Nursery

Our Nursery, rated good by Ofsted, is set in its own purpose-built building in our lovely, green school grounds. Our Nursery teacher, Claire Protherough, leads a team of experienced, friendly staff who deliver excellent provision for our Nursery children who are aged two to four years old.  

We offer two sessions: 

• Morning: 8.45am to 11.45am
• Afternoon: 12pm to 3pm

Children aged three and four can do a full day or a half day.

We offer lunch for children staying all day. They can order school lunches which are freshly cooked in our school kitchen, or bring a packed lunch. Nursery staff support them during this time.

Morning in Nursery

Children are greeted by staff who support them to put away their belongings.

We have two rooms, the two-year-olds' room, called Explorers, and the three to four-year-olds' room, called Adventurers. The children start their day in their separate rooms where they will have a carpet session, or take part in an adult-supported fine motor activity.

The children have free flow in the classrooms, and part way through the morning we open both rooms into our central ‘messy room’ and to our outside area. 

The ‘messy room’ has our playdough, water, painting and sand. We also offer independent snack time which children can access in their own time.

Afternoon in Nursery

Our afternoon follows a similar format to the morning. The children have free flow, including the messy room and outside area, and we conclude the afternoon with a group story time on the carpet.

This session is only open to three to four-year-olds.  

In The Moment Planning

At Tower Hill we believe that young children learn best through play. To enable this we use In The Moment Planning.

What is it? 

• A cycle of observation-assessment-planning-observation carried out on a moment-by-moment basis. 
• Teachers join children in their choice of activity. 
• They will model language or social skills, and ask open ended questions designed to challenge children’s thinking or problem solving skills. They will also model more specific learning such as counting, vocabulary, or fine motor skills.
• Some of the interactions that occur are recorded on the child’s learning journey sheet which is added to their Special Book at the end of their focus week. 
• To record all such observations in a focus week would be impractical so we select those that best reflect the child’s current stage of learning and achievement.

How do we assess? 

• We have focus children each week (approximately 10% of the group). 
• Parents are invited to contribute by providing photographs of home life for children to put into their Special Books (Learning Journals) The children share conversation about these pictures with an adult in school during their focus week.
• Parents are also given a chance to tell us about special events in their home lives, and ask questions about their child’s development. 
• Every child has a focus week each term. This allows us to monitor progress in their learning at regular intervals through the year.

Book a tour

If you are interested in sending your child to our lovely Nursery, please call the school office on 01993 702599 and arrange a visit.