Life in the

Nursery

Our Nursery is a place where little fingers can feel mud, sand, flour and paint. It's where eyes light up at the sight of smiles, friends, birds and trees and where feet can wander across grass and soil, discovering the world one step at a time. Here arms are always ready for hugs, in a space where children feel safe, seen and ready to grow.

Sessions

Every child is different so we believe that you should be able to choose the right number of sessions for your child. However, we do ask that they do a minimum of 2 full days or 3 half days, as this helps them settle the best.

Sessions times:

AM 8:30-13:00
PM 11:30-15:30
ALL DAY 8:30-15:30

Whatever you choose, the children will be served a hot lunch at midday.

There are different activities each day, to keep the children stimulated, interested and excited to learn. We are happy to discuss the sessions that will best suit your child and recommend how best to increase them so that they are ready for Reception.

Mini Club

Monday to Friday
3.30pm to 5.15pm (for an extra charge, to include a sandwich tea).

Mini-Club children can enjoy a longer school day. Experienced, qualified Early Years staff will care for our youngest children while they enjoy tea and play in the familiar and comforting surroundings of the Nursery. There will be time to relax during story time, as well as the opportunity to have fun with friends.

Please visit the Wrap Around Care page for further information.

Learning Outside

Learning outside is fun when you have so many different environments to explore. Learning and having fun in our Forest & Farm Schools is a weekly highlight for the Nursery children. The children have a beautiful garden where they can take their learning outside. They can cook up amazing recipes in the sand pit and young engineers can work safely in the outdoor construction area, as well as tending to their strawberries and other tasty crops in the vegetable garden.

Forest School

Further afield is the Forest, which we visit twice a week, come rain or shine. We light fires in the winter and pond-dip in the summer. On very cold days, we toast marshmallows and listen to stories in the Hobbit House. The extensive grounds have beautiful places to explore, such as visiting the bees in the Salt Mines or the wildlife in the wild flower meadow. In the summer we practice our Sports Day races on our athletics pitch and swim in the heated pool.

The Hobbit House

The Hobbit House: it's often said that there's no such thing as bad weather, only bad clothing! However sometimes it's nice to toast marshmallows and keep warm when it is cold outside. The Hobbit House offers shelter and a fire pit just outside our Forest School.

Paradise Farm

Paradise Farm: the School farm, known as Paradise Farm, is an important part of our focus on Learning Outside. We visit the Farm throughout the year, where we meet the pigs and their piglets and collect eggs from the hens, who love a cuddle from the children.

The Orchard & Sophie's Garden

We visit the Orchard & Sophie's Garden throughout the year, whether we are collecting plums and apples to make crumble or going for a learning walk. Sophie's garden provides space for mindfulness and yoga.

Transition from Nursery to Reception at Saint Ronan’s School

In the Nursery, we pride ourselves on ensuring that the children have a comfortable and reassuring transition to our Reception classes. Our special Nursery is located right at the heart of the school, so our young children naturally become part of the wider school community from the beginning of their Saint Ronan’s journey. This allows them to grow familiar with the school environment, the routines and the wonderful teachers, long before they make the move into Reception. Throughout the year, our Nursery children participate in a wide range of Whole School activities. They practise for, and join in with, the Brodie Shield (cross-country), the Founder’s Day concert, assemblies and themed celebrations, such as World Book Day. These exciting opportunities help the Nursery children feel proud, confident and connected to the School.

The Nursery’s close relationship with Reception makes day to day transitions wonderfully natural. Nursery enjoys lunch with Reception in Pudding Lane (the dining room) and we share play times in the Reception garden. The Reception Teachers regularly visit the Nursery to assist with duties so the children become comfortable and familiar with the staff who will soon be teaching them. As summer approaches, we begin to gently increase transition experiences and opportunities. Nursery children visit the Reception classrooms for relaxed story time sessions, helping them get used to the setting. We enjoy a shared Sports Day and Picnic with Reception, building relationships and kindling eager anticipation of the year ahead. Finally, our 'Move‑Up Afternoon' gives Nursery children the chance to spend a full session in their new class, helping them step forwards into Reception with confidence, knowledge and enthusiasm.

To sum up, our immersive, inclusive approach ensures that moving from Nursery to Reception is not a big leap - it's just a natural, happy next step.

Where next?

What a wonderful place our Pre-Prep is. Education here is a journey of discovery and adventure. Because we want each child’s individual journey to be filled with excitement and joy, our teachers work hard to create extraordinary spaces for young children to play and learn in.

Explore the Pre-Prep Journey

The Prep School is housed in the main mansion where the former reception rooms and bedrooms of the ‘old house’ have been converted to classrooms or dormitories.

Discover the Prep School

Initial enquiries are normally by telephone, or more recently by email. Details are logged on to our Admissions system by the School Office.

Find out more

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