Nursery (Age 3-5)

Here at Craigclowan Nursery, learning is fun and every day brings a new adventure under the guidance of our experienced, committed and caring staff.

We provide a healthy balance between free play and a more teacher-directed, structured approach to learning through play, valuing children’s input in planning activities, engendering curiosity within each child and promoting opportunities to explore, progress and flourish at their own pace.

Daily Nursery Routine

Our days consist of a mixture of free flow play, teacher-directed activities, structured play, art and craft sessions and outdoor activities.

We spend time in the Gym Hall on a daily basis where we can use the equipment and apparatus and get lots of exercise. We have Forest Adventure sessions in our amazing forest within the school grounds.  We also have specialist teaching lessons in Gym, Music and French with the Heads of these various departments. The older children have the opportunity to do blocks of swimming lessons and weekly biking skills.

Extra-Curricular Activities

The Nursery children have access to a wide variety of extra-curricular clubs such as Football, Rugby, Hockey, Tennis and Street Dance. These clubs are optional and can be booked at the beginning of each term.

Learning Through Play

Nursery pupils are encouraged to learn through stimulating indoor and outdoor play experiences. Sometimes the play will be planned with key outcomes in mind. At other times the play will be free flowing and led entirely by the interests of the children. We spend lots of time outside every day and are fortunate to have access to a wide variety of outdoor spaces, including a forest area with fairy houses, a garden where we have beds to plan up, a play park, our 'Rainforest' area with a mud kitchen, sandpit and construction area, tennis courts and a variety of grassy fields. All play is valued and children are encouraged to extend and deepen their play experiences. 

Curriculum Areas

The curriculum that is covered in Nursery is broad and varied. The main emphasis is on Literacy, Numeracy and Health and Wellbeing but also encompasses Science, Social Studies, Expressive Arts, Technologies and Religious and Moral Education. We are constantly responding to the needs of the individual and are including appropriate use of challenge and differentiation to extend children further. We encourage choice and self-selection of resources and materials which helps develop independence and problem solving skills.

Topics

The children are involved with planning classroom topics from the start. The topics change each term and are broad and varied. Some examples of recent topics include Outer Space, The Human Body, Rainforest Animals and Dinosaurs.

Home Link Activities

After the children are settled in Nursery, they will each be given a Home Link pocket which goes home twice a week. These small tasks help reinforce partnership with home and helps keeps parents informed with what has been learned and talked about during the week. The home tasks are mainly topic work, phonic sounds/actions, simple writing practice or talk tasks. The children gain a lot of confidence sharing their learning at home and enjoy the Home Link activities.

Tracking Progress

Staff monitor and track each child's progress and discuss next steps during every child's learning experiences meet their individual learning needs. At the end of each day the teachers are on hand to discuss how each child has spent their day. Each individual child has a drawer with their own folder containing a baseline assessment and personal tracking record, along with evidence of their achievements and next steps.

Google Classroom

Once your child starts with us in Nursery, you will have access to our Google Classroom. This is a private space where you can see a snapshot of what we have been doing each day. The classroom is updated daily by 1500.

Local Authority Funding

From January 2021, eligible parents are entitled to the increased 1140 hours of funding. This means that the core hours of a child's day in Nursery (0830 - 1500) are free of charge.

Children can be dropped off from 0815. Childcare will still be available between 1500 and 1800 but these hours will be unfunded and are therefore chargeable.

We will ask you to pre-book any extra hours you require on your admission form. Any pre-booked after school childcare will be charged at a rate of £10 per hour (or part hour thereof) and any ad hoc hours which were not pre-booked will be charged at a rate of £15 per hour (or part hour thereof).

Priority for places at Nursery will be given to those pupils who are taking their full allocation of funded hours at Craigclowan and, in the event that we are over-subscribed for places, priority will given to those continuing their education into the Prep School for Form 1.

Sessions

Morning drop off is between 0815 and 0900 and the teaching day in Nursery ends at 1500.  Extra sessions up to 1800 can be booked on the admission form.  Children attend for a minimum of three days per week.

Breakfast Club provision is available from 0730.

Lunches and Snacks

Children are provided with a delicious, home-cooked, two course lunch in the School dining room each day, regardless of whether they are with us for the morning or the whole day. Due to the possibility of allergic reactions in children, Nursery is a NUT FREE zone. All snacks are provided so do not need to be brought from home. The cost of the lunch and snacks are included.

Main School Integration

Interaction with children and teachers in the Main School is on a daily basis when Nursery pupils join Forms 1 and 2 for lunch in the Dining Hall. Every child attends Music and Gym Teacher sessions and the Head's Friday morning assemblies.

Holiday Clubs

The long school holidays can often be challenging times for parents who want to find suitably interesting and varied supervision for their children. Craigclowan has a holiday club for Nursery children, which means the Nursery will be open for 48 weeks per year from Christmas 2022.  The weeks when the Nursery will be closed will be as follows.

• for two weeks at the end of the Summer holidays (Summer holiday)
• for one week at Christmas (Christmas holiday)
• for one week at Easter (Easter holiday)

The Holiday Club offers a wide range of active fun activities both indoors and outdoors, using the school grounds and facilities on site. The management and staffing of the club is by a member of current Nursery staff, plus additional suitably qualified staff as is required by demand.

Further details and costs can be obtained from the school office, who will also be able to register your child for weekly blocks.