Welcome to Nursery!
At Horndale we aim to provide a welcoming and caring environment for your child’s first step into school life. We provide an atmosphere where every child is valued and supported, to enable them to become happy, confident learners and to help them reach their full potential.
The Nursery session begins at 8.45 and finishes at 11.45 but if you would like to attend our Breakfast club the doors open at 8.20 and close at 8.30.
Mrs Copeland is our Nursery Teacher and Mrs Anderson is our Classroom Assistant.
In Nursery we have lots of fun creating play-based learning around our own experiences. We access both the indoor and outdoor environments which both offer educational and exciting opportunities to develop and extend our learning.
We aim to provide high quality teaching and learning experiences which will enable every child to develop at their own pace, physically, individually, socially and emotionally.
Young children learn by first-hand experience i.e. doing, touching and seeing for themselves through play. Their intellectual, social, emotional, creative and physical development will be catered for by various play activities which we offer at Nursery.
Children start the FOUNDATION STAGE of their education with us, this runs from age 3 and continues until the end of the Reception year in primary school. The document ‘The Early Years Foundation Stage’ forms the basis for education from birth to five. It sets out the correct ratios and welfare requirements. It states that education should be put into practice four principles:
Overarching Principles
There are four guiding principles which should shape practice in our early years settings. These are:
- every child is a unique child, who is constantly learning and can be resilient, capable, confident, and self-assured.
- children learn to be strong and independent through positive relationships.
- children learn and develop well in enabling environments, in which their experiences respond to their individual needs and there is a strong partnership between practitioners and parents and/or carers; and
- children develop and learn in different ways and at different rates.
The framework covers the education and care of all children in early years provision, including children with special educational needs and disabilities.
Special Educational Needs and Disabilities (SEND)
At Horndale Nursery we believe that inclusive education means providing all pupils with appropriate education and support alongside their peers.
Reading in Nursery
During nursery, children will do the following to develop their early reading skills:
- Develop vocabulary through a broad range of activities
- Access the attractive reading area, where books are read by adults and children tell their own stories
- Listen to and share rhymes, stories, books and songs
- Use labels and name cards in a print rich environment so that children learn that print conveys meaning
- Staff will emphasise the initial sounds in words and develop oral blending skills
- Take part in fun activities to aid development of pre-reading skills
