At The District CE Primary School we have Nursery places for children aged 2-4 years, in our Willow Room (2 year olds) and our Rowan Room (3-4 year olds). All parents and carers are entitled to 15 hours free nursery education per week for their child if aged 3-4 years old, (term time only) and working families are entitled to 30 hours free childcare.  2 year olds who meet the funded criteria can also receive 15 hours free funding per week or 30 hours from Sept 25.

To apply for a place in Nursery provision parents can apply on-line at: schooladmissions@sthelens.gov.uk

https://www.sthelens.gov.uk/schools-education/early-years/early-education-for-3-4-year-olds/

From April 2024, eligible working parents of 2-year-olds can access 15 hours childcare support. By September 2025, most working families with children aged between 9 months and 5 years old will be entitled to 30 hours of childcare support.

The changes are being introduced gradually to make sure that providers can meet the needs of more families. This means that:

From September 2024
15 hours childcare support will be extended to eligible working parents of children from the age of 9 months to 3-year-olds.

From September 2025
Eligible working parents of children from 9 months to school age will be entitled to 30 hours of childcare a week.

Like the existing offer, depending on your provider, these hours can be used over 38 weeks of the year (during school term time), or up to 52 weeks if you use fewer than your total hours per week.

Or contact the St Helens FEEE team on:
Telephone: 01744 676541
Email: earlyyearsfeee@sthelens.gov.uk
Web: https://www.sthelens.gov.uk/schools-education/early-years/early-education-for-2-year-olds/passport-for-2s/ 

Nursery provision

The Nursery (Rowan Room 3- 4 years) and Willow Room (2 years) have a purpose built indoor and outdoor learning environment.  The daily routine is organised into short sessions of small group focus activities and longer periods when the children can choose from the range of activities provided both indoors and outdoors. Some of the activities that your child may access include:

• Role play and dressing up
• Construction and small world, e.g. farm, dinosaurs, dolls house etc.
• Malleable materials (play dough, clay, etc.)
• Writing area
• Sand
• Water
• Table top activities, e.g. jigsaws, games, tasks to promote fine motor skills etc.
• Book area
• Making music

Children are able to move freely between the indoor and outdoor area to have the opportunity to participate in large physical play. It is important that they wear suitable clothing, as much of their learning will take place outdoors!

Reception provision

We have a 60 place Reception unit, with an extensive outdoor environment.  All children are allocated a key person to enable them to build close relationships and share any concerns or worries with one identified practitioner. The Reception unit is staffed with teachers and L3 and L2 learning support assistants. The children are taught in a range of group sizes depending on the activity they are involved in.  Each child has an allocated teacher who monitors their progress and development.  The Reception day is organised into time for both child initiated and adult led activities.  Children are directed to work in small groups, or one to one with an adult.  They also have opportunities to choose freely from the range of continuous provision areas on offer. The Early Years curriculum is underpinned by 4 themes and a number of principals relevant to Early Years practice.  The themes are:-

• A unique child
• Positive relationships
• Enabling environments
• Learning and development

The principals focus on children becoming independent, resilient and confident learners who develop positive relationships with others.  We support our children to develop these skills and attributes by providing a well organised, stimulating learning environment indoors and outdoors and by offering fully inclusive provision. Within the Early Years curriculum there are 7 areas of learning.  The 3 prime areas are:-

• Personal, social and emotional development
• Physical development
• Communication and language

The 4 specific areas:-

• Literacy
• Mathematics
• Understanding the world
• Expressive arts and design