The Nursery

In the Early Years at Glebe Primary, we want children to be happy, confident, well-rounded individuals who have a love for learning. We believe in providing all children with a safe and stimulating environment that builds on each individual's wants, needs and interests.

We are committed to providing the best possible start to their school life, teaching them skills, and giving them experiences which will ensure their wellbeing now and success in the future.

Our Nursery is attached to the main school. It is calm and welcoming, helping to make the transition from home to school as smooth as possible. The indoor and outdoor learning environment is carefully planned and resourced offering a rich and exciting learning environment in which your child can explore, discover, and learn through play. 

In Nursery, we base our learning on the children's interests and ideas.  The children are encouraged to become independent learners and problem solvers through stimulating play, learning and a caring environment. In Nursery, we offer a play-based curriculum with exciting learning opportunities in the seven areas of learning.

The learning and development in EYFS is split into three prime areas and four specifics.

Prime Areas:

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

Specific Areas:

• Literacy
• Mathematics
• Understanding the World
• Expressive Arts and Design 

Teaching in Nursery is organised through a range of approaches and we provide a balance of child initiated and adult-led activities.

A typical session in the nursery will include:

• Carpet times
• Phonics/Maths inputs
• Key group times
• Child initiated/focused activities
• Story/song times
• "Glee-Bees" forest school sessions - a dedicated session in the school forest school area 

Hours will be:

Monday to Friday

Session 1:  8.30am - 11.30am (session 1- ends before lunch)

Session 2: 11.30am to 2.30pm (session 2 - this session includes lunch)

An extra 30 minutes can be paid for between 2.30pm - 3.00pm to offer later pick up.

We encourage voucher use and additional sessions can be booked and paid for also.

Be positive and confident about your child coming to Nursery. Talk about the exciting play activities they will enjoy, and the friends they will make. There will be an opportunity for your child to visit prior admission. 

During the first few weeks in Nursery, your child will be learning the routines and building relationships with all the children and staff.  We will be focusing on prime areas of learning which are: Personal, Social an Emotional Development, Communication and Language, and Physical Development.

In Nursery, we work in partnerships with parents/carers to promote the learning and development of all children. Parents/carers are a child's most important educators; therefore, we endeavour to involve and support parents in as many opportunities as we can.

In Nursery, we use Class Dojo which is a secure online Learning Journal to communications portal. This portal allows us to record photos, observations and comments, in line with the Early Years Foundation Stage curriculum, to build up a record of your child’s experiences during their time with us.

This system allows us to work with parents and carers to share information and record the children’s play and learning in and outside of the classroom.

Class Dojo is a website which can be accessed on a computer or laptop, and also on any Apple or Android device such as a tablet or smart phone. 

We would like the children in Nursery to feel part of the school community by wearing the school uniform. When children start nursery, we highly recommend elasticated waist trousers and no fiddly belts! Jogging trousers/leggings in dark grey and black are very suitable. We also advise Velcro shoes as children are too young for laces and don't yet have the dexterity for them.

• White only blouse, shirt or polo shirt (top with a collar).
• Navy blue sweatshirt or cardigan with or without the school logo.
• Black/dark grey skirt, pinafore dress, trousers/leggings or shorts.
• Blue and white striped/checked dress.
• Dark socks or white socks/tights only (not patterned or bright colours).
• Sensible, school-type, flat black shoes (covered toes all year round). We ask that young children have a Velcro fastening until they are able to tie laces. No boots or ankle boots.

Additional items: hat/baseball cap, coat, water bottle, wellies (on forest school day), bag (ruck sack/bookbag).

Please label everything!

Nursery

The children have really enjoyed learning about minibeasts! During our weekly Welly Walks, the children have the opportunity to explore and discover the outdoors. In this picture, the children used their magnifying glasses to find and look more closely at the minibeasts they discovered. They have enjoyed learning about what they eat, where they live, as well as talking about how big/ small they are compared to each other.

To celebrate all of our learning through the Christmas period, Reception and Nursery were very excited to travel and explore our local area of Southwick Square, in an effort to deliver our letters to Santa.

In pairs, we travelled up to the high street – pointing out the festive decorations and places we have visited in Southwick such as the post office and the Pirate Park. As the post box drew closer, our excitement grew and we all posted our letters.

After our trip, we all shared our hopes and dreams of what Santa may deliver on Christmas day!