Nursery (AM & PM)
Welcome to Nursery
Our Teachers are:
Mrs Wenban, Mrs Barratt, Mrs Hollis and Mrs Penhallurick
Our Lunchtime supervisors are:
Miss Oxley, Miss Smith and Mrs Severn
Nursery session times are:
Morning Nursery 8.45-11.45am
Afternoon Nursery 12.30-3.30pm
Full days 8.45am-2.45pm
Thank you for choosing our nursery to support your child through their early years of education and we are looking forward to getting to know you and your family. We strongly believe in the importance of working together with parents and carers to support young children’s development and so therefore if you have any questions or would like support please email us at foundationstage@cpa.dsat.education
Please click on the following link to see an overview of the learning we will be covering in Nursery this year.
Nursery Curriculum Overview 2024
Spring 1 2025
This term our learning will be focused around the theme Land Before Time and we will be finding out about the different dinosaurs and looking at fossils. We will also be thinking about the season Winter and focusing on the changes that happen during this season.
Communication, Language and Literacy
This half term we will be continuing to focus on developing the children’s speaking and listening skills. These skills are a crucial first step for children learning to read and write and it is vital that they have a good understanding of vocabulary and sentence structure for them to be able to learn to read and write. Therefore we will be playing lots of listening games, singing songs and rhymes, modelling and encouraging them to speak in full sentences as well as developing their vocabulary through stories, exploratory experiences and imaginative play. You can support this learning at home by singing nursery rhymes, sharing stories at bedtime and talking with your child about the things you are doing at home or the places you visit. We will also be continuing to focus on the concepts of alliteration and rhyme, teaching the children to listen to the initial and ending sounds in words.
Our Core stories for this half term are The Gruffalo's Child and Harry and his Bucketful of Dinosaurs. The children will have lots of opportunities to explore the language and vocabulary in these texts as well as sequencing them.
Mathematics
As part of the nursery session the children will take part in a short daily maths sessions. During this learning the children will be given lots of opportunities to develop their early mathematical skills for example sorting groups of objects, counting small sets and recognising numbers, as well as talking about the days, months and seasons.
Here is a link to the number formation rhymes we use to teach the children how to write their numbers.
Personal, Social and Emotional Development 
As the children become more settled in nursery and confident with our rules and routines they will also be learning about relationships and how to be a good friend, taking turns and sharing the resources.
During our My Happy Mind sessions we will be continuing to teach the children happy breathing techniques in order to keep their brains healthy and calm. We will also be learning about our new theme Appreciate, introducing the character Arabella and identifying things that we are grateful for and how we can show our appreciation.
Physical Development
The children will have lots of opportunities to develop both their fine and gross motor skills. We will be teaching them how to hold a pencil using a tripod pencil grip and how to use a pair of scissors safely. The children will also be going outside everyday so that they can develop their running, climbing, rolling and balancing skills using the trim trail and the resources in our outdoor area. We will also be encouraging the children to learn to put their coat on independently and have a try and fastening them up.
Understanding the World
Science –We will be finding out about seasonal changes and experimenting with the processes of freezing and melting. We will also be answering the scientific quesiton "What's inside an egg?" and linking this to dinosaur eggs.
History – We will be finding out about the famous Paleontologist Mary Anning and why she was special. We will also be sequencing our core story The Gruffalo's Child.
Geography – As well as identifying seasonal changes and identifying the different types of weather we experience during this season we will also be finding out about where dinosaurs liked to live and whether they lived on the land, in the air or in the sea.
R.E. – This half term we will be thinking about things we would like to get better at this year as well as finding out about different celebrations at this time of year including Chinese New Year on the 29th January.
Creative
The children will have lots of opportunities to develop their creative skills using the resources in our cutting and sticking area to create models and pictures. They will learn to mix colours and use the painting resources effectively as well as learning lots of new songs and playing with the percussion instruments. 
We will also be looking at the artist Andy Goldsworthy and creating some of our own collages using natural materials.
General Information
Nursery Gate
Just to remind you our doors and gates will be opened at 8.45 and 12.30 for you to drop your children off at Nursery. You are welcome to bring your child into the classroom to help them hang their things on their pegs and get settled.
We will be opening our gates at 3.15pm in the afternoon as we are aware that some parent’s have other children to pick up from different classes and schools. You are therefore welcome to pick up you children any time between 3.15 and 3.30pm.
Clothing
Please help us by ensuring that your child is dressed in simple clothes that they can manage quickly and easily when they need to go to the toilet. Remember, sometimes busy children leave things to the last minute. If you would like to bring a spare set of clothes in a bag, which can be hung on their peg, in case of accidents this would be welcomed. However please make sure all bags, water bottles, lunch boxes and items of clothing, especially school jumpers and cardigans, have got your child’s name in them. We have got a box in nursery with lots of cardigans and jumpers that have no name in them.
Nursery children also have the opportunity to play outside everyday and it is therefore important that they bring appropriate clothing, including a sun hat.
Tapestry
We are using Tapestry to create online learning journeys for the children in the foundation stage. To find out more about Tapestry please click on the following power point presentation.
Tapestry parents information presentation 06.10.20
The following guides explain how to download the Tapestry app or to login in to your account using a web browser.
Tapestry for Parents Android Tutorial
Tapestry for Parents IOS Tutorial
Tapestry for Parents on the Web Tutorial
The following videos show how to use tapestry and how to add observations:
30 Hours Funding and Top up sessions
As you maybe aware we are able to offer 30 hours funded places for working parents as well as top up sessions. The prices for top up sessions are:
Cost per Hour: £5
Half a Day (8.45-11.45am/12.30-3.30pm): £15.00
2.45-3.30pm: £3.73 (£18.75 per week)
If you are interested in topping up then please speak to a member of the Foundation Team. More information on 30hours funding can be found by clicking on the following link:
FAQ Parents – 30 Hours Feb 2018
Please remember if you do qualify for 30 hours funding you will need a code and this code needs to be reconfirmed every three months. You will receive a message from HMRC to reconfirm your code 4 weeks and 2 weeks before the code expires.
If you have any questions or concerns please come and speak to a member of the Nursery staff. We would like to reassure you that we will take great care of your children and their safety and welfare is at the centre of all the decisions we make. We are very much looking forward to working with you all this year.
Mrs Wenban, Mrs Barratt, Mrs Hollis and Mrs Penhallurick
(Nursery Staff)