Welcome to Grimoldby Nursery

We hope you find the information on this page useful and we thank you for taking the time to read it.

If you have any comments or queries about the contents, please feel free to contact the Foundation Stage staff.

Always remember – We are working together for the same goal – a happy and secure education for your child.

Nursery Sessions

Each child is entitled to 5 free nursery sessions
We are also able to offer additional sessions and the cost of these are shown in the table below.

NURSERY SESSION TIMES

Morning session – Doors open at 8.30am to start for 8.45am – 11.30am
Lunchtime session – 11.30am – 12.15pm
Afternoon session – 12.15pm -3.15pm

Milk, water and fruit will be provided for the children at no cost to the parents.

PROCEDURE FOR ARRIVAL AND COLLECTION OF NURSERY CHILDREN

Entry to the school will be through the main school doors and you are welcome to bring your child to the classroom to be met by a member of the Foundation Stage staff in the morning.

At the end of the morning session a member of the Foundation Stage staff will bring your child to the main reception foyer for collection.

After lunchtimes, if your child is going home, a member of the Foundation Stage staff will bring your child to the main reception foyer for collection.

If your child is attending the afternoon session, they will be met by a member of the Foundation Stage staff in the main reception foyer at 12.15pm.

At 3.15pm the children are collected in the main playground in an area marked N. Parents are asked to be on time, however children will be supervised until collected.

Important – Your child will only be allowed to be collected by you or a named person. This named person or persons must be named on your admission form.

SCHOOL WEAR

Whilst a school uniform is not compulsory, we do have a school poloshirt, sweatshirt and/or fleece with our logo. Other uniform type clothes we may suggest are grey or navy trousers, pinafore dresses or skirts. During the summer blue & white check dresses are acceptable.

Whether the children wear uniform or not, we do ask that they wear sensible clothes and footwear. The children will be engaged in active learning, at this stage of their development. This means that they will experiment with a variety of materials and may get very messy. Please do not send your child to school in good clothes that can’t take glue, paint, mud, clay, baking ingredients and many other activities that we provide. We do ensure the children use the aprons provided but – accidents do happen!

We would ask, if it is possible, that parents send a complete change of clothing for their children in case of accidents when playing with water. We do have spare clothing in school but children often get very upset when asked to wear something which is not their own. This clothing may be kept in a bag on their coat peg.

Much of our physical development takes place in our outdoor area however we also take opportunities to use the school hall. We recommend that children wear plimsolls for these sessions trainers are unsuitable from a Health & Safety perspective. T-shirts, shorts or leotards may be worn. Children may do these activities in their underwear and bare feet.

CAR PARK SAFETY

May we remind parents not to drive into the car park at 8.30am and 3.15pm the congestion of parents, children, buses and taxis make the car park hazardous.

Would parents refrain from clambering over the fence between the cars when making their way into the playground, the children are not allowed to do this and it will instil good habits into the children regarding safety.

PROMOTING HEALTHY EATING

The whole school approach to healthy eating starts in the nursery by encouraging your child to eat a healthy balanced packed lunch. The school’s food policy encourages children to eat fruit, sandwiches, yoghurt etc. Crisps, chocolate and fizzy drinks are discouraged.

PREPARING YOUR CHILD FOR NURSERY

As the time approaches for your children to start nursery, it is a good idea for you to spend some time talking to them about the type of activities they will be able to take part in e.g. painting, drawing, listening to stories, baking, modelling etc. You will probably have enjoyed sharing these activities at home already.

Here are some hints on other things you can do with your children at home to help them to be more independent.

➢ Encourage them to dress and undress themselves. Don’t worry to much about fastenings, the fact that your children have managed to put their clothes on by themselves will give them a sense of achievement and pride.

➢ Encourage them to go to the toilet by themselves and to wash and dry hands afterwards.

➢ Encourage them to tidy away books and toys. This is an important part of our routine because it helps children to become helpful and independent and to learn how to look after things.

➢ Encourage your children to mix with others as often as possible. This will develop their ability to share, take turns and to form relationships with other children and adults.

➢ Encourage your children to talk about their activities but try to avoid asking closed questions which only require “yes” or “no” for an answer. Point out things of interest as you go for a walk or do the shopping and look at shops names, road signs etc.

➢ Let them help around the house – dusting, washing up, pegging clothes on line, baking, setting the table, one plate for each person, one knife, one fork and spoon etc. All of this lays good foundations for early maths and language skills.

➢ Please read, listen and talk to your children as much as possible. If they sit on your knee, they can see the words and the pictures in the book. They will begin to understand that text conveys meaning and pictures help to tell the story.

➢ Always praise your children’s achievements no matter how small they are. After you have been cross, be ready to praise as soon as they are good again.

All of these activities provide children with experiences which we will build on when they start nursery.

SETTLING IN

As parents and early years practitioners we are all working towards a happy transition from home to nursery, therefore we want your children to feel as happy and secure in the nursery as they do at home.

If there are things you need to discuss Mrs. Forysth will be available after school for this purpose or you may phone and make an appointment. Alternatively, you may speak to Mrs. Barnes. Either way, we are sure that by working together we will able to overcome any problems.

LEARNING IN THE NURSERY

We follow the Statutory Framework for the Early Years Foundation Stage.

What is the Early Years Foundation Stage (EYFS)?
• The EYFS is a framework for children’s development from birth to the end of their first (reception) year in school.
• The EYFS framework describes how early years practitioners should work with children and their families to support their development and learning.
• The EYFS describes how your child should be kept safe and cared for and how all concerned can make sure that your child achieves the most that they can in their earliest years of life.

What does all this mean?
• Young children learn best through play and first hand experience.
• We will provide your child with a range of appropriate play and learning experience for their stage of development and help them develop skills.
• The activities that are provided for your child will underpin the skills they need to work towards the Early Learning Goals in the following areas at the end of the reception year at school

o Communication, language and literacy
o Personal, social and emotional development
o Problem solving, reasoning and numeracy
o Creative development
o Physical development
o Knowledge and understanding of the world

HELPING IN THE NURSERY OR SCHOOL

Do you have an hour to spare? Would you be interested in spending some time in the nursery?

Parents, Grandparents and carers are very welcome in school and we are always pleased to hear from anyone who feels they would like to come and work with us or help in any way.

Parents can help by - Helping with cookery
Listening to and talking with the children
Preparing Art Materials
Helping with school visits
Story reading
Craft activities

If you feel you would like to help in any way at all, please let us know.

YOUR CHILD’S HEALTH

Head lice
As with any illness or disease, it is the parent’s responsibility to be constantly on the look out for head lice and to take the necessary action. We cannot do anything in school about this apart from informing you when we have more than two cases in one class reported to us. You can buy over-the-counter remedies, or some doctors will prescribe a shampoo. It is important that ALL the family are treated with this and not just the child who has lice. We cannot exclude children from school with head lice, but if we find your child has them we will inform you, just in case you haven’t picked up on it.

Medicines
We are reluctant to administer any medication during the school day. However, if your child has a long-term illness or is taking a short course of medication that they need during the school day we will administer medication advised by the doctor, providing the following safeguards are observed.
1. A written note explaining the need for the administration of the medication in school.
2. The medication must be clearly labelled with contents, owner’s name and dosage, and must be handed to a teacher or the office staff.
3. Under no circumstances should tablets etc be left in lunch boxes for self-administration by the child.
ABSENCE

If your child has to be absent from nursery for any reason, we would appreciate it if you could inform us as soon as possible.

If your child has infection e.g. diarrhoea, sickness, running ears, conjunctivitis, please help us by keeping him/her at home until it as cleared up. We need to protect all the children in our nursery and we would be grateful for your co-operation.