Here at Dearham we have a purpose built nursery where we take children from 3 years of age.
We offer the 15 and 30 hours care and accept the Government funded 30 hours scheme and Childcare Choices.
Cumbria County Council provides 30 hours’ childcare entitlement. Further information can be found here:
30 Hours Free Childcare Poster (CC June 23)
30 Hour Free Childcare Eligibility Checklist Poster (cc June 23)
Tax Free Childcare Leaflet (CC June 23)
Universal Credit and Childcare Leaflet (CC June)
Calling All Parents Help Paying For Childcare (C June 23)
Outdoors!
Our children are lucky enough to have their own large outdoor area. We love to make the most of this and the children have constant access to it during exploring time, whatever the weather! We also enjoy going out and about in the wider school on nature hunts, or for our annual Teddy-Bear’s picnic!
Child-Initiated Learning
Most of the children’s time in Nursery is spent engaging in child-led learning, where the children have access to all areas of the classroom, both inside and outside and are able to follow their own interests. The adults support the children’s development by joining them in their play.
Circle Time
We have half-termly topics linked to the seasons and celebrations throughout the year. We have daily Circle Times, which give us a chance to come together to learn specific skills and to introduce new enhancements linked to our topics. We will sometimes have an adult-led activity following on from these Circle Times, which the children can choose to access if they wish. We also love to welcome visitors to Nursery, linked to the things we are learning!
Snack Time
The children are provided with free milk and fruit and we come together for snack time each day, which is a chance to have a chat as a group. Occasionally, we will have a special snack linked to our learning, like pancakes or hot chocolate! We also use this time to teach maths skills, such as counting, comparing, and number recognition.
Phonics
Once the children have settled into Nursery, we introduce daily phonics sessions, following the Little Wandle Phonics Scheme. There is a strong emphasis in Nursery on Phase One phonics, which teaches the children to listen carefully and distinguish between different sounds in order to prepare them for reading. We play lots of fun and practical games and activities to support this.
Music!
We enjoy regular music sessions including lots of singing and instruments.
Lunch Time
The children who stay with us for the full day are able to bring in their own packed lunch and also have the option of choosing a school dinner from our delicious menu! We go into the dinner hall in the main school building for our lunch.
Tapestry
In Nursery we use Tapestry to record observations of the children and keep parents informed of their children’s journey in school. Parents are also able to upload observations of any “wow” moments their children experience at home, which allows all of the adults involved with the children to keep up-to-date and informed on their progress.
