Nursery Life
Our Nursery Family
Our dedicated team is made up of nursery practitioners who are passionate about nurturing each child’s growth and are experts in child development, with a wealth of early years experience. We work closely with parents, offering an ‘Open Door’ approach to foster strong relationships and support every child’s learning journey. On starting at Brambletye, each child has a dedicated ‘Key Person’ to serve as the first point of contact, carefully monitoring their progress and sharing this with families.
A Nursery Day
7.30-8.15am Breakfast club
8.15am-3.30pm Core Nursery hours
3.30-6pm Stay and Play Wrap Around Care
Our core day includes a morning session and lunchtime, after which children may go home at 12.30pm, or stay on for the afternoon until 3.30pm. We know that in order for children to settle well and get the most out of their Nursery days, a minimum attendance of 2 sessions is needed. Children often increase from this as they move through the Nursery classes, building up to full time before they start in Reception.
Food
Freshly prepared, balanced and nutritious meals are provided each day, carefully tailored to meet all individual allergy and dietary requirements. With thoughtfully designed menus which adhere to strict guidelines for sugar and salt content, we encourage children to explore new flavours and develop confident, adventurous palates during these formative years. Nursery children can enjoy up to three freshly prepared meals a day. Our menus use local, seasonal ingredients that can be sourced as near as possible and traced from farm to fork. The seasonal menus and dishes change regularly, so that children can experience a range of different flavours and cuisines and develop a broader appreciation for food.
Rooms
Children begin their Brambletye journey in “Plums”, joining us at any time during term time once they have turned two. We know the enormous difference that an excellent ratio of staff to children can have and at Brambletye great importance is placed on this, allowing children to have plenty of one to one time with an adult as well as small group time. Children move from Plums Class to Pears Class and finally to our pre-school class, Apples. Our excellent ratios mean that all team members get to know all children, making the transitions between rooms seamless. We offer all children settling in sessions, which are unhurried and allow children to become accustomed to the team and the room they will be joining so that they build excitement for starting.
Our Resources
Our classrooms are carefully designed to promote curiosity and critical thinking in our youngest children. ‘Provocations’ in each room tempt children to explore, think deeply, and extend their learning through open-ended discovery. Each classroom contains a number of these open ended resources, which lend themselves to imaginative play and construction. Whilst a plastic apple in the role play area will always be a plastic apple, wooden blocks can be an apple, a cake, a tower, the beginnings of a road, a person… the list is endless! The imagination that a cardboard box can spark is something we encourage the children to build on in all areas of the classroom.
The Nursery has access to the Prep School’s extensive facilities including a weekly swim in our indoor pool and performances in our 240 seat theatre.
