Welcome to Uplands Nursery, which consists of two rooms and a generous-sized outside learning area. One room is set up for our younger ‘Acorns,’ who are children aged two or three. The other room is set up for our older ‘Oaks,’ who are children aged three or four and will be starting Reception the following academic year. The outside space has numerous mixed-age resources for children to explore.
Children spend time both in their own age-specific room, whilst also mixing with the other class throughout the day. We believe that this ‘family-style’ of mixed ages helps the younger children learn from older pupils and it also helps our Oaks to develop a sense of responsibility and membership of a community. Additionally, having multi-age appropriate activities ensures we can provide reasonable adjustments for children with additional needs.
We have the flexibility to offer a mixture of morning, afternoon, or full-day sessions through the term-time opening hours. Please see our document on a typical day for further details. If your child stays for lunch, they are to bring a nut-free packed lunch with them.
The Nursery is run by a qualified teacher, who acts as the overall ‘Keyperson’ for all children, supported by a team of experienced Early Years Practitioners. This is our current team:
| Role | Name |
|---|---|
| Nursery Teacher | Ms Baker |
| Nursery Teaching Assistants | Miss Eastwell |
| Miss Hunter | |
| Miss Mackenzie | |
| Miss Skinner | |
| Miss Wake |
www.gov.uk/government/publications/development-matters--2
At Uplands Nursery, we value that every child is unique and brings with them their own individual needs and interests. We will always strive to ‘meet’ and begin a child’s learning journey with us at whatever stage of development they are at. During the summer term before they start Reception, we focus more on getting children ‘ready for school’ and work with Reception teachers to ensure a smooth transition when they leave.
Thank you for taking the time to find out more about Uplands Nursery. Below is a helpful acronym which encapsulates our Nursery’s values and underpins our curriculum (and yes, we do love mud and messy play 😊).
| Letter | Statement |
|---|---|
| M | Meet the child where they are at |
| U | Appreciate that each child is unique |
| D | Use Development Matters to monitor stages of development |
| C | Aim for children to become effective communicators |
| A | Mixed-age Nursery, creating a nurturing ‘family-style’ community |
| M | Use of White Rose Maths to develop a strong foundation of early maths skills |
| P | Helping all children make progress towards achieving the Early Learning Goals |
Nursery Daily Structure
| Time | Activity |
|---|---|
| 08:40 – 08:50 | Self-registration and age-specific activities in Acorns or Oaks room*. |
| 09:00 | Oaks children have whole-class time to say good morning, discuss the day/weather and to talk about our visual timetable and planned activities for the day. Acorns have a similar, but shorter, session. |
| Child-initiated learning time (free-play). Adult-led groups and interventions. |
|
| 09:50 | Story (weekly theme) Snack (fruit/vegetables and milk/water are offered). |
| 10:15 | Child-initiated learning time. Adult-led groups and interventions. |
| 11:30 | Story (weekly theme) and/or Nursery Rhymes |
| 11:45 | End of the morning session (some children arrive/go home). Packed lunches. |
| 12:30 | Afternoon session starts. Registration and discussion of the afternoon’s activities, talk through the visual timetable. |
| 12:40 | Child-initiated learning time. Adult-led groups and interventions. Nap Time offered for younger children. |
| 14:45 – 15:00 | Tidy up time. |
| 15:00 – 15:10 | Story/Nursery Rhymes. |
| 15:10 – 15:30 | Home time. |
Acorns class is for two-year-olds and younger three-year-olds. Oaks class is for three and four-year-olds who are due to start Reception in the following academic year.
