Set within the school grounds of Aycliffe Drive Primary School, our Nursery setting offers the options of morning, afternoon or 30 hours provision. Our bespoke Nursery building and play area offers a safe, secure and stimulating environment for children beginning their learning journey with us.

We welcome visits from prospective families, please contact admin@aycliffedrive.herts.sch.uk if you would like to book an appointment to view the Nursery.

At Nursery we want to give your child the best start to their education in a safe, nurturing environment. We work hard to get to know your child really well and tailor our educational provision based on their individual needs and interests.

Much of your child’s learning will take place through play-based activities, supported by knowledgeable staff who understand the stages of Child Development and the Foundation Stage Curriculum. Your child will be assigned a Key Person who will get to know them really well and scaffold their learning appropriately. All staff will be involved in making observations and contributing to a Learning Journal, documenting your child’s progress at our Nursery.

Your child’s Learning Journey will be documented and made available for you to view online. Please see the separate letter which explains more about this and how it will work. Please ensure that you login regularly as we use Tapestry to communicate about things like Forest School sessions and other important information.

We ask parents to provide a bottle of water for your child with their name on. This will be available for them to drink at any time throughout the session. If you have requested that your child has milk at snack time, this will be provided along with a piece of fruit. Please ensure that the Nursery staff are made aware of any dietary requirements or food allergies your child may have before they start attending the setting.

Snack is a sociable time at Nursery, we all sit together to eat. This is a valuable opportunity for the adults to get to know your child better and help to build on their social, communication and language skills.

Children will be given a House to belong to as they begin Nursery and they will remain in the same House as they move up the school. The houses are named after different planets and have colours assigned to them- Mary Anning (Yellow), Ada Lovelace (Red), Isaac Newton (Blue) and Charles Darwin (Green). Certificates will be awarded when targets are achieved.

The children love to see their House Points add up on our display in the classroom! We aim to celebrate all of your child’s achievements, both academically and socially. This system offers instant, visible rewards for your child and an incentive for them to do their best.

Your child can wear a white polo shirt (no long sleeves or button up shirts please), red jumper or cardigan and a pair of black/grey jogging bottoms or leggings as their uniform. To make it as easy as possible for them to use the toilet and be independent they need clothes that they can easily take off and put back on themselves. Please no tights! We recommend that you do not spend a lot on uniform as we do a lot of messy play and try as we might to keep their clothes clean, children always find a way to get messy! Your child will also need a pair of indoor shoes to keep at school in their tray in case they need them or they come to Nursery in their wellies. Trainers with velcro are best as they are easier for your child to put on and take off and also more durable. Please no shoelaces! Please ensure that all of your child’s clothes and property are clearly named, we cannot be responsible for lost items but it will make it easier to return anything that may get mislaid.

Please provide a book bag for your child, which is available to purchase from the school office or online, the children share a peg and we do not have space in the cloakroom for backpacks, these will unfortunately have to be sent home at the door.

We will need a full set of spare clothes (clearly labelled, in a drawstring bag) not a backpack to keep at Nursery if for any reason your child needs to be changed during the session.

We also have a weekly PE session so we ask that your child comes dressed in their gym kit (t shirt, jogging bottoms and trainers of any colour) on this day, instead of their regular uniform.

We are very lucky at Aycliffe Drive to have our own woodland area complete with a Saxon style Round House which our pupils helped to construct. We teach the children how to play safely in the woods whilst also giving them the freedom to explore and learn on their own terms. At certain times of the year we have a campfire and the children are able to roast marshmallows! Your child will have Forest School once every two weeks. A parents’ meeting will hopefully be arranged for September to give more information about the different activities we do and the clothes the children will need to wear.