St. Thomas Church of England Primary SchoolNursery Class

Newton Street, Blackburn, Lancashire, BB1 1NE

tel: 01254 54706 email: st.thomas@blackburn.gov.uk

web: www.stthomasblackburn.org.uk

Headteacher: Mrs Carolyn Lord

Preparing children today for a new tomorrow; nurturing their dreams, hopes and aspirations

within our Christian values and principles.

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We hope you and your child will be very happy with us. If, at any time, you have any problems, worries, or just general queries, please ask. We are always available to talk.

WELCOME TO ST THOMAS' SCHOOL NURSERY CLASS

THE NURSERY CLASS The Nursery Teacher is Mrs. McConkey. She is supported by Nursery Nurses and a Special Support Assistant.

We try to ensure that there is always someone, who shares the children’s strongest language, for them to talk to. We have staff in school who speak most of the local community languages. There are 58 part-time places for children over 3 years old.

You will be offered either a morning or an afternoon place. 29 children attend in the morning - 8.45am to 11.45am. 29 children attend in the afternoon -12.30pm to 3.30pm.

Children usually spend three terms in the Nursery.

starting nursery and settling inThere is a pre-nursery open evening in July. Home visits take place in September and we will visit you and your child at home. This helps us to get to know you and your child. Last year’s home visits were very successful. Parents and staff found them to be very positive experiences.

During September, children are admitted gradually in small groups. This enables staff to spend time with each child and talk to parents. Parents will be given visiting dates and a starting date. We will ask you, or someone your child knows well, to stay for 2 sessions, more if necessary, until your child feels at ease and comfortable in the Nursery.

It is best that you stay for an hour at first, and share play activities with your child. As your child becomes more confident, the length of the time in the Nursery can be increased and it will be possible for you to decrease the time you spend in the Nursery.

each child is a unique individual Children can react very differently to starting Nursery, and our settling in arrangements are flexible, depending on the needs of each child. Parents MUST consult with Nursery staff before leaving their child in the Nursery.

Your child will be given a coat peg with a picture and their name next to it.

PLEASE always bring your child into the Nursery and settle him/her at an activity before saying goodbye.

CHILDREN NEED TO KNOW THAT THEIR PARENTS ARE INTERESTED IN THEIR EDUCATION.

collecting your childIt is important that you collect your child promptly at the end of the session to avoid anxiety or distress for the child. If your child is to be collected by someone different, please tell the Nursery staff. For your child’s safety, we cannot let children go home with unfamiliar adults. Children can only go home with a person aged 14 years or over.

attendanceFollowing LEA guidelines, and because of pressure for places in the Nursery, if your child does not attend Nursery for three consecutive weeks without good reason, the place may be offered to another child.

Regular attendance is very important. Attendance is closely monitored by school.

illnessPlease let us know if your child is unable to attend Nursery for any reason, and ensure s/he is fully recovered before returning to Nursery.

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milk timeMilk is free for all Nursery children and a snack of fruit or vegetables is also provided.

nursery fundParents are asked to make a voluntary contribution of 50p weekly. We rely on this fund to buy baking ingredients, play dough ingredients and towards the cost of the coach for the Nursery trip. We do celebrate birthdays in the Nursery and often take this opportunity to bake a birthday cake with the children.

clothingPlease send your child in comfortable clothes - trousers with elastic waists, sleeves that roll up easily etc. Many of the Nursery activities are "messy" but great fun! We do have a supply of emergency clothing if your child has an accident. We have aprons, but suggest that children wear clothes that they can play in without worrying.

For safety reasons, please make sure your child wears sensible shoes. It is also important that your child does not wear jewellery to Nursery.

At St. Thomas’ we understand and value the religious significance of wearing a Taweez. It is fine for your child to wear a Taweez at school, but we need to ask you to sign a form giving your child permission to do so. Please make sure your child wears the Taweez under his or her clothing so that it does not catch on anything at school. Your child should be able to remove the Taweez for certain activities to prevent him or her from getting injured.

libraryWe open the library when all the children have settled into the Nursery. A zip wallet can be bought for 30p to protect the books. Children can choose a book to take home every week.

Reading to your child is an ideal opportunity for you as a parent to spend some time with your child. Reading time can be perceived as "their time!"

If for any reason books become damaged then they must be paid for and a contribution of £5 will be asked for.

learning journeysThe children have books called ‘Learning Journeys’ which provide an opportunity for an important partnership to be started between parents, children and staff at nursery school.

Parents are encouraged to share with the Nursery the interests, concerns and abilities of their child.

We need parental co-operation in doing this, as we build up an individual picture of each child.

We will be taking photographs, collecting your child's work, making comments about his/her progress and requesting responses from you.

When your child leaves the Nursery, the Learning Journeys will be passed on to the Reception class teachers to ensure continuity of education. We hope you will enjoy making up this permanent record of your child's year in the Nursery with us.

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our curriculum and organisationThe children learn both indoors and out and are taught within seven areas of learning.

The complete curriculum document is available for you to read in the Nursery if you wish.

We display all our planning in the Nursery for parents to look at.

young children learn through playAll the Nursery activities are carefully planned across all the areas of development. Activities provided enable children to self initiate learning as well as being directed by an adult. Nursery staff observe continually and encourage children to try different tasks. The children learn self-discipline from making choices for themselves and learn to be independent

and self-sufficient by the way in which we organise the Nursery.

Parents and carers are their children’s first teachers. When they are with you, learning can happen at any time and anywhere, for example through:

• Being generous with praise and cuddles;• Reading things together;• Playing games, singing nursery rhymes;• Talking about what you can see in the park or on the street;• Counting the stairs as you go up and down.

These are some of the learning through play activities and experiences that are provided in nursery:• role play area, water, dry sand, wet sand, paints, dough, large and small construction toys, jigsaws, tracing, drawing, collage, junk modelling, cutting, threading, small world toys,baking, computer, smart board, book area, listening area, scientific activities• outdoor equipment - climbing, bikes, scooters, bats, balls, • music activities - instruments, singing, rhymes, story time.

The information in this booklet is correct at the time of printing (July 2015)

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