WELCOME TO BLOSSOMS Nursery
From the Head
It is a great pleasure to welcome you and your family into the Junior King’s community and the Pre-Prep in particular. I hope that you will be very happy here as you quickly get to know other families and members of staff. May I encourage you to take full advantage of all that the school has to offer, not least through the Friends of Junior King’s organisation, which provides valuable social contact across the year groups. Our Pre-Prep Department provides a safe, caring and nurturing environment where every child is an individual and we get to know each of them. We lay down the foundations for a love of learning during these formative years and we provide a breadth of different experiences to give the children the confidence to be what they want to be. Mrs McConkey takes day-to-day responsibility for the Pre-Prep Department and is keen to get to know all our new children really well. I will also be available for advice at any time and Emma O’Brien, my PA, will be very happy to book an appointment if you would like one. We look forward to a close and happy relationship in the exciting years ahead. Yours sincerely Emma Károlyi Head
Welcome to Junior King’s Nursery
We all look forward to working with you and your child in the Nursery and to making the transition from home to school life a positive and enriching experience for all concerned. We believe it is very important that parents are involved in their child’s day-today education and share the aims and objectives of the staff. You will be kept informed at key stages of development and are encouraged to support your child’s learning throughout the school. Above all, we believe that children should gain the confidence to grow through a love of learning in all its forms. This handbook aims to give an overall view of your child’s life in the Nursery and hopes to address any queries you may have about our Nursery routines. However, do feel free to ask if you are unsure. In our Nursery we operate an ‘open door’ policy where parents and Nursery staff frequently exchange information at drop off or pick up times. It is as important for us to know if your child has been upset at home prior to coming to school, as it is for you to know of any concerns (or successes) your child may have in school. All staff are also easily contactable via email. As your child takes this exciting step, we look forward to gaining a clearer understanding of their potential and developing it in partnership with you. Dee McConkey Head of Pre-Prep
Introduction Our Nursery is situated in the idyllic surroundings of the Pre-Prep at Junior King’s School and provides the foundations for children to make the most of their abilities as they grow and develop in our safe, secure and happy environment. Our Nursery is an exceptional, purposebuilt building. It is a warm, nurturing and welcoming environment filled with excitement and laughter. We believe that every child deserves the best possible start in life and support children to fulfil their potential as they start their learning journey. We achieve this by working with the Education Programme set out in the statutory framework for the Early Years Foundation Stage Curriculum (EYFS 2016). We recognise that every child is unique and that they learn in different ways. The Early Years Foundation Stage Curriculum allows for the delivery of the curriculum in a variety of ways using a range of teaching styles to facilitate visual, auditory and kinaesthetic learning through a variety of approaches. Children are at the heart of all that we do and learning opportunities are planned around their interests within a thematic approach. Our Nursery offers a motivating and challenging environment that will engage children right from the start. It is a well-known fact that happy children learn and that they need to learn through a range of well-planned and purposeful play activities. We provide a range of flexible sessions for our youngest children, from mornings, including lunch 3 times a week, to five full days. We invite parents to explore options more fully in discussions with the Nursery Teacher. In short, our Nursery is innovative, industrious and above all, fun!
Our Aims We aim: •
To provide a welcoming atmosphere for all children and parents
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To provide a happy, caring, safe, secure and stimulating environment where children can develop lively, enquiring minds
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To enable your child to develop as an individual and as a member of a wider school community
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To help your child develop a confident self-image, self-motivation, independence, tolerance and resilience
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To value and develop children’s curiosity and creative thinking, giving them time to develop ideas and celebrating their efforts and their learning
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To work with all our parents and families in the education of their child
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To celebrate diversity and be fully inclusive in everything we do
Forest School
“The best classroom and the richest cupboard is roofed only by the sky.” (Margaret McMillan, 1919)
Junior King’s is an accredited Forest School and has been since 2008. All Nursery children take part in our Forest School programme, undertaking practical, hands-on experiences in our woodland. It is a unique opportunity to learn about nature and the changing seasons at first hand, allowing children the time and space to follow their particular fascination and work cooperatively in a small group.
ISI Report, 2017: “Teaching actively encourages collaboration and initiative through the many opportunities offered throughout the curriculum. Outstanding communication skills are the norm across the school. From the very youngest age, pupils develop their communication skills well by applying and extending them in all subjects.” Graded Excellent in all areas.
A few questions answered
How is learning structured at Nursery? The EYFS (Early Years Foundation Stage) is a play-based curriculum from birth to five years. This curriculum therefore spans from our Nursery to the end of the Reception year. Broadly, there are three ‘prime’ areas: Personal, Social and Emotional Development Communication and Language Physical Development These areas are the crucial building blocks that we concentrate on at Nursery. As children grow and develop emotionally and academically, they are introduced to four ‘specific’ areas, namely: Literacy Mathematics Understanding of the World Expressive Arts and Design
We recognise that every child develops in a unique way and no two children are the same. We therefore encourage each child to engage and enjoy their learning activities. We are fascinated with how children learn. As part of the curriculum, we work with you to develop the characteristics children need to be an effective life-long learner. These are: Playing and Exploring - Finding out and exploring - Playing with what they know - Being willing to ‘have a go’ Active Learning - Having their own ideas - Making links - Choosing ways to do things Creating and thinking Critically - Having their own ideas - Making links - Choosing ways to do things
How does the Nursery environment support my child’s learning? Our Nursery is set up with areas indoors and out. We have an ‘all weather’ Nursery garden and an enclosed decked space, which appeals to children and their interests. We have thought very carefully about the layout and resources available for the children; they have been planned in order to support and promote your child’s learning and development. There are opportunities to develop skills across all areas of learning, wherever your child prefers to play. Inside, we offer a wide variety of activities for the children to develop skills across all areas of learning, such as the opportunity share books, make marks (early reading and writing), through trying a range of creative and role play experiences (expressive arts and design), using tools such as scissors, pencils and paint brushes (physical development) and time to share their ideas with others (communication and language). In the outdoor area, the children can also explore all areas of learning on a larger scale. They come into contact with nature by growing plants and vegetables and looking for wildlife (understanding the world), they can explore making marks in the mud with sticks or with chunky chalks on the tarmac (early writing) and develop their large physical skills through the challenge of climbing and swinging, balancing and pedalling (physical development).
Your child will enjoy the freedom to express their creativity and communicate their feelings and ideas through a variety of creative opportunities. Alongside experiencing music, drama and dance activities within the Nursery, your child will also benefit from specialist teachers, who visit weekly to teach these individual specialist curricular areas. Our whole environment supports children’s learning in all seven areas of the curriculum. This is what the Independent Schools Inspectorate (ISI) inspectors said in our most recent whole-school report, graded Excellent in 2017: ‘[Children] demonstrate initiative and independence and highly-developed collaborative skills. Children in the EYFS make daily choices about which activities to engage in and work happily with their peers in junk modelling, games, construction and other activities. This readiness to work together is encouraged and developed well in all subjects.’ https://www.junior-kings.co.uk/academic/inspection-report/
What happens when I bring my child to Nursery? We have a secure entry point to our Nursery where, upon arrival, parents sign their child in. A member of staff will be available to help settle your child. We use the same door for collecting at the end of the session. It really helps your child feel happy to say goodbye if you get into a regular routine at the start of their session. We always recommend that you say goodbye to your child before you leave. Remember that if you are upset or anxious, your child will pick up on this and try to prolong the ‘saying goodbye’ time.
8.00am - 8.30am
Children arrive and register
8.30am
The Nursery day begins
11.45am
Lunch
12.55pm
Morning session ends
3.25pm
End of Nursery day (except Wednesday, when the day ends at 2.55pm)
We respectfully request that your child is collected at the times given for the end of the Nursery sessions. Young children become unsettled when they see other parents collecting their children and they expect to go home too. We appreciate that some delays are unavoidable, in which case if your child was staying for full days, we could arrange for your him/her to go to our Late Stay facility. Again, this can be explored more fully when speaking with the staff.
How do you share children’s progress with parents? Supporting your child’s progress is an ongoing partnership between home and school. During their time in the Nursery and onward into our Reception classes, we invite parents to come and share progress with the teacher. We use an online Learning Journey, which evidences much of the child’s development. Sharing this document with parents is done each half term, with a full written report produced at the end of the Summer Term. We have found that parents value the opportunity to meet in this way and discuss their child‘s learning informally. Staff also appreciate the opportunity to find out how children are developing and changing at the home. By meeting frequently in this way, we build a more complete picture of each child and their unique way of learning. We in turn can meet their needs more specifically within our setting. In short, we triangulate the child’s learning through focused observations, knowledge of home life and progress at school.
What if I am worried about my child’s development and/or progress? If you have any concerns about your child’s development, please share them with us and we can offer advice, help devise an additional support plan for your child or, if needed, refer your child to access help from another professional, such as a Speech and Language therapist. We treat every child as an individual, with individual needs and requirements.
If my child is ill, what do I do? Please let us know if your child is unwell on their first day of illness by 8.30am. We will want to minimise the spread of infection and any subsequent time that a child needs to be absent from school. If your child has vomited or has diarrhoea or both, they must not return to school until a full 48-hours have passed without symptoms. Should your child become unwell during the day, we will call you and ask that you collect them. The school has a fully equipped Health Centre, where your child can rest whilst waiting for you to arrive.
What do the children eat in the Nursery? Each morning and afternoon, we provide the children with a healthy snack. To encourage the children to try a wide range of fruit, our weekly menu includes apples, bananas, tangerines and pears. We also offer bread sticks, crackers, plain biscuits or, occasionally, toast! The children will also have milk or water to drink. At lunch time, our children eat a full meal, prepared and served in our Prep School dining room. The menu is extensive and is available to view on our website.
Do the children wear school uniform? We like the children to feel confident to explore all activities and areas in the Nursery. For them to engage in messy activities, be able to run, climb and move freely they need to be comfortable. We wear a school uniform that is both practical and smart. The uniform list is in the Welcome Pack provided and also available to view on our website. Shoes: To encourage independence, shoes with Velcro fasteners are the easiest for young children to be able to use successfully. Please avoid open-toed shoes and sandals, as they can be hazardous, especially when climbing. Plimsolls are necessary for PE and Dance. A simple black pair will be sufficient. Coats: We have a school coat for Summer and another for Winter. We play outdoors every day, so these are essential. Spare clothing: Please provide a spare set of pants, socks, trousers or skirt in a draw-string bag. These will stay in the Nursery. Young children become very engrossed in their play and we expect little accidents! Spare clothes can be non-uniform. Caps and hats: Both are available from the School Shop and are again essential to keep children comfortable in hot and colder weather. Additional items Water bottle: To provide access to water in between snack and meal times, your child should bring a sports-style bottle to Nursery daily. In order to promote healthy practice, please fill with water only Sun cream: As the children enter their Reception year, we encourage them to apply sunscreen. However, at the Nursery we ask that you provide this in a named bottle and it remains in class. The staff will help the children to apply and re-apply as necessary. Of course it is s good idea when the weather is sunny, to apply before coming to school.
Toys from home: We respect that very young children require a ‘comfort toy’ from home. home: These can be left in your child’s bag or placed in a special ‘watching’ place in the Nursery. Children also enjoy bringing toys to Nursery to show their friends. These toys are also welcome. However they will be placed the ‘home box’ until home time after they have been shared with others. We would ask that toys brought from home fit into your child’s school bag. If the toy is very precious or very small, we would ask that it remains safely at home where it will always be found!
How can I prepare my child for Nursery? Starting Nursery is a big step and for some children it may be the first time they have spent time with people who are not part of their family. The most important thing that children always need is people to who love being with them, chatting and playing with them. The most simple, fun experiences such as helping you with jobs at home, playing at the park, sharing a story or singing songs all help your child to learn. These experiences help your child to enjoy being with others and support them to learn new things. It can also help them to be with new people at Nursery if they are used to spending small periods of time with other people. If you can support them to try to put on their own coat and shoes it will help (although obviously, we will help them). The expectation is that children starting with us in the Nursery will be ‘clean and dry’ as far as toilet training is concerned. We accept that occasional ‘accidents’ happen and we can deal with that. However, for the comfort of all, we ask that you aim for this to happen by the time your child starts with us. We can discuss this further at taster sessions, so please ask, as we will have some useful tips if needed!
Can we use the Nursery voucher scheme? We are open 32 weeks of the year, term-time only and offer a weekly maximum of 15 hours’ Free Early Education Entitlement vouchers to children of 3 to 4 years of age who attend our Nursery. We offer a morning or a full day placement and vouchers may be claimed to a maximum of 3 hours per morning session that your child attends. You may wish to consider a combination of mornings and full days. Unfortunately, we do not offer afternoon-only sessions. Number of mornings attending
Free entitlement
3 mornings/full days (minimum expectation)
9 hours
4 mornings/full days
12 hours
5 mornings/full days
15 hours
Sessions are charged either as mornings commencing at 8.30am and finishing at 1.00pm, including lunch, or full day, finishing at 3.30pm (3.00pm on Wednesdays). In order to meet Kent County Council regulations surrounding the Free Early Years Entitlement vouchers, we also offer one, free 15-hour place in our Nursery for 3 hours, 5 mornings a week between 8.00am and 11.00am only. If this place has been taken up, no further completely free place will be available. For children turning four during the year, we advise that you sign up for a minimum of 5 mornings or 3 full days in readiness for the Reception year ahead. We are required by Kent County Council to inform you that we are unable to deliver the full free entitlement of 38 weeks a year at this setting, due to the constraints of our term dates. You will, therefore, only be able to access the free provision for a total of 32 weeks a year at this setting for the academic year.
When can my child start? We can accept children into the Nursery from the term in which they turn 3 years of age. They are referred to as Rising 3’s. We also take children as Rising 4’s. These will be our next Reception class when the following September comes.
The Friend’s of Junior King’s All parents are, by definition, automatically enrolled as members of the Friends of Junior King’s. We also have at least one parent within the Nursery who will act as a link between the Nursery and the rest of the school community. This representative helps to co-ordinate families and collate contact details. This can be very useful for arranging play dates for children and adults, too! The Friends of Junior King’s ‘reps’ do an invaluable job in supporting new families joining our school community, so that everyone feels welcomed.
The Friends of
References School policies are all available to view on our website. If there are any policies that you are unable to find, please ask. https://www.junior-kings.co.uk/policies To find out more information about the Early Years Foundation Stage, you could go to: https://foundationyears.org.uk/2019/08/eyfspolicy/ https://www.gov.uk/government/publications/early-years-foundation-stage-framework--2 https://www.foundationyears.org.uk/files/2015/03/4Children_ParentsGuide_2015_ WEB.pdf