Nursery

At Waterside we current operate on a part time basis for all children in the Nursery. Every child is entitled to 15 hours of free funding , with additional hours for working parents (30 hours). This is currently paid through the school, as we feel that it is incredibly important for our young learners to have as much opportunity as possible to grow and shine in a school environment, encouraged and challenged by highly skilled individuals. In order for working parents to apply for their additional funding, they are required to fill in the necessary paperwork. The funding has to be applied for on a termly basis. Staff are available to assistance with completing the paperwork. We are always happy to help!

We also offer wrap around care for those children who require dinner time care if staying for the afternoon sessions and for those children who's parents are not entitled to the additional hours. 

School Charge: £10 per day for an afternoon session, with an additional charge of £5 for dinner time care (this includes a hot healthy meal). Therefore the daily charge is (£15 per day).

Please see our charging policy- found in the policy section of the school website. 

Nursery Part Time Day- am allocation

8:30-11:30

Monday-Friday (total of 15 hours)

Nursery Part Time Day- pm allocation

12.20-3.20 pm

Monday-Friday (total of 15 hours)

Nursery- Full Time Day

8:30-3.30 pm

In our Nursery we focus on the Prime Areas of the Development Matters Document:

The prime areas of learning are:

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

However we still provide learning and activities for the specific areas of learning and this is done in a fun and engaging way throughout the classroom and outdoor environment.

We have topics which are set for the year however we know that children should not conform to how we want them to learn and we want to encourage independent learning and for the children to take the lead of their own learning and that is why we plan in the moment. All of our topics and learning are taught through Nursery Rhymes and simple poems, this is key for the children's Communication and Language Development.

The children in Nursery are all in key worker groups, our key worker groups are all duckling themed:

Yellow Ducklings and Brown Ducklings

These groups are where we will spend time sharing stories and rhymes and also sharing our thoughts feelings and emotions everyday, we will begin each day with a song, discussing any news we have, and looking at the day, weather and the season, in our key worker groups we aim to allow the children to grow in confidence, learn new vocabulary and to embed their learning. 

In Nursery the children have daily, phonics and maths sessions which the children take part in groups, they are short and sharp sessions which give the children the foundations to their Waterside journey. The children receive Phase 1 phonics, we follow the letters and sounds. Our number and patterns sessions focus on the fundamentals to early maths, we start at 0 and we do not move onto the next number unless the children know that particular number inside out and inside out. The skills we learn within this sessions are then put into play situations into our environment. 

Both our Nursery and Reception classrooms have been designed and organised to promote positive, engaging environments for the children to learn in. All classes have designated areas of learning to support different areas of the EYFS curriculum. At Waterside, we believe in the importance of outdoor learning and use our lovely outdoor area regularly every day for our continuous provision and for adult directed activities.