Framlingham Sir Robert Hitcham's

Church of England

Voluntary Aided Primary School

College Road, Framlingham, Woodbridge, Suffolk, IP13 9EP

Tel: 01728 723354 Fax: 01728 724834

E-mail: admin@hitchams.suffolk.sch.uk Web: www.roberthitchams.ik.org

NURSERY BROCHURE

2013 / 2014

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PAGE

Staff, Times, Uniform 2

Curriculum, Learning Through Play 3—5

Outdoor Classroom 5

PE, Assembly 6

Books, Outings 7

Personal & Social, Assessment,

Home links 8

Snacks, Lunch Club 9

General Health, Allergies, BLOG,

Absences 10

Preparation for Nursery, Policies 11

Photographs, Moving on,

Friends, SCC details 12

The Nursery is staffed by a qualified Nursery teacher, and by a qualified Nursery Nurse. We welcome regular parent helpers in the Nursery and also adhoc help for outings. Please speak to the Nursery staff and ask at the of-fice for a Volunteer pack and DBS check form.

Sessions are held in the morn-ing from 8:50am to 11.50am. Lunch Club runs from 11.50am to 1.30pm. Term and holiday dates are in the table opposite. For their safety the children stay with you until the door to the Nurse-ry is opened. At the end of the session, please come in to collect your child.

The children in the Nursery are not required to wear a uniform. Your child will be involved in messy activi-ties and in being busy so they need clothes that are comfortable and not their best clothes. They do wear aprons for certain activities, but this doesn’t guarantee their clothes won’t get messy!

TERM DATES 2013-2014 AUTUMN TERM 3 September 2013 – Non Pupil Day 4 September 2013 – Start of Term Half Term w/c 28 October 2013 4 November 2013—Non Pupil Day 20 December 2013 – End of Term SPRING TERM 6 January 2014– Non Pupil Day 7 January 2014 – Start of Term Half Term w/c 17 February 2014 4 April 2014 – End of Term SUMMER TERM 22 April 2014 – Non Pupil Day 23 April 2014 – Start of Term Bank Holiday Monday 5 May 2014 Half Term w/c 26 May 2014 2 June 2014– Non Pupil Day 23 July 2014 – End of Term

ALL children’s clothes and possessions

MUST BE labelled with their name.

UNIFORM

SESSION TIMES

STAFF

INFORMATION FOR PARENTS / GUARDIANS

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In September 2012 a new Early Years Foundation Stage (EYFS) curriculum came in to force. This curriculum gives areas of development and Early Learning Goals which are expected to be achieved by the end of the Reception year. It is split into Prime and Specific areas of learning: Prime Areas:

Personal, Social and Emotional Development

Communication and Language

Physical Development Specific Areas:

Literacy

Mathematics

Understanding of the World

Expressive Arts and Design

CURRICULUM

LEARNING THROUGH PLAY

Much of the children’s learning comes from planned and child initiated play. The Nurse-ry is set up with a balanced curriculum in mind, covering a variety of themes linked to the children’s interest. The Nursery is organised into areas of activity, which contain sections of ‘focus’. These are a selection of the activities that we do – many of which are cross-curricular and linked to the 7 areas of learning:

Book area; Graphics area; Audio/Tapes/Headphones; Puzzles/Games ; Large and Small Construction; Sand/Water; Role play; Puppets; Artefacts; Collections of materials and objects; Water; Living Things; Sand-dry/wet; I.C.T; Cook-ing; Creating and Performing Music; Listen to music; Collage; Model Making; Malleable Ma-terials; Line and Mark-Making (Drawing, Paint-ing and Printing); Large Apparatus; Small Ap-paratus; Wheeled Toys

AUDIO / TAPES/HEADPHONES

PUZZLES/GAMES

GRAPHICS AREA

SAND

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LEARNING THROUGH PLAY

LIVING THINGS

ROLE PLAY

COLLECTIONS OF OBJECTS

PRINTING

MALLEABLE MATERIALS

MARK MAKING

MUSIC

MATHS TABLE PUPPETS

WRITING

DT

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With the benefit of a large weather canopy and secure fencing the outdoor space di-rectly accessed from the Nurse-ry is a superb area to enable free-flow play between indoors and the outside and enables Nursery to mix with Reception children.

OUTDOOR CLASSROOM

LEARNING THROUGH PLAY

SMALL CONSTRUCTION

LARGE CONSTRUCTION

SMALL APPARATUS

WHEELED TOYS

LARGE APPARATUS

WATER

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We have a session time in the hall once a week. Children should have a T-shirt and shorts and plimsolls. These should be labelled and kept in a separate PE bag. Plimsolls particular-ly are all identical! Other physical ac-tivities take place within the class or during outside play.

P E

Newly installed in 2012, we now have a purpose built kitchen space, designed to give our nursery children a fabulous environment in which to experiment with cooking each week and to have fun while learning lots of new skills.

COOKING

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The Nursery attends Assembly with children from Reception and Year 1 and 2. In addi-tion, the Nursery will attend a whole school assembly particularly for special events, for instance the Harvest Festival at St. Michael’s Church.

Children have book bags in which we ask that you select a book to take home to share together. These books can be changed daily after the session when you can help the children make their own selections. The children read books that are wide and varied.

We try to encourage the children to use pictures to tell the story and to make guesses as to what will hap-pen. The children are also encour-aged to try and retell the story. The enjoyment of books, handling of books, and response to books is important in preparing the child for reading and are the foundation skills for reading readiness.

ASSEMBLY

BOOKS

We arrange small outings to the local area within Framlingham – eg the Castle or Library. In addition we have a Foundation Summer outing which is usually in the Summer term.

OUTINGS

ASSESSMENT

There is a formal assessment called the ‘Foundation Stage Profile’, which takes place at the end of the Reception year. We feel it is important to keep an ongoing record of your child’s abilities, so we have de-vised an assessment document which started from when your child joins the Nursery, which you will be given opportunities to view, these are called ‘Learning Journeys’. It is also helpful for us to see any assessments from previous settings, which will then be returned to you. Observations from parents are very much encouraged!

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A great deal of time is spent on the personal, social and emotional aspect of their learning. We provide an atmos-phere where children feel secure and confident. We aim to make them self sufficient and also aware of others. They also learn appropriate levels of behaviour for school. We encourage them to make choices and to be independ-ent. They learn to distinguish between what is acceptable and what is not. They are encouraged to think about the needs of others and how to interact with others.

PERSONAL AND SOCIAL

HOME-SCHOOL LINKS

SAFEGUARDING CHILDREN

If there are concerns about a child’s welfare, it may be appropriate to request the help of the Education Welfare Officer or Social Services.

We have a legal duty to assist other agencies with child protection enquiries Please enquire at the office for our Safeguarding Children policy and information leaflet.

What little bullying we experience in school is dealt with sensitively and quickly. Our Anti-Bullying policy is available from the school office.

It is important for children that parents and teachers work together. We welcome parents into the Nursery to help in activities. We also let you know what our topic is, and ask for items from home or ideas or talents to share. The term before the children move to the Re-ception class parents are invited for an infor-mal chat with the Nursery Teacher/Nursery Nurse. In addition we run ‘Play & Chat’ sessions every term for parents to join their children for some of the morning.

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We take part in the Government ‘School Fruit and Vegetable Scheme’, where the children receive a free piece of fruit for a snack each day. Milk is provided by the Local Authority via the European Union milk subsidy scheme for under 5’s and water is always available.

The Nursery has a lunch club that runs daily from 11:50am-1:30pm. We ask for advanced notification so that suitable staffing arrangements can be made and you will be contacted during the previous half term to your child starting Nursery. Each session costs £3.00 and a hot school meal can be ordered at an additional cost—see below. Packed lunches are eaten in the same hall as school dinners. Lunch boxes are stored in a designated area in the nursery, parents may wish to include a small ice block to keep contents cool.

Dinner money MUST be sent for the week on MONDAY. Place in an

envelope clearly marked with your Child’s name and class, and the days you wish your child to

have cooked meals. If you do not pay on a

Monday you must provide packed lunches for your

child that week.

DRINKING WATER

All children are encouraged to bring a clear named bottle of water into

school for them to have accessible. Keeping hydrated

helps the children to

concentrate

School meals are cooked on the premises by our experienced cook. They are offered at a price of £2.20 per day, they are healthy, wholesome and popular with the children. They meet or exceed government Food and Nutrition Standards. Menus can be found on the School Website.

SNACKS

LUNCH CLUB

SCHOOL LUNCHES

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In case of illness or accident parents/guardians are asked to supply home, mobile and emergency contact numbers Please do not send a child who is unwell to school, as germs spread very fast. If a child becomes unwell during the day we shall contact the parent as soon as possible. Following the guidelines of the Local Medical Officer of Health we do not normally ad-minister medicine. If a child does need medication it is asked that it is administered by a parent/guardian personally. In the case where children need regular medicine, such as Asthma, the school will need to know. In KS1 any medication is kept by the class teacher in a labelled box and in KS2 it can be kept by the child or the teacher. In an effort to keep the incidents of head lice down, it is the school’s policy that if live head lice are seen on a child’s head we ask that the child be removed immediately. Chil-dren can be returned to school as soon as they have received treatment.

GENERAL HEALTH

If your child will not be at school we would like to know. With security concerns in mind we need to know that a child who is not in school is safe. We would therefore ask you to:

Telephone us before 8.30am to leave a message on the answer-phone stating the name of the child, their class and the reason they are off school.

If you know your child will be off for more than one day – please state the number of days they are likely to be away – you do not then need to call again.

If you are not sure when your child will return, you will need to phone each day they are away.

If we have not heard from you by 9.30am we will try to contact you on the numbers you have given us to establish the whereabouts of the child.

Parents need not follow up with a written letter as the absence will be noted in the Office Absence book and the class register.

ABSENCES

IMPORTANT : NO NUTS / NUT PRODUCTS

are to be brought in for snack or lunch - we have some children who are severely allergic, and these are

life threatening to them. If your child has an allergy please

discuss this with the teacher.

ALLERGIES

Do take a look at the BLOG on our school website to see photos and reports of ac-tivities and events going on in school.

SCHOOL WEBSITE

Please note we are a NO SMOKING SITE

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There are some ways in which you could help prepare your child for their start at Nursery:

Encourage your child to recognise their names. If your child is keen to start writing their name, please teach them to use a capi-tal letter at the start and then lower case letters. Encourage your child to make choices. Encourage your child to dress and undress themselves and to be able to put on their own coat, mittens, hats, etc., although they will be given support in school. Promote good hygiene habits such as washing hands, using a tissue, etc. Look at books and talk about them. Try to join the local library if possible. Discuss what is happening in the book, talk about the pictures, guess what is going to happen, enjoy the books together. Count things around you. Try to count solid objects so that they relate numbers to items, not just as a chant. Encourage your child to listen to and follow simple instructions. Encourage your child to tidy up and to be aware of taking care of property. Encourage your child to share toys. Encourage your child’s manipulative skills by holding

their pencil/crayon correctly, using scissors, using

building blocks, etc.

Talk about all that goes on around you, this enriches

your child’s experiences of the world.

Children develop at their own speeds. It is important that children are given experiences and are allowed to succeed. Please don’t push them if they are not ready. In a quote from Jenny Mosley (Teacher, Lecturer and Behaviour Specialist) she says:

‘‘If we have been encouraged and praised and have been given some opportunities to experience personal and social success we are more likely to perceive ourselves as capable, likeable and worth-while people: in other words, we will have sound self-esteem.’’

PREPARATION FOR STARTING NURSERY

We have an Early Year’s policy to which we adhere. We also follow whole school policies in areas such as bullying and health and hy-giene. These are available for you to see on request from the office. We adhere to the Principles which are funda-mental to good Early Years Practice. These are laid out in the EYFS documentation.

POLICIES

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The Friends run a wide variety of events which every-one can participate in, from Film Nights and Discos to Family Sports Events and Cake Stalls. The focus is on fun as well as fund raising so everyone can have a great time. The money the Friends raise goes towards various school projects and outings. An enthusiastic committee of volunteers from families of the school run the Friends. We are always keen to welcome new volunteers both to join the committee or simply to support with donations or offers of help at events. If you would like to contribute in any way we would be delighted to hear from you; Please contact the school office.

FRIENDS OF THE SCHOOL USEFUL NAMES AND ADDRESSES

Simon White Director for Children and Young People

Endeavour House, 8 Russell Road Ipswich, Suffolk IP1 2BX

Tel: 01473 264563

Northern Area Education Office Adrian House, Alexandra Road

Lowestoft, Suffolk NR32 1PL

The details set out in this brochure relate to the school year indicated on the front cover and are correct

for that year as at March 2013 . It should not be assumed that there will be no change affecting the relevant arrangements or some matter

particularised before the start of, or during, the school year in question or in relation to subsequent

school years. Parents will be advised by letter of the significant changes and parents new to the school will

also be informed if and when they visit .

In the Autumn Term a single portrait of each child is taken and at this time family groups can be photographed at parent’s request, including younger siblings not at this school. In the Summer Term class photographs are taken. Every three years we have a full school panoramic photo taken. Parents may purchase copies of these pho-tographs . There may be times when children are photographed as part of nor-mal school activity. The photographs may be included on the school Website, brochure or published in a local newspaper. Any parent not wishing their child's photo to be included can make this known on the permission slip for this.

PHOTOGRAPHS

Before starting in Reception the following term the children attend the Reception class for two induction sessions. They also have the oppor-tunity to stay for lunch, and as this may be their first experience of this we ask that a parent/guardian stay with them through the lunch hour. Details of these dates are sent in a letter the term before your child starts Reception. For children in the Nursery they have the added advantage of being familiar with the staff and other children through activities within the school. We aim to use our knowledge of the children when establishing them into Reception classes.

MOVING TO RECEPTION