Welcome to Humberston Cloverfields Academy Nursery

The Nursery forms part of Early Years unit and is the first stage of learning at Humberston Cloverfields Academy. Our open plan and purpose-built unit was opened in November 2020 and was designed to be an inviting and exciting place for children to start their education at Cloverfields. Our Early Years team are passionate and dedicated teachers and Early Years Practitioners who are committed to giving children the very best start in a safe caring environment, where they are able to progress socially and emotionally, and develop a life-long love of learning.

                                                                                 

Sessions, times and fees

Every child is entitled to the 15 hours per week Free Early Education funding provided by the government from the term after their third birthday. Some families may be eligible for 30 hours Free Early Education funding, which equates to a full week at nursery. Information for you to ascertain your eligibility online is available at - https://www.gov.uk/help-with-childcare-costs/free-childcare-and-education-for-2-to-4-year-olds.

It is strongly advised that parents should undertake this eligibility check as soon as possible to access funding within specific dates and inform the school promptly. If your child is only entitled to the 15 hours, parents and carers have the option to pay for additional sessions at Humberston Cloverfields Academy.

 

The school Nursery is open Monday – Friday, term time.

Morning session – 9:00-12:00 (Children can arrive from 8:50).

Afternoon session – 12:30-3:30 (Doors open from 3:20).

If you wish to pay for additional top-up sessions, each 3 hour session costs £10.00. Humberston Cloverfields Academy uses My Child At School (MCAS) for parent payments and communication. Once your child joins the Nursery you will be able to pay for additional sessions, lunches or trips using this app. Any missed sessions still require payment and we politely ask that to secure sessions you pay at the beginning of each term.

Child care vouchers and government child payment support schemes are accepted. Please contact the school office to enquire about paying via vouchers.

‘Cloverfields Club’ is a wrap around care provided by school. Breakfast club is available before school 7:45-8:45am and after-school club is available each day, 3:30-5:00pm. Wrap around clubs can be booked through the My Child at School app.

The 15/30 hours funding children receive cannot be used for club fees.

 

How to apply for a place at Nursery

To enquire about a place for your child please call the office on 01472 500217 and we will take your details. We invite all new starters to visit to the Humberston Cloverfields Nursery classroom where you can meet the staff, other children and see the wonderful environment where your child will learn and play. You will also be offered a tour of the academy so you can see the learning journey from Nursery through to Year 6.

 

Our Aim and Objectives

We are an Inclusive school and we welcome each child and their family, providing a caring, friendly, safe and stimulating environment. We work to build positive relationships between ourselves, the children and their parents and carers to establish a sense of belonging. This supports trust and mutual respect, and enables children to become confident; engaging in ‘school life’ with their peers and practitioners and becoming independent, resilient and positive learners.

We are a friendly setting and aim to work closely with families to identify your child’s learning needs, support any potential difficulties and to involve you in your child’s learning and development. Practitioners recognise that each child is unique and will develop and learn at their own rate and in their own way, therefore this is taken into account when planning and providing experiences and activities.

Throughout the Early Years unit, a fun, enjoyable curriculum is delivered by way of learning through play and offering opportunities to engage in varieties of experiences and activities with a combination of adult directed and child initiated activities. Equal opportunity enables all children to partake and enables them to become confident and independent in their thinking and learning. 

 

 

Learning and Development

We follow the Early Years Foundation Stage (EYFS), which continues until the end of your child’s reception year. The EYFS consists of three elements:

 

The Early Learning Goals

The Early Learning Goals centre around are seven areas of learning and development that are crucial for igniting children’s curiosity, enthusiasm and building their capacity to learn, form relationships and thrive.

The Prime Areas

The three prime areas are personal, social and emotional development, communication, and language and physical development.

The Specific Areas

Children are supported in the four specific areas, through which the prime areas are strengthened and applied. The specific areas are literacy, mathematics, understanding the world and expressive arts and design.

At nursery we listen, observe, note and have professional discussions to plan for each child’s next steps, enabling all children to develop and achieve at their own rate. Moments of learning are shared with parents via class dojo, the website and Twitter.

 

 

Lunches

Children who attend for a full day either need to order a school meal or bring a packed lunch. There is a varied menu and parents need to select their dinner options a week in advance using the My Child at School app. The cost of a meal is £2.25.

 

Packed lunch advice

  • Please provide a lunch box/bag and bottle of water with your child’s name clearly marked on the outside. Any food that is not eaten after gentle encouragement will be sent home so you know what your child has eaten.
  • As we are unable to store your child’s lunch in a fridge, ice packs are advisable.
  • Lunch boxes and water bottles are stored on a trolley in the entrance at the beginning of the morning session.
  • Grapes must be cut in half lengthways to reduce the risk of choking.
  • Sweets are not allowed.
  • Foods containing nuts are strongly discouraged due to nut allergies.

 

School Uniform

All children in nursery should wear school uniform. This promotes a sense of belonging and that we are all part of Humberston Cloverfields Academy.

We realise that for young children, school trousers can be tricky to pull up and down without help and so children in nursery are allowed to wear black or grey jogging bottoms, trousers or skirt. A white polo top and school jumper or cardigan should be worn, and these must be named.

Children should come to school in their PE kit on their PE days. This includes a green t-shirt, cloverfields hooded jumper, shorts or jogging bottoms and trainers. Children should wear school shoes were possible. School jumpers, cardigans and logoed PE kit can be purchased from Greenswear or Uniform Direct, with the exception of the green PE kit which only Uniform Direct are currently able to supply.