Welcome to Nursery!

Our Nursery is a 36 place nursery consisting of a morning session, afternoon session and all day places available.  We have 3 key workers in Nursery during each session.  

Morning session                  8:30am  -  11:30am

Afternoon session               12:30pm  -  3:30pm

All day session                    8:30am  -  3:30pm

Hillside Nursery is a secure and safe environment where children develop a love of learning by learning through play in both the inside and outside environment.  We encourage children to be independent and self-motivated learners.  

We support children to achieve in the seven areas of learning following the Early Years Foundation Stage curriculum as our guiding principle.  When children start at Hillside Nursery we support them in developing their skills in sharing, communication and making strong and positive relationships with each other and the staff. 

Every child is unique so we ensure they have experiences which respond to their individual needs.  With this in mind we look at children's starting points and help them to achieve their next steps.  

We are supportive of families and work closely with parents to support children in their learning.  We create termly curriculum booklets for parents to support their child at home, hold parent workshops as well as have learn together mornings in the Nursery.  

The 7 areas of learning are:
Prime Skills

• Personal, social and emotional development
• Communication and Language
• Physical Development

Specific Skills

• Literacy 
• Mathematics 
• Understanding the world
• Expressive arts and design.

One of the main aims of the Nursery is to provide a sound basis on which to build good educational and social awareness. The Nursery department works closely with the Reception class teachers to achieve a continuity of learning for children entering our Infant School.

Visit the Hillside Nursery

If you would like to come and see Hillside Nursery please ring the school office to book a tour. 

How to apply? 

Application forms are available by clicking the link below or from the School Office .

Starting Nursery

We start Nursery by your child coming in for a settling in period so that your child for part of the session.  This session gives your child an understanding of how the day is organised, to get to know the staff members and also feel comfortable in the learning environment. 

The next time you come will normally be for the full session (morning, afternoon or all day) however, due to all children being individuals some need a more gradual approach.  We will discuss this with you to make sure you are happy and confident with the arrangement. 

Stay and Play Sessions

We do stay and play sessions in the July or December prior to your child starting Nursery.  These are so that we can tell you more about what happens in Hillside Nursery and it is also an opportunity for you and your child to get to know the staff members in the Nursery setting.  

While a Nursery place does not guarantee entry into Reception at Hillside Infant School, most children do move into the Reception class and continue through Hillside Infant and Hillside Junior school

EYFS Assessment

In Nursery and Reception we use a programme called Evidence Me.  This is a programme that we use on an iPad to take photographs and make notes about your child. These observations form a profile of each child which allows us to assess their development and plan for their next steps in all areas of learning.

We have a parent share feature that allows us to share our observations of your child with you via email, and for you to respond and add to your child’s profile too, helping us to form a clear picture of your child as a learner both in and out of school.

Observations are sent directly to your email address.  This is a snapshot of your child’s time with us and provides a small insight for you about what they are doing independently during their time in school.

You will receive an email from Evidence me to set up parent share. You then click on the confirmation link to allow 2Build a Profile to send you the emails. Please note there is a maximum of two email addresses per child.

We are very excited about being about to share your child’s achievements with you, and we look forward to working together with you to further our understanding of your child.

Parent share enables you to send us observations of your child at home showing what learning they are showing you. These observations can be added to your child's profile to show a home school partnership.