From the moment you sign your child up to St Ives Nursery, we’ll hold you and your child’s hands to make their start at Nursery an easy one.
Your child will be paired with a member of the Nursery team who will be known as their ‘key person’ and will be your main point of contact throughout your child’s time in Nursery.
This key person will even visit you and your child in your home before they start at The Nursery to get to know them better and make the transition from home to Nursery a seamless one.
We see the relationship with you and your child, as a three-way partnership, where communication is regular and ongoing. We are always here at the beginning and end of the day for a quick conversation and are always happy to arrange another time for a more formal conversation if you have any concerns at any time. Each week you will receive updates on ‘Tapestry’, our online learning portal, as well as a weekly newsletter that covers the whole school. We also offer three parents’ evenings throughout the year to discuss progress and share delights.
The nature of your child’s day changes throughout their time with us, as they grow and develop. At St Ives Nursery, the 2-3 year olds are known as the Ducklings and the 3-4 year olds (Pre Reception children) are known as the Ducks. We follow the curriculum laid down by the Early Years Foundation, which centres primarily around communication and language development, physical development and personal, social and emotional development. In addition to these, we work on the specific areas of learning of literacy development, mathematics development, understanding the world and expressive arts and design. As the children grow, we begin to introduce subjects, such as PE, French and Music, all of which are taught by our specialist teachers from the main school, as well as Forest School. They also enjoy dance, yoga and cooking as part of the curriculum and can also attend ballet lessons. At the age of 3, the child can take part in weekly swimming and tennis lessons.