St. Bede’s Nursery
Welcome to Our Nursery
At St Bede’s Catholic Primary School, our Nursery offers a warm, nurturing and stimulating environment where every child is valued, supported and encouraged to thrive.
Our Nursery is based within the school and led by a qualified teacher, supported by an experienced teaching assistant. Both are passionate about early years education.
We are proud of the welcoming and inspiring space we have created. It is designed to nurture curiosity and a love of learning. Every child matters to us. We celebrate diversity and ensure that individual needs are recognised and met so that every child feels included, respected and understood.
Our approach focuses on developing each child’s natural curiosity and sense of wonder. Through exploration of natural and engaging materials, we encourage investigation and discovery, helping children build deep understanding and confidence.
Our aim is for every child to flourish and grow into an independent, confident, caring and responsible learner who leaves Nursery with a strong foundation and a genuine love of learning.
Nursery Staff
Miss Mason Nursery Class Teacher
Miss Elwood Nursery Teaching Assistant
Our Nursery Uniform
✔ Blue sweatshirt or cardigan
✔ White polo shirt
For independence when using the toilet, we encourage:
✔ Black trousers, leggings, or jogging bottoms
✔ Black shoes that children can put on independently
✔ Children may wear pinafores or dresses if they can manage these independently
All uniform must be clearly labelled.
To find out more about our uniform, please scan the QR code.
Important Information
All day session: 8:45am - 2:45pm
AM session: 8:45am - 11:45am
PM session: 12:15pm - 3:15pm
Doors will open at 8:35am and close at 8:45am.
Doors will open at 2:40pm and close at 2:50pm.
An additional 30-minute session from 2:45 - 3:15pm is optional for all day children at an extra cost of £2.70.
Snacks and Milk
We can top up water bottles, giving the children access to water throughout the day.
In the mornings and afternoons, children enjoy a snack as part of our healthy snack routine.
Milk is also available for Nursery children.
School Lunch
A hot school lunch can be purchased for your Nursery child at a cost of £2.75 per day, or you may choose to send a packed lunch instead.
To view our lunch menu, please scan the QR code.
Your child will be eligible for either:
1) 15 hours free nursery education per week during the school term time
Wraparound Care Our Nursery Offer
2) 30 hours free nursery education per week during the school term time or
Please note, a nursery place does not guarantee a place in our Reception class.
Breakfast Club:
7:45 - 8:35am for £2.50
Nursery After School Club:
3:15 - 4.30pm for £5 3:15 - 5:45 for £10
To view our school calendar, please scan the QR code.
To view our term dates, please scan the QR code.
Our Curriculum
As stated in the Department for Education Statutory Framework for Early Years Foundation Stage (2021), there are four overarching principles for the EYFS.
These are:
✔
✔
Every child is a unique child – Every child is a competent learner from birth who can be resilient, capable, confident and self-assured.
Children can 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 or carers.
✔ Children develop and learn in different ways and at different rates. The Framework also covers the education and care of all children in the early years, including those with special educational needs.
Learning and Development
There are seven areas of learning and development. All areas are important and interconnected.
The prime areas are:
✔ Communication and Language; listening, attention and understanding, speaking.
✔ Physical Development; developing gross motor and fine motor skills.
✔ Personal, Social and Emotional Development; building relationships with others, managing self and self-regulation.
The children are also supported in four specific areas, through which the prime areas are strengthened and applied.
These specific areas are:
✔ Literacy; comprehension, word reading and writing.
✔ Mathematics; number and numerical patterns.
✔ Understanding the World; People, Culture and Communities, the natural world, past and present.
✔ Expressive Arts and Design; creating with materials, being imaginative and expressive.
Nursery and Reception
Our Nursery and Reception classes work closely together to create a vibrant, child-centred Early Years environment where children can move freely between areas and follow their own interests. This free-flow approach allows every child to explore, investigate and learn at their own pace while being supported by skilled practitioners who extend learning through high-quality interactions.
Children have access to a rich variety of carefully planned areas, each designed to promote the EYFS prime and specific areas of learning. Every space encourages independence, curiosity and purposeful play.
Construction Area
A space for building, designing and problem-solving. Children use blocks, loose parts and small materials to explore shape, balance and structure.
Creative Area
Packed with paints, collage materials, modelling resources and mark-making tools. Children explore colour, texture and technique while developing fine motor skills and confidence in their own artistic choices.
Reading & Book Corner
A cosy, inviting space filled with high-quality books, puppets and story props. Children develop a love of reading through shared stories, independent browsing and imaginative retelling.
Small World Area
Miniature worlds such as farms, towns, dinosaurs, vehicles and more allow children to create stories, explore real-life concepts and develop fine motor skills.
Investigation & Discovery Area
A space for exploring natural materials, magnets, light, water, sand and simple science concepts. Children observe, predict, test and question, developing early scientific thinking and curiosity about how things work.
Sensory Area
Filled with tactile materials such as sand, water, dough, rice and sensory trays.
Outdoor Learning Environment
Our outdoor area is an extension of the classroom, offering opportunities for physical development, risk-taking, nature exploration and large-scale play. Children climb, dig, build, plant, ride bikes and engage in imaginative outdoor adventures.
Help Prepare Your Child for Nursery
These are just a few ideas of how you can help to prepare your child for Nursery. You will be doing lots of these already!
✔ Share books and stories.
✔ Go to the public library and share a range of books.
✔ Sing nursery rhymes with your child.
✔ Play turn-taking games such as snakes and ladders; make sure your child learns how to win and lose as well.
✔ Have play opportunities with other children, especially over the summer holidays.
✔ Talk about numbers and teach your child to count objects accurately; you could involve your child in helping around the house by counting out the bowls or spoons needed to lay the table, counting steps up and down the stairs, look at house numbers or numbers on cars or buses as you go for a walk.
✔ Talk about mathematical concepts such as: taller, shorter, heavier, lighter, full, half-full, empty, less than, more than, higher, lower.
✔ Let your child handle money and learn to recognise coins.
✔ Talk about shapes and colours.
✔ Encourage your child to dress and undress themselves, including using buttons and zips and putting on their own shoes.
✔ Encourage your child to use the toilet by themselves, including flushing the chain and washing their hands afterwards. We will be encouraging your child to be as independent as possible with this. Please have a chat with us if your child needs any support in this area.
