nursery. If no-one collects your child by 12:00/3:30, our school office will contact you.

How do I find out how my child is getting on at nursery?

• We hold termly open mornings, where parents are invited to join us for the last half hour of a nursery session. This enables your child to show you their ‘work’ and photos on display and to demonstrate what they like to play with.
• We offer two parent consultations, usually in October and February, to discuss how your child has settled/progressed in nursery, share their learning journeys and set individual targets.
• Nursery staff enjoy daily contact with parents at drop off and collection times, when any achievements, special information or concerns are raised with individuals.
• We use an online learning journal, called Tapestry, to keep you informed of what your child has been doing and also for you to add achievements and special days with their families. Mrs. Quant will talk to you about this at the home visit.

What does my child learn at nursery?

The emphasis in nursery is on how children learn, rather than what they learn. At Woodside, we develop children’s confidence to play together cooperatively and purposefully, to become self-motivated and interested learners. We build on, and broaden, their interests whilst encouraging imaginative and creative play and investigation. Activities are differentiated to allow every child to make the most of each morning and we set individual targets to ensure that each child progresses according to their needs. We fully support children with special educational needs and disabilities and deliver the Early Years Foundation Stage framework https://www.gov.uk/government/publications/early-years-foundation-stage-framework--2  This sets out:

The legal welfare requirements that everyone registered to look after children must follow to keep children safe and promote their welfare and the 7 areas of learning and development which guide our engagement with your child’s play and activities as they learn new skills and knowledge.

Children should mostly develop the 3 prime areas first. These are:

Communication and Language, Physical Development and Personal, Social and Emotional Development.

These prime areas are those most essential for healthy development and future learning.

As children grow, the prime areas will help them to develop skills in 4 specific areas. These are: Literacy, Mathematics, Understanding the World and Expressive Arts and Design.

At Woodside, we use Development Matters https://www.gov.uk/government/publications/development-matters--2  to help us implement the EYFS framework within our daily observation, assessment and planning.  A development guide for parents can be downloaded at: https://foundationyears.org.uk/wp-content/uploads/2021/09/What-to-expect-in-the-EYFS-complete-FINAL-16.09-compressed.pdf 

We focus on half termly topics such as ‘flight’, ‘toys’ and ‘seaside’ to engage and motivate the children. We also take part in special events, such as the Christmas nativity play and pantomime, world book day, a visit to the library and celebrating festivals. We also like to base learning around the children’s own interests and experiences so please let us know about special events or days out and anything else which motivates and excites your child.