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Thomas Boughey Nursery School

Thank you for choosing Thomas Boughey Nursery School. We hope that the information in this pack will help you to prepare for your child’s first day at school. If you would like any further information then please do speak to our home school links worker Mrs Malik.

Parents often ask us how they can prepare their child for life and for the Early Years Foundation Stage Curriculum at nursery school. At Thomas Boughey Nursery school, we understand that education is a partnership between home and school and that the two should compliment each other. Your child’s education begins at home and you are their first teachers. In the first years your child will learn lots of important information at home and we hope that over the next twelve months we will be able to continue to develop their minds and help them to achieve new and exciting things.

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Thomas Boughey Nursery School Staff

Mrs Michelle Johnstone Executive Headteacher. Mrs Johnstone is the executive head teacher for Thomas Boughey Nursery School, St Mark’s CofE (A) Primary School and Etruscan Primary School.

Mrs Louise Bradbury Teacher in Charge When Mrs Johnstone is at St Marks or Etruscan, Mrs Bradbury is in charge. She is our teacher and child protection co-ordinator

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Mrs Safina Malik

Bi-Lingual Assistant & Home School Links Worker

School dinner money and free

school meals Administration

Mrs Shakila Ahmed Early Years Practitioner

Miss Rakia Khan Early Years Practitioner

Miss Katie Rogers Early Years Practitioner

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Mrs Stone Special Educational Needs Co-ordinator

Located at St Mark’s Primary School

Mrs Loraine Bloore, School Business Manager

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School Uniform

All children must come to school wearing their school uniform. Our uniform is:

- Grey or black trousers - Grey or black skirt or school dress - Black shoes with Velcro (not laces and not boots) - Thomas Boughey Nursery School yellow Tshirt - Thomas Boughey Nursery School red jumper or cardigan - Plain red jumper or cardigan - In the summer the girls may wear a red checked summer school dresses - In the summer the boys may wear school shorts - If you would like your child to wear a head scarf then this must be grey

or black and it must be plain with no patterns or glitter on. Uniform will be available from Mrs Malik. Please speak to Mrs Malik to see sample uniform and order sizes. All sizes are the same price. Round neck sweatshirt £8.50 Polo shirt £6.50 Girls- Cardigans £9.95 Some activities at the Nursery school can be messy, and although aprons are provided and sleeves rolled up, paint and glue is often splashed. Please send your child to school in his/her school uniform. This means that children will not be worried if clothes get messy. It is important that children are able to take part in messy activities. As all children will be wearing the same polo shirts and sweatshirts, it is important that you put your child’s name in their clothes. Please also name hats, coats and gloves. Coats & Shoes The children go outside everyday. Please send your child with a coat every day that has his/ her name in it. Please be sure that this is waterproof and warm as the children will often go out in the rain and snow. Please also make sure that your child’s shoes are suitable for climbing and running. Heeled shoes and flip flops are not suitable for nursery play. On rainy or snowy days, wellies are also needed.

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Small Red Clothes bags (on children’s pegs) The children have a small red bag on their coat peg. It is for you to keep a spare set of clothes at school for your child. These need to include pants, socks, trousers, and T-shirt please. We would like you to provide these and remember all items must be named. Jewellery Jewellery can be very dangerous. Only stud earrings can be worn. Please do not send your child to school with glass bracelets, dangling earrings (hoops), gold necklaces or rings. All children are expected to wear the school’s uniform. Dinner Money – please can you pay your dinner money to Mrs Malik on Monday mornings or Friday mornings. Please put your child’s dinner money in an envelope with your child’s name on it. Thank You. Number of days

5 days 4 days 3 days 2 days 1 day

Dinner Money

£8.95 £7.16 £5.37 £3.58 £1.79

School Fund £1.00 £1.00 £1.00 £1.00 £1.00 Total Cost £9.95 £8.16 £6.37 £4.58 £2.79 School Fund A charge of £1.00 per week is made. This covers all other expenses, such as, cooking, some local outings, food for parties and special events.

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Nursery Timings

Nursery school opens at 9.15am. If your child arrives after 9.25 then they will be late and will receive a late mark. Children must arrive on time so that they are ready to learn. Mrs Malik will open the nursery door at 3.05pm and all children must be gone by 3.15pm. It is important parents are on time. Children do get upset if their parent/ carer does not come at the expected time. Admissions Thomas Boughey Nursery School has 45 full time places for children aged 3- 4 years. Nursery places are allocated by Stoke-on-Trent local authority. The criteria for admission are as follows:

1. Children in Care 2. Children living in the catchment area and with an older brother or sister

at St Mark’s Primary school 3. Children who do not live in the catchment area but have an older brother

or sister at St Mark’s Primary School 4. Children living in the catchment area 5. Shortest distance from the school.

Please see the Stoke-on-Trent website for more information.

You should be aware that attendance at the nursery school does not guarantee later admission to any Primary school How and when will my child start nursery? On your child’s first day we ask you to come and settle them in for about half an hour and then to go if your child is happy. Please be aware that we may need to call you to collect your child early, if they are becoming distressed. Your child will begin by staying for up to half a day and then in the second week begin to have dinners if they are ready. We can agree for your child to stay for a shorter time at nursery, if they are taking longer to settle. We want to be sure that children are happy, although this can be difficult for parents sometimes. Always remember happy children learn better!

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You can help by:

• Helping your child to find his / her cloakroom peg with their Photograph and name on.

• Help them to find their name card and help them to self register onto their key worker group’s board. Staff will be at hand for you to talk to and to welcome the children.

• You are asked to settle your child at an activity or to the breakfast table, as the first part of the session is free play.

Please encourage your child not to bring toys or valuables to school as these can be lost or damaged.

Home Visits

We, at the Thomas Boughey Nursery school, recognise the importance of forming good relationships with you and your child before you come to our school. We will listen to you as this helps us gain important information about what your child can do.

If children are happy then they will learn. Our learning environment is planned carefully for children to learn through play and it is the next logical step for your child to continue their education based on the foundations started by you in the home. Mrs Malik is our home school link worker and she will visit some of you at home during the summer before starting nursery school. Help us to keep your child Safe

Staff must know who will be collecting your child.

• For many families this will be the same person on most days • We have a “who can take me home file” which includes the names and

photos of anyone else who you have told us may collect your child. • Staff will not allow your child out of school with anyone they don’t

know. • If you would like someone from your list to collect your child, you must

let us know on the day.

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• Children must be collected by a person over 16 years of age. It is very important that if any contact telephone numbers or details change, you let us know immediately, so that we are sure we can contact someone in an emergency. Please remember we still need to be told about changes in who is picking on the day, by phone if necessary. If a child is not collected If a child has not been collected at the end of the school day, and the Teacher-in -Charge has been unable to contact the parent by 5.00pm, Social Care will be contacted. Procedure for very snowy days If the weather forecast says that we will have extreme weather (lots of snow) the school may have to close for safety reasons. Please listen to Radio Stoke, Signal Radio or go to our school website for more information. If the school has your mobile phone number you will also receive a text message giving you this information early in the morning. Illness Please make every effort to bring your child to school. If your child becomes ill at school we will usually telephone you and ask you to collect your child as soon as possible. It is important that the school has up to date emergency contact phone numbers including mobiles. In the event of diarrhoea or sickness keep your child off for at least 48 hours. This is a legal requirement expected by the government. If your child has allergies, asthma or any other long term condition or illness, please inform staff. This is very important so that we can give your child the best care. If your child becomes ill during the school year with this type of illness, please inform staff immediately. Medication When a child needs continuous medication, e.g. asthma, the school will ensure that this is administered. We will need to fill in a form with you which will include your instructions on administering the medicine and a signature to give permission. Please remember to put your child’s name on any medication.

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Only Mr Bradbury is allowed to give medication that has been prescribed by a doctor. Unfortunately, we are unable to give children calpol or nurofen, however, parents are welcome to come to nursery and give some if your child needs it.. If you give your child medicine such as calpol before school we will ask you to fill in a form with us to let us know what they have had, when and why. We will then keep an eye on your child and let you know how they have been at nursery at the end of the day. Sun cream / hats In the summer children will be playing outside a lot. They will need to bring a sun hat to school. Don’t forget to put their name inside! You may want them to have sun cream on. Please put on sun cream in the morning before they come to nursery. Staff can put on cream again later in the day, if you have filled in the form to give your permission. Sun cream will be at least Factor 20. Please make sure your child wears clothes that at least cover the shoulders for protection when the sun is very hot. Tissues Please bring a box of tissues to school in the first week of your child’s induction into school. Children have lots of colds during their first school year and so we ask for each family to provide tissues for children to use. We will ask for another box later in the school year as needed. Attendance By accepting a place at the school you are making an agreement to bring your child every day. Please contact the school if your child cannot come to school for any reason. Attendance is monitored to ensure your child has the best education possible. If you do not ring the school, Mrs Malik will ring you to find out why your child has not attended. However, this does waste valuable time, so please ring in the morning to let us know.

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Children receive certificates and prizes for full attendance each half term as part of our attendance policy. If your child’s attendance is below 90% we will ask for you to meet with the Teacher in Charge and Home School Link worker to discuss how we can improve this. Please help your child to achieve good attendance by bringing him /her every day. We want children to achieve at least 96% attendance throughout the year. Extended holidays If your child is going to feel secure and happy at school long absences are very disruptive. Can you please plan extended holidays so that they take place in existing school holiday time. The Local Authority Policy states that any absence taken in term time is unauthorised. Your child could lose their place in the nursery if your holiday is longer than you say. Please read the school Attendance Policy.

Health and Safety in school

We have procedures in the nursery for accidents. If your child has an accident at school staff will send home a note at the end of the session so that you will know. You will need to sign this, for our records. If we miss you at the end of the session a member of staff will ring you. If your child bangs their head we will always ring you to inform you of this. Staff would also like to know if your child has had an accident at home. Staff will ask you to sign a sheet to say that this has happened and that you have told us about it. This is part of Health and Safety and also child protection procedures. If your child is ill in school, or has a bad bump, the teachers will ring you. Please make sure that the nursery has up to date emergency contact numbers to reach you, including mobiles.

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Behaviour in school

The personal, social and emotional needs of the early year’s child is a priority for parents and nursery school staff alike. If your child is given opportunities through planned play, linked to the Early Years Foundation Stage curriculum, to explore these skills, s/he will have a very secure foundation for learning in the future. Together we can introduce the values of self-discipline, sensible and considerate behaviour, so that children can develop a respect for others, and themselves.

Children value the security of clear, fair rules reinforced by adult example. The school has a behaviour policy which outlines procedures used by staff to encourage positive behaviour. This is available for any parent to see, and may also be useful in developing parents’ personal skills of dealing with inappropriate / appropriate behaviour. Rewards As part of the personal, social and emotional curriculum we have a reward system in place in school which helps to build confidence and self esteem. The children are also awarded stickers for many different reasons; these may vary according to the development of the child. There are also a range of certificates which may also be given.

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Events at school

Take home resources.

Children will take books home on a regular basis. It is very important that you help your child by reading stories to them and talking about the pictures. Please encourage him/her to take care of the books and to return them to school on the correct day so that they are available for other children. If a book is damaged, there is a replacement charge of £5.00. Parents in school Parents are very much valued at Thomas Boughey Nursery School. We want this partnership to carry on throughout your child’s school life.

You are the child’s first educator. We may have already met you on home visits and it has helped us very much to paint a very simple picture of what your child can already do. We actively encourage parents to come into school. You may like to help by taking children out of school on visits with staff, cooking, or just playing with children. We also offer opportunities for many parents meetings, information sessions etc. Maybe you would just like to join Mrs Malik and other parents for a drink and a chat. Trips / visits We often go on trips to places near to the school like Hanley library and the park. In order for us to go regularly on these trips we need parents to help. Parents should speak to either Mrs Malik or another member of staff if they are interested in becoming a Parent Helper. We need you to fill in a parental consent form to allow us to take your child out of school.

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Celebrations and other events We love to celebrate your child’s achievements at Thomas Boughey Nursery School and throughout the year we invite parents in to share these special events. This year we have had parents in for Mother’s Day and Father’s Day celebrations, Christmas and Eid parties and many more exciting things! We hope that throughout the year you will be able to join us for our special celebrations and events. Sharing information about your child We hold parents meetings through out the year for you to find out how your child is settling into nursery life. We talk about your child’s learning needs and share our record keeping with you. Please remember that should you need to see a member of staff about your child at any other time then we can arrange extra meetings. Please talk to staff at the beginning of sessions if there is anything we should know about your child that day. Workshops - Curriculum and Reading workshops

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Curriculum and reading workshops You will be invited to attend a workshop on the curriculum including reading during the autumn term. This will include:

• Reading stories to your child • What to do when your child brings home a wordless book. • How we learn at nursery • How you can support your child.

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The Early Years Foundation Stage Curriculum

The Early Years Foundation Stage is organised into seven areas of learning. Your child will be coming to school to learn through play. Play is a young child’s work. We aim for our children to develop their levels of independence and confidence. The Early Years Foundation Stage begins from birth and continues to the end of the Reception year in the Primary School. The school expects that when children enter school they can be working at any stage of this continuum dependent on their individual developmental needs. Staff will be assessing your child in the first three weeks in school. This is to find out about your child’s stage of development and what staff, need to do, to enable your child to learn well in school.

The 3 Prime areas of the Early Years Foundation Stage curriculum are: • Personal Social and Emotional development. • Communication and Language Development. • Physical Development

The 4 Specific areas are

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

Special Educational Needs and Disabilities During the time your child spends in nursery staff will be finding out about him/her by observing how s/he plays. This is how we find out what children can do and what we need to do to help them develop their skills and knowledge. We can meet children’s individual needs in this way. Sometimes children need some extra help. We have a Special Educational Needs Coordinator named Mrs Stone, who is located at St Mark’s Primary School. She works closely with parents, staff, and children to agree how best we can support children. We can also ask for advice and support from the local authority Special Educational Needs Advisory team if needed. Sometimes this support may only be needed for a short time, but sometimes it will continue as your child moves on to Primary school. We find each school year that a number of children need some extra help at nursery school. The earlier special needs are identified the more easily they can be addressed. If you think that your child has a particular problem you would like to tell us about and would benefit from extra support please tell the above staff about it.

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Disability The school complies with good practice expectations of inclusion for all in schools. In respect of disability the policy covers 6 general duties which are to:

• Promote equality of opportunity between people with disabilities and other people

• Eliminate discrimination that is unlawful under the Disability Discrimination Act 1995

• Eliminate disability related harassment • Promote positive attitudes toward people with disabilities • Encourage participation by people with disabilities in public life • Take steps to meet the needs of people with disabilities, even if it

requires more favourable treatment. This list applies to learners, staff, parents, governors and users of the school and Children’s Centre.

Public Sector Equality Duty The school has a Public Sector Equality Policy. The duty came into effect in April 2011 and has three main aims stated below. In carrying out their functions, public bodies are required to have ‘due regard’ to the need to:

• Eliminate discrimination and other conduct that is prohibited by the Equality Act 2010

• Advance equality of opportunity between people who share a protected characteristic and people who do not share it

• Foster good relations across all characteristics, and between people who share a protected characteristic and people who do not share it.

Protected characteristics are: Race Sexual orientation Disability Pregnancy and maternity Gender Gender reassignment Age Marriage and Civil Partnerships Religion and Belief

Child Protection We will talk to you if we notice any unexplained marks on your child, or if your child talks to us about something that has hurt, worried or upset them at home. There is usually a simple explanation! Schools have an important part to play in keeping children safe from harm and abuse.

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If it appears that a child may have been abused, the school has a duty to report the matter to Social Services. This is part of the Stoke- on- Trent procedure for dealing with child abuse and is not something that an individual Teacher-in -Charge or school staff can decide not to do. Abuse can take the form of physical, neglect, verbal or sexual assaults on a child, or the child being sexually precocious by act or language. Mrs Bradbury is the Child Protection co-ordinator and all staff receive training for Child Protection. All staff, Governors, students and volunteers in the school are subject to a DBS check. Mrs Johnstone has been trained in Safer Recruitment procedures. Recent Safeguarding training advice is that all mobile phones should be put away and not used while you are visiting our centre. This school is committed to Safeguarding and promoting the welfare of children and young people and expects all staff, parents and volunteers to share this commitment.

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Complaints/ Compliments We are always pleased to receive your compliments and these can be entered onto a form that is found on the parent noticeboard, or you can submit them to support the OFSTED process on ‘Parent View’. We do hope that you won’t have any need to complain but if you do have any concerns about anything then please speak to a member of staff initially. If you would like to make a formal complaint, Mrs Malik or classroom staff will provide a form for this. This will be dealt with by the Teacher in Charge, or in her absence a member of the Senior Management team, who will then discuss your concern informally with you and respond within one week. In the event of a parent needing to complain, we ask that you remember that staff are here to help both you and your child. Whilst there may be circumstances that you are not happy about, it is important that you approach your conversations with staff in the same respectful manner that they will use to you. If a parent becomes aggressive or intimidates a member of staff, this will be reported to the Executive Head teacher, Michelle Johnstone and to the local authority. Family Support If you feel that your family has problems that are affecting your child in any way please speak to Mrs Malik or your child’s Keyworker. It is important that staff know about any problems that may upset your child as there may be ways that we can help you. The Children’s Centre has a wide range of support services that you can be linked in to. Please speak to someone before problems become too difficult for you to manage. Health Visitor The local team of Health Visitors are available at a drop in clinic, in the centre’s Health room on Thursday afternoons. This session runs from 1.30pm until 3.00pm. Kind Regards, Michelle Johnstone (Executive Head Teacher) Mrs Bradbury (Teacher in Charge) Safina Malik (Home/School Links Co-Ordiantor) Nursery Telephone number is 01782 23712

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