Harmans Water Primary School

Our Nursery currently offers 39 places per session - children are admitted the term after their third birthday.  We offer three types of sessions for children who are aged 3 and 4 :

•  5 Mornings 8:30 am - 11:30 am  (15 hours per week)
•  5 Afternoons 12:15 pm - 3:15 pm  (15 hours per week)
•  5 Full days 8:30 am – 3:15 pm (30 hours per week)

We provide 15 universal hours free childcare for children aged 3 and 4. To check your eligibility for 30 hours funding for free childcare (15 universal funded hours plus 15 extended hours).

To see if you are entitled to 30 hours please take a look at the government website, this can be split between 2 providers.

https://www.gov.uk/30-hours-free-childcare

If you are not eligible for extended hours funding  but wish to pay for the additional 15 hours, you may do so - invoices are issued half termly and are payable in advance.

Admission to Nursery does not guarantee a place at our school and parents must apply via Bracknell Forest Borough Council for a school place.

In the autumn term we encourage the children's independence by entering Nursery and beginning to remove their coats independently. We learn about People Who Help Us and we have a visit from the School Crossing Guard. We look forward to when a Police Officer comes in to see us to talk about how to keep ourselves safe. We also learn about Autumn and the changes it will bring over the next few months.

In the spring term we encourage the children to enjoy listening to stories. Our key texts this term are, ‘Dear Zoo', ‘Harry and the Bucketful of Dinosaurs’, ‘The Very Hungry Caterpillar’ and a range or non-fiction books about insects and transport which we explore using ‘Talk for Writing’ techniques. We engage in imaginative role-play based around dinosaurs and go on scavenger hunts, which allow the children to engage with each other and join in with their own ideas. We also have 'dinosaur eggs' in the Nursery, which we watch grow and escape. We also begin to use a variety of technological equipment this term allowing the children the opportunity to learn and use new skills, whilst sharing and taking turns with others.

During the summer term our key texts are 'We're Going on a Bear Hunt', ‘Shark in the Park’, ‘Shark in the Dark’, a range of pirate stories and a range of farm animal stories, which we will continue to explore using ‘Talk for Writing’ techniques. To help our children engage with the story ‘Shark in the Park’, we will take a trip to the woodlands, taking our telescopes we have made in Nursery, to see if we can find a shark in our 'park'. During our pirate topic we will be left to look after 'Pirate Jack's treasure', but before he can return someone will have taken it. We will then have to complete a treasure hunt following a variety of clues in order to get the treasure back. The children will have the fantastic opportunity to observe and learn how baby ducks are born and how to care for them in their early stages of life. This term we will also focus on preparing for the transition into Reception, continuing to gain independence and setting up the opportunity for children to spend time in the Reception area.

As many of you are aware, in order to help us assess the children in Early Years and plan for future learning opportunities we take observations and photos of your children throughout their time with us. In order to collate and organise the observations that are taken we use an electronic tool which allows parents to also view the observations as well as uploading your own observations of children’s learning at home. This year, the system we will be using is called ‘tapestry.’

Each parent will be able to log in online, which will enable you to view and comment on your own child’s learning journey.  You will be able to view it on a computer, tablet, Smartphone as well as being able to print out a paper copy for yourselves. The Tapestry programme adheres to all of the GDPR regulations.

We really appreciate parent contributions and are excited to share with you our new observation system so we can see how the children continue their learning at home.