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About King’s Hawford Nursery
King’s Hawford is a top ranked Nursery and Pre-School setting in Worcester and is part of the award-winning King’s Worcester Nursery Group. The nursery offers full time provision with more flexible options available.
Sessions
Kindergarten is open from 7.45am until 6pm and half days are available.
Morning 7.45am – 12.30pm
Afternoon 12.30pm – 6pm
Full Day 7.45am – 6.00pm
Our Nursery School Routine
Our Nursery school routine helps provide children in our care with a clear structure that fosters a sense of familiarity. This in turn helps the children settle into nursery life. Following a structured nursery routine is beneficial to the development of the children and ensures they feel safe and confident at all times in our care.
Morning
We like to start our day with circle time, once everyone has arrived. It is a good opportunity to sit together to enjoy songs, rhymes and stories.
In the morning we all enjoy a healthy snack of fruit and milk or water. This is a wonderful time for social communication, turn taking and sharing with our peers.
After snack, children are encouraged to take part in a mixture of staff-led and child-led activities. Each activity is designed to give children the opportunities to investigate and experience things whilst playing and exploring.
Lunchtime
For lunch, children enjoy a two-course cooked meal which is prepared in our on-site kitchen.
Our Kindergarten 1 children eat in the Kindergarten 2 room next to the Kindergarten kitchen whilst our Kindergarten 2 children visit the Prep School Dining Hall to enjoy their lunch. Kindergarten staff stay with the children to encourage independence and a good, healthy lunch.
After lunch, children attending the morning session only are collected between 12.30 and 12.45pm.
Afternoon
At 1.00pm, our younger children who are staying all day are encouraged to have a rest time lying on a bed and listening to some gentle music or a story.
Our older children in Kindergarten 2 are encouraged to take part in some quiet activities and recharge ahead of the afternoon’s festivities.
At 2.15pm children enjoy outdoor play making full use of the Prep School site.
After afternoon play, children enjoy an afternoon snack of sandwiches and a drink of milk or water.
Throughout the day, the children are offered a range of different activities based on their development. The emphasis is on developing their confidence to “have a go” and learn through investigating.
End of the day
At 5.00pm a light, nutritious tea is served.
Children can be collected any time up to 6pm.
Early Years Foundation Stage
Prime Areas of Learning:
Our curriculum involves activities and experiences to meet he learning and development requirements in the Early Years Foundation Stage (EYFS) – the three prime areas of learning and development are:
- Personal, social and emotional development
- Communication and language development
- Physical development
Alongside these are four specific areas, through which the prime areas are strengthened and applied:
- Literacy
- Mathematics
- Expressive arts and design
- Understanding the world
Early Learning Goals:
The children’s progress is monitored carefully and assessed using the Early Learning Goals which show the level of attainment expected by the end of the EYFS (end of Reception). We share the results of the profile with parents / carers in the final term and provide an opportunity for discussion with their child’s Reception teacher.
Our Forest School
The King’s Worcester Nursery Group is lucky to have three Forest School in Worcester. Two of which are located at King’s Hawford Prep School and both are used by children who attend our nursery at King’s Hawford. When you approach King’s Hawford from Lock Lane you are immediately greeted by majestic trees which frame the entrance to our site. This area of densely populated trees forms the backdrop of our main Forest School area and is accessed from the Prep-School site via a little wooden gate through which a world of exploration awaits.
There are carefully-arranged logs on which the children sit together to drink a hot chocolate in the fresh air before delving into the natural space around them and learning through outdoor play.
Forest School is a specialised, inspirational, child-centred learning approach that sits within and complements the wider context of outdoor education at King’s Hawford.
Forest School Sessions
After excitedly pulling on their wellies and overalls, children have the chance to learn outdoors in Forest School whatever the weather: planting trees, building shelters, looking for wildlife, and generally becoming familiar with the outdoors, whilst learning skills they can use throughout their education. Through Forest School, the children develop positive relationships with themselves and other people and a strong, positive relationship with the natural world.
When do we use Forest School?
Forest School at King’s Hawford is used all year round, encouraging children to wander through the available space, climbing trees, building habitats, helping each other to learn and grow whilst being prepared for all weathers. It is a long-term process of regular sessions, rather than one-off or infrequent visits; the cycle of planning, observation, adaptation and review, links each session. Forest School aims to promote the holistic development of the children, fostering resilient, confident, independent, creative learners.
Forest School Safety
The children get to know the Forest School site well; they are aware of their boundaries and understand what is safe and unsafe. The high adult to child ratio means children can safely experience activities, such as finding out about fungi and berries, observing mini-beasts, or lighting fires.
Forest School Learning
Small, manageable tasks are set, at which children are unlikely to fail and for which genuine praise is given. The Forest School ethos creates an outdoor environment where deep-level learning and progression are the norm. In this way, children are given an excellent foundation for future learning.
Co-Curriculum Activities
Kindergarten provides children with a fun-packed and varied programme of activities and events on a weekly basis. Every week children take part in swimming sessions, Forest School sessions and music sessions. When children enter Kindergarten 2 for their pre-school year they also enjoy weekly German lessons with the Prep School’ specialist language teacher Mrs Hyde. An optional RugbyTots session is also available weekly during term time.
Moving to Reception
When children move into Kindergarten 2 for their Pre-School year of Nursery we start preparing them for the next step in their King’s Hawford journey – the move to Reception class. The children in Kindergarten 2 quickly become familiar with areas of the Pre-Prep and Prep School through using facilities such as the Dining Hall, Swimming Pool, School Barn and playing fields. During the Summer Term before they make the move to Reception, children will have various opportunities to meet their Reception teachers; these include assemblies led by Reception teachers, story sessions led by the Reception teachers and a visit to their new Reception teachers classrooms.
From a learning perspective an element of independence is fostered into our Pre-School children in readiness for their big move.
