What to Expect in Nursery Class

What to Expect in Nursery Class

Sessions

Morning sessions: 9am-11.30am

Lunch: 11.30am-12.30pm

Afternoon session: 12.30-3.00pm

In the morning our doors open from 8.50am to allow children to be in and registered by 9am.

Activities

• Activities and topics are planned around children’s interests.
• The Seven areas of the curriculum are catered for. The main areas in  Nursery’s are Communication and Language, Personal Social Emotional Development and Physical Development. Literacy, Mathematics, Understanding the World and Expressive Arts and Design are also catered for through these too.
• Continuous provision is what we call the things that are available to the children all of the time e.g. a construction area, home corner, book nook, mark making, number, computers sand and water play.
• We sometimes ‘enhance’ these, following children’s interests e.g. making a role play area, give an area a theme, set up an investigation area and provide books about a certain topic.
• We often provide a context for children develop different skills e.g. dinosaurs, growing, people who helps us, superheroes etc.
• We also encourage children to demonstrate and develop characteristics of effective learning (CoEL). These are:
  • • Play and exploring
    • Active learning
    • Creating and critically thinking
• The children can think of there own ideas, using resources available. We call this ‘child initiated play’. This is how we can find out what interests them and what they enjoy doing the most.
• We will also use what style of learning the children seem to prefer within our planning too. These could be:
  • • Trajectory - creating lines in space by climbing up and jumping down. Dropping items from up high.
    • Positioning - lining items up and putting them in groups.
    • Enveloping - covering themselves or objects completely. Wrapping items up or placing them in containers.
    • Rotating - enjoys spinning items round and round. Likes to run around in circles or being swung round.
    • Enclosing - adding boundaries to play areas e.g. fences around animals. Adding borders to pictures.
    • Transporting - carrying or moving items from one place to another; carrying items in containers or bags.
    • Connecting - setting out and dismantling tracks, constructing, joining items together with tape or glue.
    • Transforming - exploring the changing states of materials, transforming them from a solid to liquid state and back again.
    • Orienteering – an interest in positioning themselves or objects in different places or positions e.g. upside down or on their side.

Snack and Chat time

• Children are offered snack twice a day, once in the morning and once in the afternoon.
• Snacks offered vary daily but we try to encourage exploring and healthy food range.
• Examples of snacks are toast, crackers, crumpets, fruits, vegetable sticks, pancakes, soup, smoothies etc.
• We use snack and chat time to encourage children to develop life skills, sharing, table manners and social skills.
• Fruit, milk and water is available for the children throughout the day.
• Children help to serve snack and help to tidy up afterwards.

Outdoor Learning

• This is a key area for children to learn in. It is an extension of our classroom.
• We aim for it to magnify what is indoors to the outdoors.
• Children have the opportunity to explore and use their senses.
• There are a range of key areas e.g. a mud kitchen, creates, large wooden blocks, playhouse, climbing area, a range of PE equipment etc.

Lunchtimes

• The children prepare for lunch in the classroom e.g. washing hands etc.
• They go into the school hall for their lunch where they are supervised by a member of staff and mid-day supervisors.
• They have the option of a hot dinner, a sandwich choice or a packed lunch (children order their school lunch in the morning).
• Once they have eaten their lunch, the children are taken back to the classroom where they will have an outdoor play.
• Once they have had a play, some children may have an afternoon nap in our quiet book nook. (Please let us know if your child requires a nap during their Nursery session.
• The remainder of the children have a quiet reflection time.

Belongings

• Children will keep their belongings in the cloakroom.
• They will keep their bookbags in a special box. This is where we will put any letters to pass onto you.
• Wellies will always need to stay in school. The children will need these to play outside.
• There are designated spaces to keep lunchboxes and drinks bottles.