Welcome to the Early Years Foundation Stage (EYFS) - Nursery/Reception

In the EYFS  ‘We try to follow Jesus in everything we do.’  We work together and help everyone shine and this positive attitude is reflected in our learning throughout the year. Although, we have a lot of work to do at St Margaret Mary’s we try to make our learning as fun and exciting as possible. If you ever pop into school, you'll see that we're always ready to welcome you with a smile.

Teacher: Mrs Welch

About Us - As your child enters our Nursery/Reception Class, we welcome you into our happy school family - where everyone is special and every little light will shine! Our Nursery/Reception is a 90 place Unit forming our Early Years Foundation Stage (EYFS). The ethos of the EYFS is learning through play both in the inside and outside environment. Children access the seven areas of learning through stimulating and exciting activities. We aim to nurture and care for our children in family groups with their own experienced key workers and staff who aim to develop a happy, positive relationship with them so they can flourish and thrive.

Working together - good communication: We value the fact that parents are their children's first teachers and encourage you to tell us about your child's needs and achievements. Our aim is to promote strong communication and to keep you well informed so that you can support your child.  The EYFS staff regularly observe and monitor your child and are available to talk to you especially during morning drop offs. Similarly, you will also be able to meet to review your child's targets each term.  We also encourage regular activities to promote learning such as our "colour, shape or sound of the week" and we ask children to bring an item for our focus table - again linking home and school. We regularly enhance our creative curriculum with events, visitors and guest speakers to widen the children's knowledge.

Our usual school day in Nursery/Reception starts at 8.45am and finishes at 3.15pm

Each day during registration we choose one child from each class to be a 'special helper'. The 'special helper' chooses three of their peers to give them a compliment. The special helper can then sit on the 'special helper' chair and will have the opportunity to do little jobs and stand at the front of the line that day. You can see who has been the 'special helper' each day on the notice on display in your child's classroom. We also have a 'star of the week', this is a child who is picked for the weekly certificate in our school assembly for doing something good that week. After Christmas, children are also encouraged to do a piece of independent writing throughout the week for our V.I.P. box. Children are asked to do a piece of writing during there free choice choosing time which they can then put in the V.I.P. box with the chance of being selected to sit at the 'V.I.P table' and will get a small treat during snack time on a Friday.

Uniform: Uniform should always be well-presented and it would be very helpful for staff if children could have their names on their uniform especially ties and jumpers. 

Outdoor Provision: We offer our children continuous outdoor learning throughout the year so we ask parents to ensure that children have suitable clothing that is appropriate for all weathers, for example, sun hat, wellies, coat. Also during the hot weather we ask that parents apply sun cream prior to bringing them in school.

Reading books (Nursery): Your child will start to bring home a nursery rhyme pack once they have settled into the Nursery. We encourage our parents to share these packs at home. Nursery rhyme packs are sent home every Monday and are to be returned back to school every Friday. 

Reading Books (Reception): We send home reading books everyday for parents to read with their child and would like them returned back to school each day. Books willbe changed once a week. Book bags can be purchased from the school office.

Milk and fruit: All children are provided with a piece of fruit and a carton of milk every afternoon during our 'snack time'. 

P.E.: Reception children will have PE every Tuesday. Please ensure your child has a PE kit in school, which is: plain black shorts, plain white t-shirt and green school jumper/school hoody. Children can wear trainers or black pumps.

In Nursery, children are not required to have a PE kit. They will do PE in their school uniforms. We would be grateful if parents could begin to teach their children how to get dressed and undressed in preparation for their transition to Reception.

Our expectations

Our expectations are high and we strive to foster the development of the children through provision of a planned, engaging, stimulating, safe and secure environment which is structured with developmental needs in mind.  We also aim to stimulate emotional and spiritual growth. 

At St Margaret Mary’s RC Primary School, our children are growing to be:

Grateful for our own gifts, for the gift of other people, and for the blessings of each day; and generous with our gifts, becoming men and women for others.

Attentive to our experience and to our vocation; and discerning about the choices we make and the effects of those choices.

Compassionate towards others, near and far, especially the less fortunate; and loving by our just actions and forgiving words.

Faith-filled in ours & their beliefs and hopeful for the future.

Eloquent and truthful in what we say of ourselves, the relations between people, and the world.

Learned, finding God in all things; and wise in the ways we use our learning for the common good. Curious about everything; and active in our engagement with the world, changing what we can for the better.

Intentional in the way we live and use the resources of the earth, guided by conscience; and prophetic in the example we set to others.