St. Ursula’s Catholic Primary School & Nursery
Nursery ~ September 2025
“With
God at the heart of our St Ursula’s family, we welcome all as we learn and grow together.”
Head Teacher’s welcome
Dear Parents and Carers,
It is a great pleasure to welcome you to St Ursula’s Catholic Primary School. St Ursula’s is a happy and successful school where “With God at the heart of our St Ursula’s family, we welcome all as we learn and grow together”.
In our school, we have happy, hardworking children, dedicated staff and supportive parents and Governing Body. We have the highest aspirations for all our children and through our partnership with parents we aim for them all our children become the best learners that they can be.
We welcome you as parents and carers, we thank you for entrusting your child to us, and we look forward to a happy and successful partnership over the coming years.
Kind regards,
Mr Ashburn Headteacher
Welcome to the Nursery at St Ursula’s Catholic Primary School.
We hope that the information that follows will be useful as you support your child in preparing for joining the Nursery.
It is important to note that we have a staggered approach to starting at Nursery. This is to allow the children to settle into school and become familiar with their new environment in smaller groups which gradually increase in size.
It also means that the Nursery children do not all start at the same time.
Parents/Carers will be asked to book Stay & Play sessions on different days starting Wednesday 3rd September. Full time sessions will commence on Tuesday 16th September.
During the first session, you will be asked to come into the Nursery with your child and stay with them for an hour to help them to become familiar with the Nursery setting. During the second session, parents will be asked to stay only if the Nursery staff feel the child isn’t settled enough. If the child is settled, we would ask that parents leave and then return promptly at the end of the short session. You may even be asked to stay
The children will then attend a shorter session on their own, before their usual sessions commence.
A letter will be sent to parents/carers towards the end of June / beginning of July indicating when the child should attend their shorter session without a parent / carer.
Nursery life:
As a Catholic school, Religious Education is at the heart of our school curriculum. Religious Education, which focuses on developing an understanding of Catholicism and faith in God, forms part of our weekly timetable.
We start and end of each day in prayer and, when possible, we attend to Mass at St Dominic’s Church at different times during the year.
Please help your child to make the sign of the cross before and after prayers.
A typical Nursery day:
Morning Session: 8:35am – 11:45am
(Doors open at 8.35am and all pupils must be in school by 8.45am.)
Afternoon Session: 12:30pm – 3:30pm
Full Time Session: 8:35am – 3.30pm
(Doors open at 8.35am and all pupils must be in school by 8.45am)
• The start of the Nursery year is a very exciting time for both parents and children. At St Ursula’s Catholic Primary School children are offered the very best start to their education by being provided with rich opportunities and experiences. Throughout the year, the children have fun, make friends, learn and develop at a pace matched to each child's stage of development. We work hard to foster positive relationships with parents and value just how important these partnerships are. Right from the start, we endeavour to ensure that caring, nurturing and warm relationships are developed between all members of staff and the children in our care. We promote calm, positive interactions with all children in order to enable them to quickly grow in confidence and independence.
• We encourage children to take risks, be curious and explore. We want them to become resilient individuals who are able to problem solve and persevere with tasks even when they find them a challenge. By doing this, we can rest assured that each child will be equipped with the skills to be a life-long, independent and effective learner.
• Our curriculum is based on the framework for the Early Years Foundation Stage (EYFS) and we deliver this through a play based approach. The curriculum is organised in a way which meets each child's individual needs, interests and fascinations, resulting in us planning 'in the moment' and extending their learning experiences straight away.
Uniform
Children wear a uniform to school each day.
All items of clothing must be clearly marked with the child’s name.
The names on clothing items must be checked regularly to ensure that they haven’t washed out.
School bags
other bags are not permitted.
Please do not attach key rings or toys to the bags as this makes the bags too bulky to fit into the storage crates that are used in class.
Write the child’s name on the outside of the flap on the bag as this helps the children to find their bags with ease. (Name only).
Children may not bring any toys to school in their bags.
Nursery Uniform
* Shoes: Flat black trainers with Velcro fastenings to be worn – no laces. Trainers should be predominantly black.
* The children will need a waterproof coat as they will play outside every day, irrespective of the weather.
* Please send a spare set of named clothing into school for the children to be changed into if they wet themselves.
* Children may not wear any jewellery – this includes ear rings and watches. – Please do not have ears pierced just before starting school – this should be done well enough in advance to remove the ear rings by September. Plastic retainers may be worn.
Toilets
Although some children might still have an occasional accident when starting school, children should be fully toilet trained. Should this not be the case, please speak to Mrs Butler (SENCO) / Mrs Kent (Deputy SENCO) before leaving today as an Intimate Care plan will need to be put in place.
Please familiarise children with using the toilets in different settings - this should be done regularly before they start school as some children are reluctant to use toilets that are different to the toilets that they have at home.
Remind the children to flush the toilet after use. Some children don’t like the noise that the toilet makes when it is flushed. Helping them to get used to the sound at home makes the transition to school easier.
Please don’t send flushable wipes into school – they take longer to break down than toilet paper and put systems at risk of being clogged up.
Ensure that children know how to wipe bottoms independently as staff are unable to do this.
*If children are inclined to wet themselves (wee / water play), they will need to be changed. Work at developing independent toileting over Summer holidays but also independent changing.
Each child will receive a form which must be completed and returned to school giving consent for staff to change children. If this form is not returned, Staff will be unable to change the child and the parent will have to come into school to change a child should they wet themselves.
* If children are inclined to wet themselves, we would advise that a complete set of spare uniform be sent into school for children to be changed into. These items of clothing must be named and should be checked regularly to ensure that they still fit.
Snack and lunch
• All children must have a water bottle in school with them each day. The child’s name must be clearly visible on the bottle. The bottle may only contain water (no squash, flavoured water or sparkling water).
• Fruit for Snack Time is provided. Snacks must not be brought from home for Snack Time.
• Milk for under 5’s is free. (Information to follow).
• As we are a nut-free school, no nuts or items containing nuts may be included in the children’s packed lunches.
• The children will have their lunch in the Dinner Hall. As they are allocated a specific lunch slot, please make sure that the children are not overwhelmed by having too much food or too much choice in their lunch boxes.
Getting ready for school
Useful skills to practice with your child in preparation for Nursery include:
• Support language development by regularly talking to your child – less screen time.
• NHS Start for Life – Early Learning & Development.
• https://www.nhs.uk/start-for-life/early-learning-development/
• https://www.nhs.uk/start-for-life/toddler/learning-to-talk/learning-to-talk-3-to-5-years/#video-talk-to-each-other-when-out-and-about
• HENRY Programme – supporting families with helpful hints about developing healthier lifestyles, including tips on food, sleep, screen time & dealing with challenges. https://www.henry.org.uk/
Support children in developing their independence before starting Nursery. Skills to promote and encourage:
Feeding themselves independently.
Saying short prayers; making the sign of the cross;
Attending Mass during the year;
Using the toilet independently; If children are likely to wet themselves, please send a full set of spare uniform in a bag for changing. Consent to change children form included in pack. Completed form must be given to class teachers. If not completed & returned, Staff will not be able to change child, parent will be called to change child.
Washing and drying their hands;
Blowing and wiping their own nose and throwing the tissue into the bin;
Taking their jumper off, turning it the right way around and putting the jumper on;
Putting on their own coat;
Putting on and taking off their own shoes;
Play turn-taking games;
Recognising their own names;
Looking at books independently;
Developing an awareness of colours, shapes and numbers in their environment;
Drawing, painting, cutting;
Tidying up toys.
Going home at the end of the day
• It is important that you talk to your child regularly about starting Nursery.
• Explain that they will stay at school to learn and play with the other children.
• Assure them that someone will come back to collect them at the end of each day.
• Make sure that they know who will be collecting them at the end of the day. Being unsure about collection arrangements can unsettle children.
• Think about a password that you can give the School to be used if anyone other than yourself is to collect the child.
• Please let the Staff know if anyone other than yourself is to collect the child. The person who is collecting the child will have to provide Staff with the password that you have given us.
• We are not able to release the children to anyone under the age of 16.
Working in partnership
* SENCO introduction – SEND, EAL,
~ Toileting (Intimate Care Plan required if children are still in nappies).
~ Feeding (children should now be feeding themselves and should not be drinking milk from bottles - effect on speech).
~ Children should be walking – not carried / being pushed in buggies – need to develop stamina & gross motor skills in preparation for school.
~ Working together and communication
* Home School Support Worker
*Breakfast Club & After School Club – unable to accommodate Nursery children due to staffing ratios.
*Admissions documents will be sent out electronically. Must be completed electronically & returned to school by 4th July.
(See Office if you think you will have difficulty submitting these documents electronically).
*Top-up funding – parents to contact Mrs Homes / School Office for details & costs.
*Sign up for Stay & Play sessions (see sheets).
