Nursery
To check your eligibility for 30 hours funding for free childcare (15 universal funded hours plus 15 extended hours) please click on this link: - https://www.gov.uk/30-hours-free-childcare
Further details about the Nursery fees can be found in the Nursery Admissions Policy at the bottom of this page.
Nursery application forms are available from the school office should you wish to apply or please do contact Miss Champion—n.champion@thepinesschool.org.uk who will be happy to assist.
Welcome to our Nursery
The Pines School Nursery is open to children the term after they turn 3. We are very lucky to have our own Nursery, where many of our school pupils have started their learning journey. We work closely with parents to develop positive relationships, and love to keep you up to date with what your little ones are learning through Seesaw, an online learning record.
Our Nursery is led by a fully qualified teacher, Mrs Thomas, and a team of highly experienced support staff. We are term time only Nursery and offer the following sessions: -
Morning Session 8.45am - 11.45am
Extended Lunch session 11.45am - 12.15pm
Afternoon Session 12.15pm - 3.15pm
30 Hours (Full Day) 8.45am - 3.15pm
We understand that choosing a nursery for your child can sometimes be a daunting process. Our aim is to create a nurturing environment where children are encouraged to explore their independence, develop a love of learning, and celebrate their individuality.
We follow the Early Years Foundation Stage (EYFS) teaching framework, with all our learning being child-led and explored through play. It’s safe to say that no two days are the same!
There are 7 areas of learning in the Early Years curriculum. They are split into the prime areas and the specific areas.
Prime areas:
- Communication and language.
- Physical development.
- Personal, social and emotional development.
Specific areas:
- Literacy
- Mathematics
- Understanding the World
- Expressive Arts and Design
These areas are developed through:
- Communication and language.
- In group time the children all have a chance to join in discussions and learn new language from stories or new mathematical language, which they then use in their play when they are accessing the Nursery environment.
- Physical development.
- We develop fine motor skills in the creative area with a range of mark making tools and scissors, and in the messy play area with things like tweezers, tongs, and pipettes. In PE, we work on our gross motor skills, and we also have a great range of resources such as balls, hoops, stilts, and the climbing frame to further promote this development in play.
- Personal, social, and emotional development.
- We discuss feelings in group times and use stories and role play to help the children learn how to do things like take turns with their friends. The adults help the children practise these skills in their play until they can do these things independently.
- Literacy
- We teach through stories and have a story at the end of the session every day. The children learn how stories are structured and learn traditional tales such as ‘Three Little Pigs’. We have lots of books in our lovely book corner which the children love to look at and read with an adult during play time.
- Mathematics
- We have a focus each week on a particular area of Maths, for example 2D shapes or measuring. We teach the skills and language relating to the area of Maths in our group time then resources in the environment allow the children to practise the skill on their own. Maths is everywhere, capacity in the water tray, counting the cars in the small world area, comparing the height of our flowers we are growing.
- Understanding the World
- We explore our outside space and learn about plants and minibeasts. We also grow our own plants. The year we have grown strawberries, beans, and tomatoes. We learn about our local area and think about different occupations through our termly topics.
- Expressive Arts and Design
- We learn art skills in group time such as colour mixing. The children can then practise these skills in our creative area which includes painting, mark making, modelling, and collaging. The children also learn songs and dance in our group time sessions. They have musical instruments and a stage area in our outside space where they love to put on shows for us.
We would love you to join our Nursery family, and encourage you to come in and have a look at what we are up to. In order to book a visit, please email Miss Champion at n.champion@thepinesschool.org.uk.
Children attending our Nursery do not automatically qualify for a place in our school Reception class. All parents will have to complete the Bracknell Forest Admissions forms for a Primary School place at the appropriate time.