St
Cuthbert’s Catholic Primary School
Welcome to St Cuthbert’s Nursery
At St Cuthbert’s Catholic Primary School, our Nursery is school based and staffed by qualified teachers and teaching assistants. We pride ourselves on having a community deeply committed to each child’s success. We hold high expectations for all our pupils and through having a warm and nurturing environment, we foster the belief that each child has the potential to achieve greatness.
Nursery children enjoy learning and playing in our newly refurbished classroom, equipped with engaging resources and activities that spark curiosity and promote development every day. From problem solving and fine motor skills, to independence and creativity, each activity is thoughtfully planned to support this important stage of early learning.
At our Nursery, every child is valued, and we pride ourselves on creating a warm, inclusive environment where all children feel they belong. We embrace and celebrate diversity, ensuring that individual needs are recognised, supported, and met so that every child can thrive.
Our team is committed to nurturing a genuine love of learning by working together to provide rich, meaningful experiences for all. As children move on to the next stage of their journey, we hope they leave us confident, independent, and equipped with a strong foundation that will support their future learning and growth.
Our Nursery Team
Mrs K Hopkins
Nursery Teacher
Miss E Buck
Nursery Teacher
Mrs D Underwood
Higher Level Teaching Assistant
Miss N Appleton
Teaching Assistant
Our Nursery Provision
We welcome children from the age of 3, giving them the opportunity to settle into our school environment at a gentle pace and ensuring a smooth, positive transition into Reception. Our aim is that your child will feel confident, happy, and ready to continue their learning journey with us into Reception and beyond. Families will need to apply for a Reception place through Stockton Borough Council’s website. Please note that attending our Nursery does not guarantee a Reception place.
We support children in becoming Reception ready by helping them develop the key skills, understanding and knowledge they need to succeed in the next stage of their education. Our dedicated staff work closely with families, building strong partnerships that nurture each child’s holistic development and learning journey.
Our dedicated staff work closely with families, building strong partnerships that nurture each child’s holistic development and learning journey.
Attendance to our Nursery does not guarantee a place in Reception class when your child is of school age. At St Cuthbert’s Catholic Primary School, we offer:
- Children to bring their own lunch
✔ Morning Session – 15 hours am Monday - Friday (8.45am - 11.45am)
✔ Afternoon Session – 15 hours pm Monday - Friday (12:15pm - 3:15pm)
✔ 30 hours Mon – Fri (8.45am - 3.00pm)
Arrival and Collection Snacks, Drinks and Lunchtime
Our Nursery has its own dedicated way of entry. Each morning, the Nursery team will be there to greet you and warmly welcome your child into school. At the end of your child’s session, they will be collected from the same entry.
In both our morning and afternoon sessions, the children can enjoy a healthy snack as part of our snack time. Fresh fruit is always available at this time alongside milk should the children want it. Children bring their own water bottles which we can top up throughout the day for the children to access.
We ask that our 30 hour provision children bring a packed lunch each day.
Our Nursery Uniform
Nursery children can wear the burgundy jumper/ cardigan with a white polo shirt. To encourage independence and make toileting easier, children are welcome to wear black jogging bottoms while in Nursery. However, if you feel your child can manage, grey trousers or a skirt/pinafore can also be worn.
We will let parents know if extra additional clothing needs to be brought in for outdoor adventures or in case of accidents in school.
For further information on our uniform, please scan the QR code.
The EYFS Curriculum
The Early Years Foundation Stage (EYFS) is based upon four themes, each of which is linked to an important principle:
A Unique Child
✔ Every child is a competent learner from birth who can be resilient, capable, confident and self-assured.
Positive Relationships
✔ Children learn to be strong and independent from a base of loving and secure relationships with parents and /or a key person.
Enabling Environments
✔ The environment plays a key role in supporting and extending children’s development and learning.
Learning & Development
✔ Children develop and learn in different ways and at different rates and all areas of learning and development are equally important and interlinked.
Your child’s learning will be based on seven areas of learning and development. All areas of learning and development are important and inter-connected.
The three prime areas are particularly important for learning and forming relationships. They build a foundation for children to thrive and provide the basis for learning in all areas. These are the prime areas:
Communication and Language: Focuses on developing speaking, listening, and understanding skills, encouraging children to express themselves and comprehend others.
Physical Development: Encompasses building gross motor skills (large movements) and fine motor skills (precision), while promoting healthy lifestyles, exercise, and spatial awareness.
Personal, Social and Emotional Development: Centres on children developing self-confidence, self-regulation, managing emotions, and forming positive relationships.
The EYFS Curriculum
sense, numerical patterns, and problem-solving (e.g., shapes, spatial awareness, counting).
Understanding the World: Guides children to make sense of their physical world and community through exploration, observation, and technology. It includes learning about people, communities, and the natural world.
Expressive Arts and Design: Enables children to develop their imagination and creativity, using various media, materials, and techniques for art, music, dance, and role-play.
Our Learning Environment
We are fortunate to offer both indoor and outdoor provision in our Nursery, providing a wide range of opportunities that nurture children’s development across all areas of learning. Each space is thoughtfully planned and regularly enhanced to encourage exploration, independence and purposeful play.
Inside our Nursery, children have access to a variety of well-resourced areas, including:
✔ Maths Area – where children explore numbers, shapes and patterns through handson resources and practical activities.
✔ Writing Area – a space that encourages early mark making, writing and communication using a range of tools and prompts.
✔ Construction Area – where children build, design and problem solve using small construction materials.
✔ Block Area – a dedicated zone for large scale block play that promotes creativity, teamwork and spatial awareness.
✔ Art Area – a creative space where children can express themselves through painting and drawing.
✔ Workshop Area – a making and creating space where children can engage in craft and hands on projects that develop problem solving, design and fine motor skills.
✔ Water Area – where children investigate concepts such as pouring, measuring, floating and sinking through sensory water play.
✔ Sand Area – a tactile play space that supports early maths, creativity and fine motor skills through digging, moulding and exploring textures.
✔ Playdough Area – designed to strengthen fine motor skills and imagination as children shape, roll and create with playdough.
✔ Home Corner – a role play space that encourages imagination, language development and social interaction through pretend play.
In our outdoor provision, which we share with the Reception class, children enjoy a variety of large scale learning and play areas designed to promote exploration, physical development and imaginative play. These spaces include:
✔ Water Area – a bigger, openair space where children can experiment with pouring, transporting and splashing using large containers, channels and water resources.
✔ Sand Area – an expanded sand space that allows for digging, building and collaborative play on a much larger scale than indoors.
✔ Bike Shed – a dedicated zone with trikes, bikes and scooters that encourages gross motor development, balance and confidence in a safe, open environment.
✔ Mud Kitchen – a generously sized outdoor kitchen where children can mix, scoop and create using natural materials, promoting sensory exploration and imaginative role play.
✔ Construction Area – a large building zone equipped with oversized blocks, crates and materials that support teamwork, problem solving and ambitious construction projects.
✔ Stage Area – a raised outdoor performance space where children can sing, dance, act and express themselves creatively on a larger scale.
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.
