Nursery
Welcome to Our Lady of the Rosary Nursery!
At Our Lady of the Rosary, our Nursery offers a warm, nurturing, and engaging start to school life. Our setting is a caring, inspiring place where children begin their first steps in learning. We believe that every child is unique, full of God-given potential, and deserving of an environment where they can grow in confidence, curiosity, and independence.
Our Learning Environment
Our Nursery provides a calm, inviting, and well-designed environment where children feel safe, motivated, and ready to explore. The indoor space offers rich opportunities for play, creativity, and discovery, with thoughtful prompts and resources that encourage children to follow their interests and develop early independence.
Outdoors, children enjoy a stimulating and carefully planned space that promotes curiosity, physical development, and collaborative play. The environment is used throughout the day to extend learning, build confidence, and support children who thrive through active exploration and hands-on experiences.
Across both environments, skilled adults interact purposefully with children, extending language, modelling thinking, and helping them express their ideas. The balance of independent exploration and high-quality adult support creates a setting where children feel secure, engaged, and eager to learn.
How We Support Our Children
We know that every child arrives with their own interests, strengths, and needs. Our Nursery team spends time getting to know each child so that they settle confidently and form strong relationships. Staff use visuals, simple routines, and supportive language to build security and confidence. Children are encouraged to develop early independence, take turns, and build friendships at a pace that works for them.
We use three key programmes to support communication, early reading, and mathematical thinking:
- NELI Pre-School, which strengthens early communication and language through structured play, storytelling, and targeted interaction
- Little Wandle Foundations, which develops early phonological awareness and prepares children for phonics through songs, rhythm, and careful listening
- White Rose Nursery, which builds early mathematical understanding through hands-on exploration, pattern, number, shape, and problem-solving
These programmes run alongside child-led play and high-quality interactions, ensuring that learning is natural, meaningful, and developmentally appropriate.
Learning Through Play
Play is at the heart of learning in Nursery. Staff observe and respond to children’s interests, expand ideas, extend language, and support early problem-solving. Stories, songs, imaginative play, and hands-on exploration help build strong foundations across all areas of learning.
We make full use of the indoor and outdoor environments, offering meaningful opportunities for children to explore, investigate, climb, create, and collaborate throughout the day.
Supporting Personal, Social, and Emotional Development
Building confidence, resilience, and early emotional understanding is central to our practice. Staff model language for sharing feelings, support children to navigate friendships, and ensure that every child feels listened to and cared for. Our prayer space is used daily to help children experience quiet reflection and the beginnings of our school’s faith life.
Religious Education in Nursery
Children take part in weekly RE lessons where they listen to simple Gospel stories, are introduced to early religious language, and begin to recognise signs of God’s love in the world around them. These sessions include short moments of prayer and reflection, opportunities to explore key symbols of our faith, and gentle discussions that help children understand that they are made and loved by God.
Through stories, pictures, role play, and discussion, children start to build the foundations of their religious understanding and grow familiar with the rhythms of the Church year.
Partnership With Parents and Carers
We value strong relationships with families. Through Tapestry, we share photographs and observations that capture meaningful moments in children’s learning. Parents/careres are warmly encouraged to add their own contributions from home, allowing us to celebrate progress together.
Parents/carers are welcome to speak with staff at drop-off and pick-up, and we maintain regular communication to ensure that every child feels supported both at home and in school.
OP&L (Observation of Play and Learning)
We use OP&L, a meaningful and principled approach to understanding how young children learn. Our experienced staff observe children during their play, using clear six-monthly developmental milestones to recognise what each child can do and what support they may need next. OP&L enables us to build a picture of every child as an individual, celebrating their ideas, creativity, thinking, and feelings. This helps us shape our environment, interactions, and curriculum so that each child is supported to make purposeful progress.
Spotlight Meetings
Each child will have two Spotlight assessments during the year. During these periods, staff take time to look closely at the child’s play and learning, reflect as a team, and plan appropriate next steps. Following each Spotlight, parents/carers are invited to meet with staff to discuss observations, celebrate progress, and consider how best to support continued development. These meetings are individual to each child and provide a valuable opportunity to explore their learning journey in depth.
Faith Life in Nursery
Our Catholic identity is woven through everything we do. Children learn simple prayers, experience moments of quiet reflection, and take part in celebrations throughout the liturgical year. We encourage children to notice God’s presence in the world, appreciate creation, and show care for others as lived expressions of our faith.
A Place to Grow
Nursery is a special beginning. Our aim is for every child to feel confident, curious, and ready for their learning journey. We celebrate each child’s progress and provide an environment where they can develop socially, emotionally, spiritually, and academically.
Little Wandle Foundations - Nursery Rhymes
Little Wandle Foundations - Nursery Rhyme downloads
Nursery Induction Evening Powerpoint