A very warm welcome awaits all the children and their families as they join East Ayton Nursery School.

The Nursery is an integral part of East Ayton School offering excellent facilities and a large, spacious outdoor area. We aim to provide a caring, happy, stimulating environment where all children are encouraged to explore, discover, learn and develop to their maximum potential.

The nursery gate opens at 9:00am and your child will be welcomed into nursery and encouraged to put their lunch box, book bag and coat in the appropriate place. They will then self-register head through the door into a world of excitement.

During the week, your child will have the opportunity to take part in a wide range of experiences including:

Free play, both indoors and out. We offer continuous provision all year round and therefore request that parents send children to school with the correct clothing for all weathers.

Forest School Activities. We will spend some of the week in the Forest School Area and will take part in a variety of Forest School Activities. We are lucky enough to have a set of Puddle Suits to ensure your child can fully access these activities, although we would appreciate it if you could send a pair of wellies to be left at school for Forest School Sessions.

As the term progresses, we will be using the school hall in the main school for P.E. sessions and we ask that on these days your child wears suitable clothes such as leggings or joggers. Children are encouraged to take their shoes and socks off for these sessions and this is how they begin to learn how to dress themselves for different activities further up the school.

Your child will bring home a library book each week to share at home. This book is self-chosen by your child from a variety of books and is for you to read and talk about with your child.

One day a week we encourage the children to take part in our early bakers sessions. This might include making sandwiches, decorating biscuits or making fruit kebabs. The children will get the opportunity to use knives and other baking implements in a safe environment.

Your child will be eligible for ‘Cool milk’ and all children will be offered a drink of milk or water. We also provide your child with a healthy snack.

Children will eat their packed lunch in the classroom, supervised by the usual nursery staff. We ask that you refrain from sending any nuts or nut products such as hazelnut spread or peanut butter as we have a nut free policy in school. The children are encouraged to eat everything that is sent in their lunch boxes so please do not send ‘extras’ just in case. A typical lunch might include: a small sandwich, a piece of fruit, yoghurt and a treat such as a bun or a packet of crisps. Please also send a drink for your child to have at lunchtime.

From time-to-time children who have previously been potty trained may still have the occasional accident as they are too busy having fun to go to the toilet. We therefore ask that you send a change of clothes to remain at school for such an occurrence. If your child is not quite there yet, please let us know and we can support whichever stage of toileting your child is at. We also ask that you send pull-ups/nappies, wipes and nappy sacks for your child.

At the end of each day, the gate will open at 3.15pm and your child will be brought out to you one at a time. If it is not going to be you collecting your child, we ask that you let the nursery staff know in advance otherwise we are unable to send your child with a third party. I am sure you appreciate that this is to ensure the safety of your child.

Regular letters are sent home from nursery, so please check your child’s book bag. Information is also sent via Arbor (such as school newsletters) and we share photos of our learning and achievements on Class Dojo.

The staff at East Ayton Nursery are here to help you and your child to feel comfortable and settled. Please contact the school office on 01723 862132 or admin@eastayton.n-yorks.sch.uk to arrange a visit. Once your child has a confirmed nursery place to start in September, January or April, we will then arrange sessions for your child to settle in.

Children are invited to join our nursery from the term after their third birthday with 15 hours universal funding available to all children and up to 30 hours funding available, subject to eligibility. Non-funded sessions can also be paid for in addition to the 15 hours funding. These are charged at £5.50 an hour and are subject to availability. Please ask for further details.

We look forward to welcoming you.

Miss Williams and the Nursery Team.