Nursery
Welcome to
Sacred Heart Catholic Primary School’s Nursery
At Sacred Heart, we believe that the beginning of our learning journey should be fun, exciting and provide children with the provision for exploration and inquisition. One of our first objectives is to ensure that all of our pupils feel safe and secure in their environment and build positive relationships with staff and their peers.
During the children’s time in nursery, we seek to promote their independence in discovering new areas of learning, activities, friendships and skills whilst playing in the classroom, the outdoor area and during focus tasks with their teachers.
As part of their learning journey in Nursery, the children will develop their sense of self and awareness of their emotions; cultivate their use of language and begin to enhance their control over their fine and gross motor skills.
We hope to build and develop on the children’s learning foundations to support them in moving into Reception at Sacred Heart Catholic School.
Welcome to Nursery!
A very warm welcome to our Nursery! My name is Miss McGahan and I am the Nursery teacher at Sacred Heart Catholic Primary School. I would like to invite you to explore our Class Page and look at our curriculum maps to see all of the exciting learning we are participating in or what we have coming up.
Nursery is a time when we build the foundations of learning that begin our wonderful educational journey. Also, we make lots of new friends, we are able to follow the routine of the day, learn fantastic new things to share with our families and learn to become more independent in ‘Managing Self’ and as a curious, inquisitive explorer.
We have lots of trips and activities planned where children can make real-life learning links in their experiences and we see how much progress our pupils make whilst they are in our school. We look forward to each day together and developing our connections to the wider world.
Nursery Team:
Class Teacher - Miss McGahan
Teaching Assistant - Miss Holt
Learning Environment
‘Learning environments should be dynamic and a reflection of organisational culture and aspirations. They inform us about how learning happens, what and who is valued and how the learners and visitors in that space are regarded.’ (The Communication Friendly Spaces Approach)
We believe that children learn best when they are happy and well motivated. We aim to provide a stimulating environment with a rich variety of learning opportunities, both indoors and outdoors.
Outdoors
The children go out in all weathers, all year round, exploring and learning from the four seasons and environmental changes. The children’s interest, along with the natural resources in our environment, are used to stimulate creative thinking, problem solving and skill development – through play and guided activities.
As Foundation stage is very practical, we ask that you provide the children with:
A waterproof coat
Wellies
A woolly hat in colder weather
All clearly labelled with their name
We believe that children learn best when they are happy and well motived. We aim to provide a stimulating environment with a rich variety of learning opportunities, both indoors and outdoors.
We encourage our children to become active learners- exploring, questioning, and curious about their surroundings.
The Early Years Foundation Stage
In Nursery, we follow the Early Years Foundation Stage, Development Matters Frameworks and deliver well-planned provision alongside child-initiated play, which supports the seven areas of the Early Years Foundation Stage, which are:
Personal, Social and Emotional Development
Physical Development
Communication and Language
Literacy
Mathematics
Understanding the World
Expressive Art and Design
We undertake regular observations throughout the day to ensure key group activities meet individual children’s needs and we use Class Dojo and Twitter to share our learning from throughout the day. We assess our pupils by making observations, having discussions and recording pupils making learning links throughout their activities.
Autumn Term
During Autumn Term, we will be focusing on:
All about Me
In this topic we will be learning about our bodies, our families and our likes and dislikes.
What lives under the Sea?
In this topic we will be learning about animals who live in the Sea, and keeping our oceans healthy by recycling and looking after our beaches.
Autumn
In this topic we will be learning about seasonal changes in the environment by exploring Autumn through our senses.
African Animals
In this topic we will be learning about the native animals of the continent Africa.
Diwali
In this topic we will be learning about the religious festival of Diwali and how it’s celebrated by Hindus across the world.
Happy Birthday to you
In this topic we will be learning about the importance of birthdays and how everyone celebrates birthdays differently.
Why do we celebrate Christmas?
In this topic we will be learning about how Christians prepare for Christmas through Advent and we will be preforming our school Nativity.
Independence
We encourage our children to be as independent as possible, this includes being able to use zips and fastenings. We will be working towards our children being able to put on their own coats and shoes and, with practise, they will soon master their waterproofs too! Please support your child at home with these activities.
Ideally, your child also needs to be able to use the toilet independently. However, we do recognise that all children are different and if your child still needs support with toileting, could you please provide a change of clothes (including underwear and socks), clearly labelled. If you have any concerns, please do not hesitate to pop in for a chat.
Home Learning
We would like to share with you some ideas that could be used to support learning at home.
Keep talking! Encourage your child to talk about what s/he has been doing. Also, encourage them to listen carefully to what others are saying and to ask questions.
We want to encourage reading for pleasure so please encourage your child to look at a range of books, both fiction and non-fiction. It would be great if the children could talk about the pictures and explain what they like or dislike about the story or what information they have learned.
Whilst engaging in talk and naming objects around you e.g. table, window, bed, could you ask your child what is the first sound they can hear in the word? Singing nursery rhymes together and identifying the rhyming words is very important in the children being able to fill in missing words.
Encourage your child to write, draw and make marks. It is important that they are able to tell you what it is they have written or drawn.
At Sacred Heart, we want to encourage children to be curious about and interested in numbers. Encourage them to count objects but also other things like claps, jumps and steps that they take. Look at numbers and try and match the correct number of objects to the numeral. Make groups of objects - are they the same or does one group have more? Look for shapes around the house. What shapes can you see?
The Extended Entitlement (30 Hours)
All families in England are currently entitled to 15 hours a week, in free childcare, for children aged 3-4. This will equate to 570 hours a year. However, you may qualify for an additional 15 hours a week and this would take your entitlement up to 1140 hours per year.
To qualify for this scheme, you, and any partner, must each expect to earn (on average) at least £152 per week (equal to 16 hours at the National Minimum or Living Wage).
If you, or your partner, are on maternity, paternity or adoption leave, or you're unable to work because you are disabled or have caring responsibilities, you could still be eligible.
To see if you are eligible, please apply here:
Please contact the school office for more information about starting our Nursery
Tel: 0151-709-1782 Email: admin@sacredheart.liverpool.sch.uk