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Nursery - St Mary

Welcome to Nursery!

We are really pleased to welcome you and your children to St. Mary's. This page gives you lots of information about us and about what we do in the Nursery, here, at St Mary's. It also lets you know what we will be doing this term so that you can support your child's learning. If you have any questions please feel free to telephone school on 0161 2245995 and leave us a message or email the office: admin@stmaryslevenshulme.org.uk. We will phone you back as soon as we can (usually when the school day is over).

The Nursery team

The staff in Nursery are as follows:

Miss Knowles - Class teacher

Miss Bowen - Key worker and learning support assistant

Mrs Mulhern - Key worker and learning support assistant

Miss Doherty - Key worker and learning support assistant

Autumn term

This Term's Topic

Our topic this term is 'All about me'. We will be settling into Nursery and reading lots of stories about starting school. We will be talking about our families, sharing which country we're from and sharing family photos. We will be learning about our bodies and how to take care of ourselves. We will do this through role play in our doctor's surgery. We will draw and create self portraits.

Phonics

We will read stories, sing nursery rhymes and explore poems. We will learn to recognise our names. We will explore environmental sounds and body percussion. We will learn to rhyme our names and continue a rhyming string. We will look at the initial sounds of the first 6 sounds s, a, t, i, p, n. We will go on sound hunts and expand our vocabulary learning the meaning of new words.

Maths

We will sing lots of number songs and rhymes. We will count forwards and backwards from 0-10. We will sort, match and compare groups of objects by colour and size. We will show numbers on our fingers. We will subitise a group of up to 3 objects (recognise a group of objects without having to count them). We will start to look at the composition of numbers.

Religious Education

This term in our Source to Summit: Lighting the path programme, the themes will be Creation and Baptism.

We will have Religion each week which involves one lesson and a collective worship.

Each day, we will say daily prayers and we will sing hymns during our hymn practice and our Celebration assembly every Friday.

Dropping Off And Collecting Your Child

The Early Years gate opens at 8.30am and closes at 8.40am. Please bring your child up the ramp to the early years gate where you will be met by one of the Nursery team. You will say goodbye here at the gate and your child will walk into Nursery on their own. If your child has a full-time place you will collect them from the Nursery classroom at 3.10pm each day. You will enter the Nursery classroom and collect your child from their key worker group and exit out of the far door. If your child has a morning place then you will collect them outside the school office at 11.30am. Please arrive promptly to drop off and collect your child. The school gates will open 5 minutes before the start and end of the day.

What Your Child Needs In School

Your child should have in school the following:

A waterproof coat which can be brought in each day
A pair of wellies which should stay in school
A drawstring bag containing a few changes of clothes which will be sent home when your child has been changed during the day

What a typical day looks like

8:30-8:40am - Arrive at Nursery

8:45am Register & prayers

8:50 - 9:00 - Story/songs/phase 1 phonics

Continuous provision inside/outside

10am - snack time

Continuous provision inside/outside

10:40 - tidy up time

10:50 -11am - Numbers/shapes/counting

11:05am Lunch in the hall

11:30am - Lunchtime (outside)

12:30pm - Register & prayers

12:35-12:45 - story/songs

Continuous provision inside/outside

14:30 tidy up time

14:40 snack/story time/brush teeth

15:05 - Home time

Tuesday - Hymn Practice in the hall (later in the year)

Tuesday - P.E - Games outside on the Astroturf

Friday - P.E - Dance in the hall (From November)

We will do a welly walk each week and a baking/cooking activity each week linked to our topic.

Outdoor Learning

Learning outdoors is a very important part of the curriculum here at St Mary's, offering the children so many valuable opportunities to explore, talk, create, take risks, develop their physical skills and build their confidence. The Nursery children have access to the outdoors all day, every day and so it is important that your child brings a waterproof coat into school. It is also vital that they have a pair of wellies in school to use when accessing our Let's Explore area which can become very wet and muddy. We will also be having a welly walk each week where we will be going out around the school grounds and local community.

Reading books and Home learning

Book bags will be sent home every Friday and should be returned to Nursery on a Wednesday. Please note these will be sent home at the start of October once the children have settled into Nursery.

Please enjoy reading these books together and note in your child's reading record how s/he responded to the books. We want all our children to develop a life long love of reading and this begins with sharing and discussing books with adults.

Our online learning platform Seesaw is where we will share the learning we do in Nursery. We will also document some key moments in your child's learning here in Nursery. You will receive a login code for your child. It is also an opportunity for you to share special events and occasions at home, where you can upload photographs and videos. We will share these together on a Friday morning during our celebration assembly. This is a lovely opportunity for the children to talk about and share their learning.

The Early Years Framework

As you may already be aware, the DFE (Department for Education) have introduced a new EYFS (Early Years Foundation Stage) framework, commencing September 2021. Your child will follow the updated EYFS framework and will work towards the final assessment at the end of the Reception year, using the new ELGs (Early Learning Goals). These goals are short statements that teachers assess your child against at the end of the year. During the nursery year your child will be learning within the '3 to 4 year old' stage. The 7 main areas of learning remain the same. These are;

Communication and Language
Physical Development
Personal, Social and Emotional Development
Literacy
Mathematics
Expressive Arts and Design
Understanding the World

As part of the changes to the new framework, it also means that there is less emphasis on recording paperwork, meaning we, as adults, can spend more time with your child getting to know them and having those quality interactions. The new framework is also more aligned with the KS1 curriculum, further ensuring your child’s educational journey from Nursery, then Reception and into KS1 is building upon previous knowledge. See the attached link below for the statements that your child will be assessed against at the end of the early years. We have also provide a link below to the Development Matters 2021 document, which outlines the principles behind the new framework.

NURSERY LONG TERM PLAN
	AUTUMN	SPRING	SUMMER
THEME	All about me!	Wonderful World	Growing and caring for living things
PRIME AREA Communcation and Language	Communication and Language core rhymes, poems and songs Twinkle, Twinkle, little star, Heads, shoulders knees and toes, When Goldilocks went to the house of the bears, 1,2,3 good to be me, 5 Little Pumpkins, Autumn leaves are falling down, Nativity and Christmas songs	Communication and Language Core rhymes, poems and Songs Polar Bear Polar bear, 5 little ducks, Here we go round the mulberry bush. Hot cross Buns, 5 Currant Buns.	Communication and Language Core rhymes, poems and Songs Plastic bag, Growing song, Down in the bottom of the garden, The animal boogie
PRIME AREA PSED	Select and use activities and resources, with help when needed. This helps them to achieve a goal they have chosen, or one which is suggested to them. Develop their sense of responsibility and membership of a community. Become more outgoing with unfamiliar people, in the safe context of their setting. Show more confidence in new social situations. Play with one or more other children, extending and elaborating play ideas. Help to find solutions to conflicts and rivalries. For example, accepting that not everyone can be Spider-Man in the game, and suggesting other ideas. Increasingly follow rules, understanding why they are important. Do not always need an adult to remind them of a rule. Develop appropriate ways of being assertive. Talk with others to solve conflicts. Talk about their feelings using words like ‘happy’, ‘sad’, ‘angry’ or ‘worried’. Begin to understand how others might be feeling. Think Equal scheme
PRIME AREA Physical Development	Continue to develop their movement, balancing, riding (scooters, trikes and bikes) and ball skills. Go up steps and stairs, or climb up apparatus, using alternate feet. Skip, hop, stand on one leg and hold a pose for a game like musical statues. Use large-muscle movements to wave flags and streamers, paint and make marks. Start taking part in some group activities in which they make up for themselves, or in teams. Are increasingly able to use and remember sequences and patterns of movements which are related to music and rhythm. Match their developing physical skills to tasks and activities in the setting. For example, they decide whether to crawl, walk, or run across a plank, depending on its length and width. Choose the right resources to carry out their own plan. For example, choosing a spade to enlarge a small hole they dug with a trowel. Collaborate with others to manage large items, such as moving a long plank safely and carrying large hollow blocks. Use one-handed tools and equipment, for example, making snips in paper with scissors. Use a comfortable grip with good control when holding pens and pencils. Start to eat independently and learn how to use a knife and fork. Show a preference for a dominant hand. Be increasingly independent as they get dressed and undressed, for example, putting coats on and doing up zips. Be increasingly independent in meeting their own care needs, e.g. brushing teeth, using the toilet, washing and drying their hands thoroughly. Make healthy choices about food, drink, activity and tooth brushing
Literacy Reading	We're going on a bear hunt Goldilocks and the three bears Happy To Be Me Room on the broom We're Going on A Pumpkin Hunt The Family Book Autumn themed texts (Tap The Magic Tree, Leaf Man, Storm) Non-fiction books about the body Nativity and Christmas themed texts Phonics – Nursery rhymes	The Gingerbread man Non-fiction books linked to countries around the world Handa's surprise Where’s Lenny (Little Wandle) Rumble in the jungle Commotion in the ocean Spring is here	The Very hungry caterpillar Jack and the Beanstalk Mad about minibeasts Growing frogs The tiny seed Lulu loves the library (Little Wandle) Would you rather (Little Wandle)
Literacy Writing	Mark making circles and lines using various tools. Making deliberate large movements. Understanding that writing carries meaning. Mark-making circles, lines, humps, up and down, side to side and crossing over. Giving meaning and purpose to own marks.	Create closed shapes with continuous lines and begin to use these shapes to represent objects. Draw with increasing complexity and detail, such as representing a face with a circle and including details. Begin to write name.	Writing more letters of personal significance. Writing initial sounds to represent people and objects. Continue to write their name with greater accuracy.
R.E.	Come and See God loves me/God knows my name Remembrance, Baptism, Advent, Other faiths – Hinduism (Diwali)	Come and See Celebrating Gathering Growing Lent, Pentecost Other Faith’s -	Come and See Pentecost Reconciliation Universal Church
R.E.	Caritas	Caritas	Caritas
RSE	Ten Ten - Created Out of Love for love	Ten Ten	Ten Ten
Maths	Counting songs, stories and rhymes Colours Matching and sorting objects by colour, size and pattern Subitising 1-3 then up to 5 Noticing patterns and groups of objects Counting objects, actions and sounds Counting forwards and backwards Showing numbers to match fingers Discovering numicon Beginning to represent numbers using their own marks Explore numbers 1-3 Shape Positional language	Counting songs, stories and rhymes Exploring numbers 1-6 Composition of numbers up to 6 Subitising Compare quantities Counting out objects to match the number Matching numbers to group pf objects/sets Weight capacity 1 more and 1 less than a number (using fingers) Shape Pattern Solve real life problems	Counting songs, stories and rhymes Exploring numbers 6-10 Counting – reciting numbers 1-10 and back, 1-20 and back Length, height 1 more and 1 less than a number (using objects) Shape Solve real life problems Money
Understanding the world	Black History Month Autumn walk and observations Identifying and naming body parts Exploring our senses – seeing, listening, tasting, smelling, touching. Talking about our families Cooking – toffee apples/Christmas biscuits	Winter – finding out about polar animals Exploring ice Exploring shadows/shadow puppets Hatching ducklings Spring Walk observing new life Planting seeds Cooking – making pancakes	Understanding life cycle of butterfly – class caterpillars Identifying animals and their babies Knowing what a vet does Planting and growing vegetables Fruit tasting and making fruit crumbles Taking care of the environment - World Earth Day
Expressive Arts and Design	Take part in simple pretend play, using an object to represent something else. Listen with increased attention to sounds. Explore different materials freely in order to develop ideas about how to use them and what to make. Use small word to develop more complex stories. Join different materials and explore different textures. Develop own ideas and decide which material to use to express them.	Make imaginative and complex ‘small worlds’ with blocks and construction kits, such as a city with different buildings and a park Show different emotions in their drawings and paintings, like happiness, sadness, fear etc Play instruments with increasing control to express their feelings and ideas.	Explore colour and colour-mixing. Respond to what they have heard, expressing their thoughts and feelings Sing the melodic shape (moving melody, such as up and down, down and up) of familiar songs Remember and sing entire songs Create their own songs or improvise a song around one they know. Learn about artist Vincent Van Gogh (link to Sunflower project)
P.E.	See PD above
Computing	Barefoot ICT - Awesome Autumn	Barefoot ICT - Winter warmers	Barefoot ICT - Springtime
Music	See Expressive Arts and Design above
Curriculum Enrichment	Autumn Welly walk around the school grounds and to Cringle Park	Spring Welly Walk around the local area and to Cringle Park	Summer Welly Walk to the park Farm trip to Reddish Vale
Cultural Capital	National read a book day (6th sept) Black history month (oct) Harvest festival (oct) Rosh Hashanah – Jewish festival (2nd-4th Oct World space week (4th Oct) Yom Kippur – Jewish festival (11th-12th Oct) World food day (14th Oct) Reptile awareness day (21st Oct) Autumn walk in the local park (enrichment), Diwali (31st Oct/1st Nov), Bonfire night (5th Nov) Remembrance Day (11th Nov) World nursery rhyme week (11th-15th Nov) Road safety week (17th –23rd Nov) Anti bullying week (11th - 15thNov) St Andrew's day (30th Nov) Advent and Christmas Hannukah (25th Dec)	National story telling week (30th – 6th Feb) Hatching ducklings (enrichment), Chinese New Year, St David’s day, St Patrick's Day, St George’s day Lent, Mother's Day, Easter, Spring Walk	Pentecost, Caterpillars, Transition to Reception, Farm visit (enrichment)

Early Learning Goals

eyfs-elg-one-page-document.pdf

Development Matters 2021 New EYFS Framework

What to expect in the Early Years A guide for parents/carers

Partnership with Parents

Here at St. Mary's, we are reknown for our strong relationships with our families and the communications we have with them. For our children to thrive in their learning and in our school, it is imperative that they feel safe, secure and listened to. The interactions the children have at school and at home are all parts of the jigsaw and learning journey for each and every child. We want to give the children the very best start to their education.

It is important for parents and early years settings to have a strong and respectful partnership. This sets the scene for children to thrive in the early years.
This includes listening regularly to parents and giving parents clear information about their child's progress.
The help that parents give their children at home has a very significant impact on their learning.
Some children get less support for their learning at home than others. By knowing and understanding all children and their families, we will offer extra help to those who need it most.
It is important to encourage all parents to chat, play and read with their children.

Useful Information for parents from the NSPCC

Positive parenting (nspcc.org.uk)

Look Say Sing Play: to build your baby’s brain every day (nspcc.org.uk)

Handle with care: How to keep your baby safe (nspcc.org.uk)

Talking about difficult topics | NSPCC

Helping Your Child Cope with Your Divorce or Separation | NSPCC

Online Safety for Children - Tips & Guides | NSPCC

Useful Information for parents from Early Education

Babies - learning starts from the first day.pdf (early-education.org.uk)

Children as artists.pdf (early-education.org.uk)

Going out to play and learn (3).pdf (early-education.org.uk)

Helping children cope with change.pdf (early-education.org.uk)