Nursery Welcome

Welcome to St John’s!  Our vibrant Nursery is a nurturing and stimulating setting; it is filled with the energy of children who are continually encouraged to approach the world with curiosity, a spirit of exploration and a growth mindset so that they have the opportunity to reach their full learning potential.

Our school’s Mission Statement includes the phrase “Nurture, Encourage, Challenge through Christ” and this is certainly lived out every day here in Nursery!  Christian values are advocated and developed collectively and individually and our passionate nursery practitioners ensure that everyone feels welcome and part of our school family.  Team work and collaboration are promoted from the outset as we foster unity and positive relationships at all levels; this includes nurturing the parent and carer-school partnership as we believe it is vital that we all work together to ensure the best all-round learning environment for the youngest members of our school community.

We understand that all children are unique; as such, exciting active learning is guided by the interests, needs and development of each individual child, implementing a learning environment that builds on their likes, experience and understanding.  A balance of child-initiated and adult-planned guided activities across key areas of learning, adapted for each learning style, are provided throughout the day, giving the children endless opportunities to learn though play.

Children are encouraged to develop their independence and use their imagination, curiosity and inquisitiveness to help them acquire and develop the knowledge, skills and positive attitudes that they need to be ready for the next stage of their learning journey.  These include developing their self-confidence as well as the desire to think for themselves, to solve problems, to cooperate with others and to communicate clearly. We actively encourage the children to explore their creativity and to be adventurous - to take risks rather than be hesitant, celebrating their achievements whilst also learning from their mistakes and developing their resilience in the process.

Our continuous provision ensures that stimulating and challenging opportunities, both indoors and outdoors, are always available, helping to inspire the children to grow into life-long learners.  In particular, our Nursery is a language-rich environment where children are given every opportunity to develop a love of reading and writing, with stimulating phonics activities, Early Reading material and mark-making equipment always readily available.

Our indoor area provides a rich array of resources and activities that foster the desire to freely investigate the fascinating world in which our children live, nurturing their innate sense of awe and wonder; this also helps them to develop the necessary critical thinking skills to learn to think beyond the obvious and make informed, rational decisions.  Free-flow also gives our children the capacity to always access our impressive outdoor area with equivalent areas of learning, as well as space for physical activity; balance bikes and scooters, a substantial climbing frame, a mud kitchen, play houses and astro-turf are always available - amongst many other fun and educational resources.  The well-used phrase, “There’s no such thing as bad weather’” is often quoted at St John’s; our Nursery outdoor space includes areas of shade and shelter, ensuring that it can be used at all times throughout the year. 

Above all, here at St John’s Nursery, we appreciate the importance of the individuality of every child, ensuring that each one has every opportunity to thrive happily in a safe, caring and inclusive environment.