About the Nursery

Why choose Thomas Jones?

By choosing our Nursery, you will be selecting a setting which acknowledges and actively promotes the importance of children’s early learning experiences as forming the basis for their future success. Within this intimate environment, skilled professionals will guide your child to become a confident and successful learner, equipping them with the ‘school readiness’ skills that they will need for transition to Reception and beyond.

Ethos and values

At Thomas Jones, we strongly believe that the foundations for a child’s future success begin in the Nursery. In line with our school aims and values, we promote an inclusive and warm environment, in which all children are ably supported to develop as young learners. Our Nursery setting is small and intimate, which lends itself well to the development of strong, positive, relationships between pupils, family and staff members. This in turn brings real benefits for our pupils, with children feeling as if they are part of one ‘large school family’.

Aims

An integral part of the school, Nursery pupils are celebrated at every opportunity, with the children known well by staff and their older peers. Being a school based Nursery, pupils wear the same immaculate garb as older pupils and attend whole school assemblies, which plays an important part in developing a child’s ‘school-readiness’ in preparation for the transition to Reception. Every year, Thomas Jones Reception staff comment consistently upon the readiness of pupils who have attended our Nursery, with these pupils settling quickly, with a wide range of knowledge and learning experiences that support them to achieve the best they can at the end of the EYFS. These ‘school readiness’ skills are beneficial for every child, whether or not they attend our Reception. Core areas such as communication and language, and personal, social and emotional development are prioritised, with staff from other schools commenting on how well pupils from our Nursery have settled within their Reception class.

Environment

Given its status within the school, our strongest teachers are employed to work in the Nursery, with highly experienced staff forming the nucleus of the team. Children are afforded attention, and are supported by a carefully planned and reflective curriculum, designed to meet children’s needs in a stimulating and age-appropriate way. The environment is inventive, aesthetically stimulating and provides children with opportunities to explore and engage with every aspect of learning. For an inner city school, we are blessed with ample outside green space, including a pond with resident frogs and areas for planting and sowing seeds. Pupils are encouraged to explore the outside, and become active participants in their own learning.