A typical day at nursery

Staff will welcome you at the door and your Key Person, or buddy will be waiting to greet you.

What to bring to Nursery with you:

Bring some spare pants or nappies, and spare sets of clothes – as we often get messy with paints, sand, mud and water inside and outside! It is a great way to explore using all our senses! Nursery provides wipes and nappy bags.

If you are staying for the afternoon session, you’ll need your packed lunch. When you arrive, you can put your lunchbox on the trolley, and the rest of your things in your cubby – each child has their own cubby for their change of clothes and for anything special they make to take home.

8:45 Drop off We start our day in our Key Bases with our Key Person and their buddy. We have two Key Bases set up with a comfy, homely feel with plenty of books to read and resources to play with

If you are new to nursery, or you need a little help to feel brave, your mum or dad or other special grown up can come in and stay at nursery for the first one or two sessions. Once you feel ready to stay by yourself, then you can say goodbye to your special grown up and stay with your key person and your friends until it’s home time. The Key Person will talk with you and your grown ups to make sure you are ready.

8:45 – 09.30 Play

We start our day with some free play or an activity guided by our Key Person. If you feel confused, or worried, or sad, or if you just need to use the toilet, or you need a new nappy, your key person can help you with all of these things. When you first start, they’ll try to notice these things, even if you don’t say. As you get to know each other better and better, you and you key person will get better and better at understanding one another!

09.30 to 10.00 Snack time

After washing our hands it is time for snack! We all sit in our key groups, with our Key Person, for snack. There is always a choice of water or milk, provided by Nursery, and we are learning to use an open cup to drink with. We have some fruit and small portion of carbohydrate at snack such as rice cakes or bread sticks. Some times, if it is someone’s birthday, we get a piece of cake brought in by the family.

10.00 to 11.30 is Play and learning inside and outside …

After snack we move to play outside or in the Messy Area. We are a messy setting so be prepared to have lots of freedom to use glue, paints, mud, sand, water and play dough almost every day. We go outside in all weathers too so be prepared with appropriate clothing, waterproofs and suitable footwear!

Some times we have Music and Movement together and often Sporty Minis come and we do some fun games outside to help us grow big and strong, and to learn new skills such as throwing and catching, balancing and using bats!

11:30 – 11:45 Group time

Time to sit together in our key base groups. We might read a book together, or sing a song together. and we’ll talk about our morning or afternoon – reflecting on what we have been involved with and learning.

Lunch Time

Our Nursery afternoon starts at 11.45 when some children go home and others a dropped off. If we are just arriving we go outside, with the older children, to do an activity in the garden: whatever the weather! The younger children enjoy a quiet nap time in one of the Key Bases.

12.30 to 13.00 we have our packed lunches in our Key Base groups and our Key Person and buddies will take their lunch breaks. Some times Ellisha, from the office, comes to help us at lunch times.

Afternoon play until 14.45

Again we get to choose between going outside or staying inside and trying something out in the Messy Area. We might do Dough Disco or yoga

Staying for Tea

Most children go home for their tea at 14.45 but some children stay for tea at Nursery, until 17.15.

Staying for Tea is a small group led by two Key People and we do lots of playing, with some games, dancing and drawing or craft. We may go outside, even in the dark, to explore outside and do some gardening or build a castle or maybe, when it is very hot play with the water and the hose pipe!

We share a simple tea together at around 16.15: something like beans on toast, pasta and cheese, pizza or a sandwich and some fruit for afters.

We usually end the day with a story while we wait at the ‘Bus Stop’ as we like to call our coat area at Nursery.

Come for a look round and see what we can offer your family!