Children's Hour Nursery

General information

NURSERY PROGRAMME

BABIES 6 WEEKS TO 2 YEARS

At our nursery, the environment for babies is welcoming, warm, safe and secure - with staff that understand and respect the individual needs of each child. A wide variety of discovery and play equipment helps encourage each stage of your child’s development.
Our staff will work closely with parents to provide daily feedback on your child’s activity, feeding and sleep patterns and try and keep within any set routine you may have established.
The early years are crucial in helping each child gain self confidence and we use the Pre Birth to Three guidance from the Scottish Government and advice and direction from West Dunbartonshire Council to support children’s learning.
Children’s language is encouraged through a wide variety of sensory and perceptual experiences - in conversation, listening to and observing the world around them.
Their curiosity and interests are aroused by playing with basic materials, which offer opportunities to compare and categorise (i.e. treasure basket and heuristic play), thus encouraging them to communicate with others.
Your child’s body will become more coordinated through a wide range of physical activities with some of these including push along toys, movement to music, small construction and sensory equipment.
Your child will also be involved in activities with sand, water, play dough and arts and crafts
When possible children will be taken outdoors to play and explore their environment.
A weekly plan of activities is on display on the parents notice board, there is also a daily diary for each child regarding feeding, changing, and sleep patterns which is passed to parents for their information, comments and advice

CHILDREN 2 -3 YEARS

As your child develops he/she becomes aware of the world around them and we provide a variety of activities and outings to encourage this including looking at the changing seasons and different cultures in our world.
More challenge and early literacy and numeracy skills are introduced within the nursery when taking part in activities which include creative play, outdoor play, music and dance, arts and crafts, speech development (telling stories and singing songs), dramatic and imaginative play.
Through these experiences your child will progress well at nursery and start to build stronger relationships with their peers.

CHILDREN 3 - 5 YEARS

The range of activities offered to children at this age is again extended to take into account their development across a wide range of areas including creative play, music, drama, arts & crafts, baking, and poetry and storytelling and indoor and outdoor sports and activities. The children will also be involved in project work/topics which follow their interest and enable them to direct their own learning. Science and ICT experiences are brought into the weekly curriculum to enable problem solving and creative experimentation. The Nursery also offers a range of additional activities and workshops during the year including drama, sports and movement, music and languages. In this room the children are able to use the library and quiet corner which has a large range of books for all ages, as well as computer facilities and a designated ‘writing area’ with a wide selection of materials and resources.
As the Children approach their transition to Primary School we provide regular pre-school sessions to prepare for this fun but challenging change. This will include stimulating numeracy and literacy activities within a variety of contexts and is supported by Home Learning Bags which the children enjoy taking home to share. Children also get support from an early year’s teacher Jo Catterson, who visits the nursery on a weekly basis to support the children and their development.
We want your child to reach their full learning potential and be a happy, confident child, prepared for school, and we achieve this using regular observation and assessment of each child’s abilities and careful forward planning to reflect the four capacities of the national Curriculum for Excellence.
Where children would benefit from additional support we will work with parents to put GIRFEC plans into place to support their development and learning.
On leaving the Nursery, each child will receive a Transition Record to ensure that the school and parents have all the appropriate information to help support them as they settle into school life.

OUTDOOR PLAY

Outdoor play is encouraged throughout the nursery with resources available for all ages. Children are taken outside at least twice a day to get some fresh air, run around and explore. Learning is taken into the outdoor area in a wide variety of ways and older children use local community areas to extending these experiences. .
Wet weather all in one suits are provided for the children but parents are asked to provide appropriate footwear, labeled hats and gloves (for cold weather) and hats and sunscreen for the summer.

ECO SCHOOLS
Children are involved in a range of experiences to broaden their knowledge of how to care for our environment. We have an allotment within the Community Garden in Faifley which the children visit on a regular basis to look after their plants and vegetables. The nursery has been awarded Green Flag status from Eco Schools Scotland.

PROUD SPONSORS

It is important for us as part of the local community to show support for our local clubs. We are happy to be sponsor’s of The Antonine football 2010 team. They currently have 24 young players training with them and they were over the moon with their new strips. This club helps to develop children's football skills, be active and show them the importance of work as part of a team. We wish them well and will keep you updated on how the team is getting on.