St Francis of Assisi – Nursery
Welcome to St. Francis of Assisi! My name is Miss Haylett. I am your child’s teacher, and Ms Dornellas is our Nursery Nurse. We are looking forward to the next year of helping your child develop into a kind, respectful, and determined child.
Parent Information Session for 2026 – 2027
Children will learn through a mix of independent exploration of the classroom environment, short carpet sessions led by adults and through adults supporting children in their play. Our short carpet sessions focus on the key Early Years subject areas of English, Maths, Phonics, RE, PSHE and Understanding the World.
St Francis Nursery Class Weekly Timetable
Our learning environment is the indoor classroom and our outside area and children will explore both areas throughout the day. Please ensure children are dressed appropriately for the weather (raincoats or jumpers and coats depending on the weather!) and are provided with a spare change of labelled clothes to stay at school.
Religious Education is at the heart of our learning. We say a morning, lunchtime and end of day prayer which you can practise at home with your child. We also have daily collective acts of worship where we listen to important stories about Jesus and think about what they mean to us with drawing, singing and dancing.
What we are learning this term:
This half term, our main focus is helping the children to settle happily into Nursery, build relationships and become confident and independent learners. We will spend a lot of time getting to know one another, learning our classroom routines and expectations, and exploring our indoor and outdoor environments through play.
Our learning will begin with ‘All About Me’, giving children opportunities to talk about themselves, their families, their likes and dislikes and what makes each of us special. We will support children in developing friendships, sharing and taking turns, recognising and talking about their feelings, and beginning to understand our school expectations of being Ready, Respectful and Safe.
Communication and language will be at the heart of everything we do. We will enjoy stories, nursery rhymes, songs, and conversations every day, encouraging children to listen, join in, learn new vocabulary, and become increasingly confident in expressing their ideas. We will revisit high-quality stories regularly so that children become familiar with the characters, language and structure of stories.
In early literacy, children will develop a love of books and learn how to handle them carefully. We will enjoy rhymes, explore sounds in our environment and develop children’s listening and attention skills. Children will also have lots of opportunities to make marks, draw and begin to recognise and explore their own names.
Our mathematical learning will take place through practical activities, songs, stories and play. Children will develop their understanding of number, counting, sorting, matching, patterns, shape, size and measure using meaningful, hands-on experiences.
We will also explore Autumn, seasonal changes and the weather, encouraging children to notice and talk about the world around them. Throughout the half term, we will learn about and celebrate important events including Harvest, Diwali and Black History Month, helping children to develop their understanding of different people, communities, traditions and celebrations.
Children will have daily opportunities to develop their physical skills through climbing, balancing, running, riding bikes and exploring our outdoor environment. Fine motor activities, including playdough, construction, threading, painting, mark-making and using tools, will help to strengthen the muscles needed for future writing.
Most importantly, our children will be learning through play, exploration and carefully planned adult interactions. We want every child to finish their first half term feeling happy, safe and confident in Nursery, with a growing sense of “I can do it!”
Helpful reminders
Children need to have spare clothes that are labelled in school.
Water bottles must come to school every day and should be taken home to be cleaned every evening.
These can be purchased at the school office.
Fruit is provided every day in the classroom for morning snack.
Nursery children eat their lunch in the classroom and are closely monitored, please speak to me if you have any concerns about what your child is eating.
Children must read with an adult every evening and have their reading record signed every night. This is important as it will help them start developing language rich conversations with their peers and adults in the class. I will be checking daily if a child has read their book and what comments have been made, as this will help me to further develop your child’s interests in class.
Please collect your child from the Nursery class playground at the end of the day (3:15pm) and remember to let the office know if someone different will be collecting your child.