Hello and welcome to our

Introduction to Nursery Page

Terrific Turtles 

🐢🌟🐢🌟🐢

Thank you for your interest in our Nursery.  

We currently offer 3 and 4 years old nursery places for either 15 or 30 hours dependent upon your entitlement.  Timings for these sessions are as follows:

15 Hours       

Every Day       

Mornings       8.45am to 11.45am  or

Afternoons    12.15pm to 3.15pm

30 Hours     

Monday - Thursday    8.45am  – 3.15pm

Friday                        8.45am  – 12.15pm

Further details on 30 Hour Places can be found by following the link below:

How to Apply

• Print and complete the Application Form below and return either direct to school or email to enquiries@bracebridge.lincs.sch.uk 

• Telephone school and we will be happy to discuss and complete an application with you.

• Arrange a visit and we will discuss your application whilst you are here.  Unfortunately we are unable to offer visits to school at the present time due to the Covid-19 situation.

Please find below a poster outlining the Early Years Alliance’s Lets Get Ready For School And Nursery sessions.  These sessions have been developed by the Early Years Alliance to support families with transitions into school or nursery.  The sessions are delivered by an experienced Early Years Educator and each session will focus on a key skill that will help children to make smooth transitions and support them with future learning.  The educators will work closely with parents to support their understanding of these skills and give them ideas to continue the learning at home.  The sessions will start after the Easter Holidays and continue throughout the Summer holidays.  They will be delivered at every Children’s Centre.

Thank you

Amisha Stanney

Early Years Improvement  Advisor – Lead for Transition

Lincolnshire County Council

Early Years & Childcare Support

Myle Cross Centre

Macaulay Drive

Lincoln

LN2 4EL

Phone: 01522 552752

Website: www.lincolnshire.gov.uk/eycc

We understand that there may be a lot of questions from parents as they begin to prepare for Nursery and we understand that at the moment it is particularly difficult for parents as we are unable to do all of our usual meetings and visits.

To help ease your worries and concerns we have tried to provide answers to some of the typical questions we get asked.

How can I help my child have the best start in Nursery?

First of all, you are your child's first teacher and you have already been doing great things together. Nursery is just a new step on your journey. From school's point of view we would love it if every parent did the following:

• Provide a good routine in the mornings so that children are not late or hungry.
• Make sure your child knows who is picking them up after nursery.
• Read and share lots of  books and stories with your child.
• Start to count with your child and talk to them about numbers.
• Keep updated via the school website.
• Talk to them as much as you can. If they can't say it then they won't read or write it!
• Make sure your child gets enough sleep. They will find Nursery very tiring.
• Be understanding of any difficult behaviour at home. Children can find starting nursery tiring and challenging and home is often where they choose to show this. Ask for support if you feel you need it.

How do children learn in Nursery?

Most of what we do is very practical and play based but we do have daily adult led activities for letters and numbers.

You can follow your child's learning on Tapestry which is an online learning journal we will set up for you. Information about this can be found below in the Parent's Information Documents.

Where do I drop off my child each day?

At present due to social distancing, we are asking parents to 2m distance queue at the school gates and staff will greet and bring the children into Nursery.

Usually, parents bring children into the Nursery cloakroom area, hang up their coats and bags and then bring their children to the classroom door.  A member of staff will be on the classroom door to greet your child and show them into the classroom where another member of staff will be waiting and welcoming activities await.  Parents then leave via the cloakroom door. 

Where do I pick up my child?

At their classroom door in the playground. The teacher will open the door and let each child out in turn to you. Please stand back so we can see you properly and so that we can see each child reaches their grown-up safely.

What time does school start and finish?

This depends upon your child's session, Nursery timings are shown above.

Can I drop my child off earlier?

Breakfast Club is available from 8am. There is information about Breakfast Club below.

Do you provide after-school childcare?

This is unfortunately not available for Nursery children but starts from Reception onwards.

What do I need to provide for my child?

• We encourage all children to wear our school uniform (details below) – at the moment due to COVID19 we are not enforcing school uniform. We would advise you to wait until nearer the time to purchase items of uniform.
• A warm waterproof coat – we go outside everyday unless it is pouring with rain.
• A named water bottle containing water only please.  We are proud of our Healthy School status which promotes drinking water and not juice or squash
• A change of pants, socks (or several) and clothes is useful as most children will have the odd toileting accident at some point. These should be kept in your child's bag on their cloakroom peg.

We cannot stress enough that all items of clothing should be clearly marked with your child’s name – sew on or iron on printed labels are best.

We will not have a chance of finding lost jumpers or cardigans that are not clearly labelled.

What will school provide?

• A book bag
• A healthy fruit or vegetable snack and drink of milk daily

What happens if my child has a toilet accident?

Wet ones will be dealt with as soon as we know about it and we will discreetly hand you the wet clothes at the end of the day. We will try our best with dirty ones but we may need you to come and clean your child up if they need more than a few baby wipes!  Please wash and return any spare clothes school provides as soon as possible as we have a very limited supply.

Of course, we will not change your child if you have not given consent for us to do this. Consent forms are in the pack which you will be given when your child starts school.

My child is not fully toilet trained yet. What should I do?

First of all, please do not worry. We do know that some children find this trickier than others so please let us know on the day that your child visits if this is the case. We will always support toilet training in any way we can. We prefer that children wear pants to school if possible (provide lots of spares and some spare clothing and wipes) or your child can wear pull-ups. 

Whilst we will provide support with toilet training, this is something that parents need to do.

How will I tell you who is picking up my child?

• There will always be a member of staff available in the morning, please tell them.
• or Telephone the school before the end of the nursery session.

What happens if my child is crying when I drop them off?

We're used to it! Most children will cry at dropping off time at some point in the year as tiredness gets to them or they realise that they have to come to Nursery everyday!  We will ask you to try and release yourself from them ASAP and we will help you with this by trying to distract them with stickers etc so that you can get out of the playground area. Please do not hang around, we promise you that they will be ok within minutes. We will call as soon as we can to let you know they have settled. We do understand how upsetting this can be for all concerned but from experience we know that, usually, the best thing to do is to hand your child over to a member of staff, say see you later and go.

My child does not speak much English yet, is this an issue?

We love that many of our children come from a variety of cultures. We are not concerned at all if your child is not speaking much English. However, the following English words and phrases are useful when they start nursery and it would be a good idea to practise them at home:

• Hello
• My name is...
• Toilet, please
• Help, please

Will my child come home really dirty after a day at school?

We will use paint, chalk, water, sand, mud and the outside area can be dusty, so be prepared! We do provide aprons and water-proofs but children will be children and inevitably there will be some mess. Fortunately, we don't expect a pristine uniform after the first morning so don't put that pressure on yourself! Just know that they were having fun while they were learning. Rest assured that staff often get messy too and find that soaking clothes in cold water and using a stain remover usually gets most things out.

When will I hear about how my child is doing?

We regularly upload photographs and observations to your child's Tapestry Journal for you to see and comment on. There are further details about tapestry below. We have a parent/teacher consultation evenings to discuss how your child is settling in. We will always speak to you and update you before then and staff are always available to discuss matters or to make an appointment for longer discussions. 

Great things to do before your child starts Nursery:

• Practise going to the toilet independently,
• Practise putting on socks and shoes independently,
• Learn how to put on and fasten coats independently. 
• Talk, chat and talk some more.  Language skills are amazing!