St Mary’s Catholic Primary School is thrilled to introduce its new Nursery as part of our existing ‘outstanding’ EYFS provision. Designed to be a nurturing “home from home”, our warm, welcoming space is tailored to inspire curiosity and wonder in every child.

The Nursery features bright, cosy areas filled with natural light, where children can explore, play and grow in a safe and secure environment.

Our thoughtfully designed play zones encourage imaginative play and hands-on learning, with a wide variety of resources that spark creativity and curiosity. Each area is carefully crafted to stimulate young minds and foster a love for discovery.

Our Curriculum

• Learning is play-based and takes place indoors and outside
• There is a balance between adult-initiated experiences and child-initiated experiences
• Adults take children’s interests and strengths as a starting point, seeing each child as a competent learner
• Parent involvement is crucial. We learn a great deal about each child from their parents

The four overarching principles shape good practice in our early years setting:

A unique child
Every child is unique. They are consistently learning and can be resilient, capable, confident and self-assured.

Positive relationships
Children learn to be strong and independent through positive relationships.

Enabling environments
Children learn and develop well in environments where their experiences respond to their individual needs and there is a strong partnership between practitioners and yourself as a parent and/or carer.

Children learn and develop in different ways and at different rates
The framework covers the education and care of your child within the early years setting, including children with additional needs.

Characteristics of Effective Learning

St Mary’s nursery use the CoEL as a primary focus in planning and guiding children’s activities, practitioners must reflect on the different ways that children learn, and then reflect these in their practice. We believe a child’s individual learning characteristic will determine the way they respond to both the teaching and learning taking place in the environment.

Three characteristics of effective teaching and learning identified by the EYFS are:

• playing and exploring – children investigate and experience things, and ‘have a go’;
• active learning – children concentrate and keep on trying if they encounter difficulties, and enjoy achievements; and
• creating and thinking critically – children have and develop their own ideas, make links between ideas, and develop strategies for doing things.

The focus of the CoEL is on how children learn rather than what they learn i.e. process over outcome. Underpinning the CoEL is the understanding that during their earliest years, children form attitudes about learning that will last a lifetime. Children who receive the right sort of support and encouragement in our EYFS will be creative, and adventurous learners throughout their lives. Hence, why our priority in nursery is the supportive practitioner, and the environment they provide, need to nurture these CoELs to occur, but without forgetting that children are individuals who bring their own needs, talents and histories to the learning environment.

 

Seven Areas of Learning

Early years learning concentrates on 7 areas split between prime and specific areas of learning.

The prime areas of learning are:

• Communication and Language
• Physical Development
• Personal, Social and Emotional Development

The specific areas of learning are:

• Literacy
• Mathematics
• Understanding the World
• Expressive Arts and Design

 

Funding

Children are eligible to begin their free nursery entitlement the term after their third birthday. Please see the table below for a breakdown.

Your child will be entitled to the Universal 15 hour funding the term after their 3rd birthday: –

You can apply outside of these recommended dates but you might not receive your code in time. You must have a valid code by the end of the month before a new term starts.

Check with your childcare provider to find out the exact date your 30 hours free childcare starts.

You have to reconfirm your eligibility every 3 months. If you apply more than 3 months before the term starts, you’ll have to reconfirm your eligibility in your account in order to keep your code valid.

Application packs can be requested by contacting the school office.

Nursery Session Times and Charging 

In line with new government guidelines, we are updating our nursery session structure and associated charges to ensure transparency and compliance.

• 15 hours provision: 8:45am – 11:45am

• 30 hours provision: 8:45am – 2:45pm

There will also be an optional pick-up at 3:00pm.
For children staying between 2:45pm – 3:00pm, there will be a £2 charge, which covers the cost of supervision.

These updates reflect the latest guidance and help us ensure that our provision remains fair, consistent, and sustainable for all families.

PLEASE NOTE: Nursery attendance at St Mary’s Catholic Primary School DOES NOT guarantee your child a place here for their Reception year. Reception places must be applied for through North Yorkshire County Council Admissions. Further information can be found on our admissions page.