St Joseph’s Nursery – Preparing Your Child for Reception

SPACES AVAILABLE FOR SEPTEMBER 2026.

At St Joseph’s Nursery, we offer a special pre-Reception year designed to help children feel confident, happy, and ready to start school.

This nursery class is for children in the year before they enter Reception. It provides a gentle bridge between early years care and full-time school life, helping children settle into routines, build independence, and develop the social and emotional skills they need to thrive.

What makes our Nursery different?

✔ A smooth transition into Reception
Children become familiar with the school environment, expectations, and daily routines, making the move into Reception calm and positive.

✔ Learning through play, with purpose
Our nursery follows the Early Years Foundation Stage curriculum through carefully planned, play-based activities that support language development, early literacy, number awareness, and curiosity.

✔ Building confidence and independence
Children learn important skills such as listening, sharing, turn-taking, managing their belongings, and developing self-care routines – all essential for starting school.

✔ A caring, nurturing environment
We place a strong emphasis on relationships, emotional wellbeing, and helping every child feel safe, valued, and supported.

✔ Part of the St Joseph’s school community
Being based within the school means children feel comfortable and secure in familiar surroundings when they move up to Reception.

Who is the Nursery for?

• Children aged 3–4 who will start Reception the following September
• Families looking for a structured but nurturing pre-school year
• Parents who want their child to begin Reception feeling confident and ready to learn

St Joseph’s Nursery welcomes families from all backgrounds. You do not need to be Catholic to apply.

Our aim

Our aim is simple:
To give children the best possible start to school, so they enter Reception happy, settled, and ready to succeed.

VISITOR COMMENTS

SEA (March 2024)

High quality interactions were observed, which generated discussion with children, and vocabulary was modelled and reinforced. All learning was purposeful and children concentrated well

There was an abundance of learning opportunities linked to understanding of the world providing a wide range of personal experiences for children

OFSTED (Nov 24) 

"Children in early years get off to a great start because adults sharply focus on developing children's communication and language and basic skills."

"Pupils build their knowledge over time. They talk enthusiastically about their learning. There is an excitement and thirst for what they will be learning next. Pupils can recall and describe, using subject specific vocabulary, what they have been taught. New learning is introduced clearly. Staff check pupils’ understanding regularly and quickly address their misconceptions."

EYFS HCC Visit (June 2025)

The EYFS leader has an excellent understanding of the strengths and areas of development in the Early Years Foundation Stage; subsequently successfully further areas for improvement have been prioritised.

SEA (Sept 2025)

"Pupils’ behaviour was exemplary; they also demonstrated positive attitudes to learning. As on previous visits, relationships between staff and children were very positive. The SEA noted several good examples of high-quality interactions. Adults also modelled great communication and positive body language for children. For example, eye contact and smiling. Children responded well to this. This was seen particularly in the early years, early key stage 1 (KS1) When switching from one activity to another, pupils did this quickly and efficiently so that learning time was used to maximum effect. Other strengths included the usual positive relationships between staff and pupils. The overall learning environment was positive and stimulating."