Foundation Stage Welcome Pack Starting Nursery September 2020

Foundation Stage Welcome Pack Starting Nursery - September 2020

Contents Our Foundation Stage Team 1 Getting ready for Nursery 2 Nursery Times 2 Nursery Taster Sessions 2 Home Visits 2 Starting Nursery 3 First Day 4 Clothing 4 Learning and the Curriculum 5 Bringing and collecting your child Sickness and Absences Finding out about your child’s progress 6 6 6

Welcome to Heathcoat Primary School We are delighted to welcome you to our school and we feel sure that your child’s time with us will be a happy and fulfilling one. In September we look forward to getting to know your child so that we can fully meet their needs and ensure a smooth transition into Nursery. Your child’s first experience of school is tremendously important because it will strongly influence their attitudes to learning. At Heathcoat we are dedicated to provided inspiring learning opportunities to all of our children so that they develop high aspirations and meet their potential. Miss D Higginson Head of School We work hard to ensure that our Foundation Stage Unit is a friendly and caring environment. We are fortunate to have excellent staff who work hard to ensure that your child’s time with us is happily spent in a stable and fun environment. Building strong relationships with parents and carers is also a huge priority at Heathcoat. Please feel free to discuss any concerns or issues with us if they arise.

Nursery Team Miss Neale Assistant Head, EYFS & Yr 1 Team Leader & Nursery Teacher Miss Hughes Nursery Teacher Mrs Butler Early Years Assistant Miss Dawe Teaching Assistant 1

Getting ready for Nursery Taster Sessions Nursery Times Before your child starts at nursery, we would normally invite you and your child along to nursery for taster sessions. These last for about an hour and they are an opportunity for you and your child to meet the Nursery team and become familiar with the environment before starting Nursery. We will keep you informed regarding taster sessions and once we have received further Government guidance we can then make firm plans for transition and face to face settling in sessions. Session times are as follows : Early morning session 7. 45 – 9. 15 am Morning Session: 9. 15 am – 12. 15 pm Afternoon Session: 12. 15 – 3. 15 pm After school session 3. 15 – 6 pm Starting nursery is a new and exciting experience. However, both parents and children can feel apprehensive about the changes ahead. At Heathcoat, we aim to make this transition as smooth and as positive as possible. Home Visit – telephone conversation Due to the current Covid-19 pandemic, we are still in uncertain times and until we receive further guidance from the Government we are unable to confirm the plans for your child’s transition into Nursery. However, please rest assured that we will provide your child with a phased transition into Nursery as and when it is safe to do so. We will keep you fully informed of our plans via email and our school website. A member of our staff will be contacting you over the next few weeks to complete a telephone call which will replace the typical home visit. This will allow you to share information about your child, including previous childcare experiences, their general development, their interests and other relevant information or concerns you have about them starting nursery. We have listed some of the things we do to support your child’s move into nursery and some suggestions of what you might like to do as parents. 2

Starting Nursery Help your child to become as independent as is possible by encouraging and helping them to: • Use the toilet and wash their hands • Put on and take off their coat • Use a tissue to wipe their nose • Share toys and take turns • Put their toys away How to prepare your child for nursery As parents, you can help prepare your child for the move to nursery in the following ways: If your child has not been apart from you before, try to arrange for him/her to spend some time with relatives/friends so he/she can get used to being with others. (If this is possible with the current social distancing restrictions) Share books about starting Nursery with your child and talk about how the characters are feeling about starting Nursery. This will help your child to talk about any fears or concerns they may have and allow you to reassure them. If your child is not yet toilet trained, you will be able to let staff know during the ‘home visit’ telephone call. Nursery staff are able to help children with their personal hygiene needs until they are able to do this independently and will work with parents to encourage this independence. 3

First Day Nursery staff will agree a start date for your child at nursery. We stagger the entry of new children to nursery over a few Days/week so that staff can give them individual attention and help them to settle. As parents, you know your child best and we would encourage you to settle your child on their first day. Once children are settled, nursery staff welcome children at the start of each session. On arrival, children hang up their coats, put away their book bag and then choose which activity they would like to do. Drinks and snacks Nursery children are entitled to free school milk. Children also need a named bottle that should contain water rather than juice. Free fruit is available for children each day as part of the governments ‘Fruit in Schools’ scheme. We are a nut free school as we have a few children with allergies. Please ensure food your child brings in is nut free. Clothing Children in nursery are welcome to wear a school uniform. We believe this makes the children feel part of the school community. You will be able to purchase a school sweatshirt using the link on our school website. However, school uniform is not compulsory. School Dinners Members of staff from the Foundation Stage Team supervise and care for the children during lunch time in the unit. Your child can choose to have a school dinner or they can bring in their own packed lunch. While at nursery your child will take part in a range of messy and creative play activities both inside and outside. Therefore, we would ask you to send your child to school in comfortable and suitable clothes for such activities. 4

Learning and the Curriculum The Foundation Stage covers a child’s education from the age of 3 to 5 years. It begins in Nursery and ends at the end of the Reception year. In the Foundation Stage the children learn through topics. Each session is carefully planned to give children the chance to take part in a range of play based learning opportunities and encourage the development of skills, knowledge and understanding in all seven areas of learning. Nursery and Reception work together, following the statutory Foundation Stage Curriculum. This is organised around the following seven areas of learning: Prime areas: • Personal, Social and Emotional Development • Communication and Language • Physical Development Specific areas: • Literacy • Mathematics • Understanding the World • Expressive Arts and Design Many planned activities can offer a number of learning experiences spanning across the subject areas, for example when children are using play dough they are learning to share (personal, social and emotional development), they may be talking about what they are doing (communication and language) and improving control of their hand movements (physical development). Nursery children have access to indoor and outdoor learning spaces, allowing the children to play and learn together accessing a variety of activities and experiences across the curriculum. The children will have access to a wide range of picture and story books in the nursery, where they will be able to choose a book to take home to share and return each week. 5

About Nursery Head lice The following procedures were written prior to Covid-19. We will inform you of the updated procedures prior to your child starting Nursery. Bringing and collecting your child The safety of your child is very important and so we ask that your child is brought and collected by an adult. Please bring your child directly into the nursery building and help us to settle them to their chosen activity. If you are going to be late collecting your child, please telephone the school, so that we can reassure them that you are on your way. If someone different is collecting your child, please let us know beforehand. Sickness and Absences If your child is unwell, please telephone the school office first thing in the morning on the day of your child’s absence, informing us that they will not be at school and the expected date of return. If your child has a medical appointment, please inform the office or your child’s class teacher in advance. 6 Head lice are a recurrent problem in schools and are quite likely to affect your child at some stage. They like clean hair as much as dirty hair so please make regular checks. We will try to inform you whenever we have a case of head lice reported in the Nursery. If your child has head lice please keep them at home until the appropriate treatment has been completed. Finding out about your child’s progress We operate an ‘open door’ policy at Heathcoat so parents are able to talk to staff when they drop off and pick their children up. If you need to talk with staff for a longer period or in private, please arrange a meeting with the appropriate member of staff. We encourage parents to share any concerns with us as early as possible so we can work to resolve matters and/or offer support. Each term there is a informal drop-in parent consultation evening. You will be invited to attend if you wish to discuss your child’s progress behaviour with the nursery or teacher/key worker. If you have any further questions about Nursery please do not hesitate to contact the school and speak with a member of the Nursery team.