Building on our 100 year history of offering excellent nursery education we are now open from 7.45 a.m. to 6.00 p.m. all year round.

We offer full day care for children from birth to 5 years and a range of services to support families.

Please click on the Microsoft Publisher file to view the poster. [Note: You will need Microsoft Publisher to view the file.]

Review & Forward Planning Day

Friday 8^th February

Parents, staff and governors met together for the day to look at the five outcomes for children - Being safe, staying healthy, making a positive contribution, achieving economic well-being and enjoying & achieving. We are looking at all the information gathered on the day and using it to write our three year development plan. Watch out for the display in the corridor!

Ten in the bed….

is our core story for this half term in the 3 to 5 rooms. The children will be doing lots of counting and talking about the animals in the story and wild animals and their habitats. They will also be celebrating Chinese New Year, Pancake day and Easter during this half term.

Car Park

We are becoming increasingly concerned about the safety of the children around the entrance and car park. Parents are driving very quickly, double parking and reversing out. We have been advised by Road safety the best solution would be to close the car park to parents. We do not want to do this as we feel parents bringing very young babies and children need to be able to drive in. However, if the situation does not improve we will have no option but to close the car park between school hours. If you are able to park on the road please do so. We will monitor the situation over the next few weeks before making a final decision. The safety of the children must come first.

Litter

We are very proud of our lovely new building and know that the residents in the area are too. Sometimes children bring sweets to school, either for themselves or to share with their friends. Many parents allow their children to throw the paper wrappers on the floor, both inside and outside the building. Can you please ensure we keep the area clean and tidy by ensuring your child does not throw litter on the floor.

Thank you.

Web-site

We are currently updating our school web-site http://www.stedmundsnscc.com/ Please have a look and tell us what you think. We are open to any suggestions as to how it can be improved. You can e-mail us directly from the website.

Filming

On Friday 2^nd March some of the children and staff will be filmed by a TV crew. The video will be used for training purposes in educational settings. No children will be named. If you do not want your child to be filmed please let the office know immediately.

Snack Money

Children in Red and Yellow rooms - snack money of £3.00 is now due and should be paid at the office.

Holidays

School will close for two weeks on Friday 30^th March, reopening Monday 16^th April. The Children’s Centre will just be closed for Good Friday, 6^th April and Easter Monday, 9^th April.

Re-open Monday 3^rd September 2007

Half-Term Close Thursday 18^th October

Re-open Monday 29^th October

Christmas Close Friday 21^st December

Please note Re-open Thursday 3^rd January 2008

Nursery & Centre closed during this holiday

Half-Term Close Thursday 7^th February

Re-open Monday 18^th February

Easter Close Thursday 19^th March

Re-open Monday 7^th April

May Day Closed Monday 5^th May

Spring Bank Close Thursday 22^nd May

Re-open Monday 2^nd June

Summer Close Friday 18^th July

Nursery & Children’s Centre closed for Training Days on:

Monday 24^th September 2007

Friday 19^th October 2007

Friday 8^th February 2008

Thursday 20^th March 2008

Tuesday 6^th May 2008

St Edmund’s has always endeavoured to offer full time places to children before they leave to go to Primary school. Due to the movement of large numbers of children from the old to the new building and the extension of our provision to offer extended care from birth to five we have not offered any new full time places this term. We will however be offering places after Easter to children who were born between 1/9/2002 and 29/2/2003 and would normally be leaving to go to Primary school in September. Children who were born between 1/3/2003 and 31/8/2003 will be offered a full time place in September as they do not have to go to Primary school until January.

Staffing

Welcome to Claire Hogg our new receptionist. Our under three provision is filling up rapidly. We have recruited some new staff who will be working across all the children’s rooms. They are Samantha Horner and Rachael Carter. We are currently advertising for two Level 3 Early Years Practitioners to work part time. Please ask at the office if you or someone you know is interested in these posts.

New Parents Meeting

If your child has just started nursery part time we are holding three meetings to tell you about the nursery, what your children will be learning and how records are kept on your child’s progress. It is very important that you attend one of the meetings. They will be held on Friday 26^th January at 9.15am and 1.00pm or Monday 29^th January at 5.00pm. Any existing parents who are interested are welcome to attend.

Percy the Park Keeper

Is our core story for this half term in the 3 to 5 rooms. We will be making a cold place in the outdoor area and freezing water to make lots of different types and sizes of ice cubes. Please talk to your child about changes in the weather and make sure they come to nursery well wrapped up.

Review & Forward Planning Meeting

We are holding our annual Review & Forward Planning Meeting on 9^th February.

Staff, governors and parents come together to plan for the School & Children’s Centre. Lunch and a crèche are provided. These meetings have been very successful in helping us to plan for the move to the new building - now we need you to come and tell us what you want us to do in the future. A letter will be sent later this week.

Closure Dates

The Nursery School & Children’s Centre will be closed for Staff training on Friday 8^th February. The Nursery school section of the Centre will be closed for half term the following week (12^th to 16^th February). However children accessing the paid provision will attend as usual. We are planning some family days during the week - details to follow. School re-opens on 19^th February.

Parking

Our car park is not very big and as we have parents bringing young babies to the Centre we want them to be able to use the car park. To avoid accidents we would ask all parents to be very careful when using the car park and if at all possible parents should park outside on the main road.

Children use gestures, eye contact and facial expression to communicate

They use simple statements and questions and build up their vocabulary

They initiate conversations and use more complex sentences

They speak clearly and confidently, listen to others and take turns in conversation

Language for Thinking

Children use action sometimes with limited talk

They use talk to describe what they are doing

They use talk to pretend

and to organise their ideas.

Linking Sounds and Letters

Children enjoy rhyming and rhythmic activities and can hear different sounds

They can tap out a rhythm and begin to hear sounds in words and recognise some letters

Reading

Children listen to stories and handle books carefully

They have favourite books and can talk about them. They begin to recognise some familiar words

Writing

Children draw and paint sometimes talking about their work

They make letter-like marks and tell adults what they want to write

Handwriting

Children use one-handed tools and equipment to make large and small movements

They learn to manipulate objects with increasing control and begin to form recognisable letters

Admission to Primary School
Children leave St Edmund’s to go to Primary School either in the September or January. Children who have a birthday between 1st September and 28th February usually go in September and children with a birthday between 1st March and 31st August usually go in January.

Some schools however, prefer all children to start in September. If this is the case it is up to the parents to decide whether they want their child to go to Reception in September or January.

Feeder Schools

This year children are leaving St Edmund’s to go to:

Girlington Primary - 2 children
St Williams Catholic – 2 children
Hollingwood Primary – 1 child
Thornton Primary – 1 child
Heaton St Barnabas – 1 child
Heaton Primary - 3 children
Clayton Village – 2 children
Lidget Green – 1 child
Clayton CE Primary – 1 child
Green Lane Primary – 1 child
Allerton Primary – 1 child
Crossley Hall Primary – 17 children
Cottingley Village – 3 children
Whetley Primary – 4 children
St James Primary – 1 child

If we know in advance that a child has special needs we make every effort to plan accordingly so that the child’s needs can be catered for before they start nursery.

We have the support of our Educational Psychologist as well as specialist services such as the Pre-5 team, Autistic Support Service and Physical Difficulties team.

If we become concerned about a child after they have started nursery we discuss our concerns with the parent. We may add the child to our Special Educational Needs register and make extra observations or give the child extra support during sessions. This is called Early Years Action. If we are still concerned about the child’s progress we hold a review and invite other professionals who may be involved such as the Health Visitor, Physiotherapist or Speech and Language Therapist. We may decide to refer the child to one of the above services.

We write an Individual Education Plan (IEP) and set some targets for the child to achieve. The child will be given extra support and nursery may receive some extra funding to help us. This is called Early Years Action Plus.

In severe cases, where the child is going to have long term difficulties we may make a request for Statutory Assessment and the child may then get a Statement of Special Educational Needs.

If you are worried about your child’s development you should talk to their keyworker.

If you want to know more about the Nursery’s arrangements for children with Special Needs please talk to our SEN Governor (Kate Clement) or our Special Needs Coordinator (Anne-Marie)

This year we have one child with a statement of special educational needs. Two children at Early Year’s Action Plus and five children at Early Years Action

The safety of the children is of the utmost importance and we have procedures in place to ensure the children are safe at all times.

We would ask parents to help us by making sure the door is closed when they leave and by closing the gate.

Some parents park their cars on the yellow zig zag lines which is very dangerous. The police can issue fines to people who park on zig zig lines outside schools.

We want the children to feel happy, safe and secure while they are with us.