EYFS Team
EYFS lead: Mrs A White
EYFS Reception Teacher: Miss A Tait
EYFS Nursery Teacher: Mrs N Jackson-Cooper
EYFS Teaching Assistant: Mrs K Bisicker-Gibbs
EYFS Teaching Assistant: Mrs S Antunes
EYFS Teaching Assistant: Ms K Greener
Nursery Timings (including 2 year old provision)
NEW Timings of the day :
- Morning 8:45am -11.45am 3 hours or
- Full day 8:45-2:45pm (6 hours) or 8:45am-3:15pm (6.5 hours) with the additional cost of £3.00 for the extra half hour.
Intent
At St Mary’s we believe that all children deserve an education rich in wonder and memorable experiences, allowing children’s creativity, curiosity, vocabulary and understanding to flourish. The intent for our children is to enter the next stage of their education ready to tackle new challenges with confidence, resilience and enthusiasm.
The intent of our EYFS curriculum is to ensure our children develop the necessary skills, knowledge and attitude to live long, fulfilling and purposeful lives. The EYFS is the start of our children’s school journey towards achieving this important purpose. We recognise that our children enter the nursery & reception classes with varied life experiences and starting points and we aim to plan teaching and learning opportunities to address this.
Implementation
Our curriculum is built around stories and rhythms of the year, closely linked to our RE topics. We have highly experienced and motivated staff who see every moment as a learning opportunity.
We adapt our learning environment, both indoors and outdoors to ensure all children have access to a highly stimulating environment with resources to match.
The EYFS is based on four overarching principles. The principles underpin all that practitioners are required to do.
Principle: Every child is a competent learner from birth who can be resilient, capable, confident and self-assured.
Principle: Children learn to be strong and independent from a base of loving and secure relationships with parents and/or a key person.
Principle: The environment plays a key role in supporting and extending children’s development and learning.
Principle: Children develop and learn in different ways and at different rates and all areas of learning and development are equally important and interconnected.
The Seven Areas of Learning
Early years learning concentrates on 7 areas split between prime and specific areas of learning.
- Communication and Language
- Physical Development
- Personal, Social and Emotional Development
- Literacy
- Mathematics
- Understanding the World
- Expressive Arts and Design
We’d like to inform you about the government childcare funding, new collection arrangements and nursery fees that will take effect from September 2025.
From September 2025, eligible working parents will be able to access 30 hours of government-funded childcare per week for children from the age 2 years.
Key Points for all EYFS:
- 30-Hour Eligibility Code: If you do not already have this code, parents will need to apply for and obtain an 11-digit code (often starting with 500) to confirm their eligibility for the 30 hours of free childcare.
- ALL Codes must be Valid and within the date, school will not be able to accept expired codes. All codes need to be reconfirmed every three months, even if the child is not yet taking up the full 30 hours. If a code is not valid, the school will unfortunately not be able to accept it, and you will be charged.
Your child can start with us as soon as they turn two, but you won’t be able to claim funding until the term after their second birthday and therefore you will be charged for these sessions.
Information can be found on this website about childcare codes. https://www.childcarechoices.gov.uk/tax-free-childcare/faq
Lunchtime cover:
This is now included in the session times, pupils will have their lunch at 11:45am. The original 30-minute lunchtime cover that was additional charged has been moved to the end of the day, and an early collection may be an option.
Example: 30 hours of free childcare from 8:45 am to 2:45 pm, Monday to Friday, Parents could choose to collect their child at 2:45 pm, or pay extra to keep their child until 3:15 pm at the additional cost of £3.00.
Fees if not using childcare codes are:
Nursery Fees 3 & 4 Year olds is an hourly rate of £5.50
Nursery Fees 2 Year olds is an hourly rate of £7.50
Booking your sessions:
Once you’ve selected your sessions for the term unfortunately these can’t be changed during that term due to staffing ratios. Prior to the start of each new term, you’ll have the opportunity to request additional or change sessions. Please complete the attached form and return it to the school office.
To book places in our nursery please complete one of the attached application forms depending on age. Please complete and send it to [email protected] or hand it in to the office.
