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Welcome to our

Early Years unit

For a small child there is no real difference between playing and

learning, between the things he or she does ‘just for fun’ and things that

are ‘educational’. The child learns while living and any part of living that

is enjoyable is also play.

-Penelope Leach

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My Teachers

Miss Neuschaffer (Early Years Leader)

Mrs. Wilkinson Mrs. Wyatt

Mrs. Negus Mrs. Salter Mrs. Q

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My Classroom

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What can I learn?

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My Colours

Can you say the name of each colour? Show me where each colour is on the

rainbow!

Can you see each colour in your house or outside?

Show an adult.

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My Numbers

Can you count to 5?

Can you write the numbers: 1, 2, 3, 4 and 5?

Perhaps, you can add these apples together…

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The Boring Bits for our Grown-ups! About Us Getting children off to the right start. That’s what we are all about! Outstanding quality child care promoting positive, nurturing relationships in a school where high quality education and the needs of the individual are at the heart of all we strive to achieve. Westwood Academy is an 'Outstanding' (Ofsted 2017) educational establishment offering education to children aged from 2 years old. The nursery is housed in the main school building as part of the Early Years unit which makes transitions into the later stages of education really straightforward for the children and their parents. Our Early Years team work collaboratively with the school, the School Early Years lead and the Senior Leadership team to enable clear progression from their starting points through to their school entry. These collaborative efforts are one of our Multi-academy trust values which we always adhere to in order to achieve the best outcomes for your children!

Session Times Sessions run from Monday to Friday:

AM session

Dropping off: 8.45 a.m.

Pick up: 11.45 a.m.

PM session

Dropping off: 12.15 p.m.

Pick up: 3.15p.m

Lunchtime session: 11:45am-12:15pm

Lunchtime Club We also offer a lunchtime provision for 3 year olds, where they engage with the rest of the

school in the dining room at lunch time whilst having their packed lunches (provided by

yourself) – again making the transition into school much easier. This provision is available in

limited numbers on a first come, first served basis. The lunchtime provision costs £3.50. The

children will be sitting with trained staff, learning vital skills for school, combined with the

social and practical elements of the lunch set-up, within the school environment.

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Uniform Whilst not statutory, we do encourage children to wear a variation of the school uniform. We have found that this makes the children feel part of the school and enables a smooth transition into their reception classes. Our uniform is as follows:

Light Blue polo t-shirt

Grey skirt/jogging bottoms/shorts

Grey pinafore (over the top of blue polo t-shirt)

Light Blue Gingham dress

Light blue Gingham children’s playsuit

Our Admissions Policy We aim to make the setting accessible to children and families from all sections of the local

community, ensuring that we are open, fair and clear in our communications and procedures.

Procedures

• We accept applications from all children who are over 18 months old.

• An admissions form (available on our website or from the office) must be completed to enter

your child onto our waiting list.

• The following criteria will be applied to admission applications:-

1) 3 year old looked after children.1

2) 3 Year old Children with a sibling2 who have attended or are currently attending the

nursery.

3) 3 Year old in catchment

4) 3 year old

5) 2 year old with funding and sibling

6) 2 year old with funding and catchment

7) 2 year old with funding

8) 2 year old with sibling/staff children

9) 2 year old in catchment

10) 2 year old

• The proximity of the child’s home to the school will be taken as a tie-breaker, if necessary, in

any category.

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• In the unlikely event of a tie, in regards to distance, the tie-breaker will consist of a name

being pulled out of a hat by a neutral party. This is the preferred method of Essex Local

Authority.

• Applications will be worked through on a first come first served basis.

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Looked after Children will be allocated a place providing an application is received by the closing date. A ‘looked after child’ or a child who

was previously looked after but immediately after being looked after, became subject to an adoption, residence or special guardianship

order. A looked after child is a child who is (a) in the care of a local authority, or (b) being provided with accommodation by a local

authority in the exercise of their social services functions of the Children’s Act 1989.

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LA Sibling Definition applies.

• Admission to the nursery class does not constitute a promise of a place in the Academy for

Reception year nor does it preclude the admission of a child to any other Infant or Primary

school in the area.

• Medical Circumstances – exceptional medical circumstance (supported by recent Professional

medical evidence) may override the above. This evidence will need to demonstrate that the

nursery is the only suitable provision in the area. The directors will meet to review the evidence

and determine whether a child will be given priority, within 30 days of the application being

received.

The Full Admissions Policy for the Nursery can be found on the school website.

Funding, funding forms and how it

works… We are able to offer 3 and year 4 year olds their entitled 15 hours of funding. We are also

pleased to be able to offer up to 30 hours of extended provision. Unfortunately, we are

currently unable to offer the lunchtime provision as part of the funded hours. We are also

able to accept 2-year-old children eligible for funding and any privately funded (or fee

paying) children, at a cost of £19.50 per 3-hour session. We accept childcare vouchers as

part of your work placed scheme. If you have any queries, please contact us directly for

advice or assistance.

Payment and Invoices Private funding will be invoiced, and will need to be paid, a half term in advance.

Unfortunately, we are unable to refund payment for any missed sessions. You should expect to

receive the corresponding invoices within the first two weeks of the half term.

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The Early Years Foundation Stage The (EYFS) sets standards for the learning, development and care of your child from birth to 5 years old which we follow at Westwood Academy. All schools and Ofsted-registered early years providers must follow the EYFS. The areas of learning:

• communication and language • physical development • personal, social and emotional development • literacy • mathematics • understanding the world • expressive arts and design

Your child will mostly be learning through play at our Nursery, where we aim to deliver rich, varied and fun learning through questioning and exploration. In our Westwood Academy Early Years unit, we plan and provide a range of activities which help children make progress in each of the areas of learning and development. In many of these activities children decide how they will use the activity, following our in the moment philosophy; in others an adult takes the lead in encouraging the children engage in the learning jobs so that they are able to enrich their learning.

Ongoing Assessment

We create in the moment opportunities which are linked to your child’s interests. Children are regularly observed by their key workers and evidence of their development are recorded in our Learning journeys and Maths books. We use the early learning goals, which can be found in the Early Years framework. (Development matters) We make half termly assessment summaries of children's progress using our online evidence and tracking systems to form a record of your child’s achievements. We believe that parents and carers know their children best and we ask them to contribute to our assessments by sharing information about what their children like to do at home, and how between us we can further support learning and development. We are able to use any photos, anecdotes and experiences that your child may have in their learning journeys.

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When you start… When your child first starts, you will be welcome to stay for a 10-15-minute settling in period.

We politely encourage Parents and Carers to entrust your children into the care of highly

skilled Early Years staff, supported by the school Early Years Leader and Senior Leadership

Team. Anxiety and excitement are all natural parts of a child’s development and we work

closely with you to fully settle your child into school life.

On your first day, please provide the Early Years staff with 4 passport photos, to be used for

self-registration and coat pegs etc.

We will ask Parents to provide us with a secure password for the collection of your child,

should it not be yourself or a regular member of the family collecting them at the end of the

session.

Toilet Talk Please Tick the relevant box

Does your child wear a nappy? (please make sure your child comes in a fresh clean nappy, as

we will only change them if required, during the sessions.)

Does your child need support with potty training? (please supply lots of spare clothes)

Toilet trained.

Contact Details To come and take a look, or simply apply for a place at the Westwood Academy Early Years

unit, please contact us directly and we’d love to help:

Email: nursery@westwoodacademy.org

Phone: 01702 559467

And Finally… Thank you! We couldn’t be more excited that you have chosen to come and look around or

speak to us about joining Westwood Early Years unit. We look forward to meeting you and

working with you from the beginning of your child’s exciting journey into education…

Please take the time to complete the ‘All about me’ sheet with your child so we can find

out a little bit more about your little one …

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All About Me…