Welcome to Our Lady of Lourdes Early Years Foundation Unit including our nursery and reception classes. At Our Lady of Lourdes Primary School and Nursery we aim to provide our early years children an exciting and challenging curriculum where children learn through play. Our intention is that every child should be enabled to develop in a secure and supportive environment so that they will be inspired to learn about the world around them. Children mature at their own pace, but we help and support each child to be ready for the start of year 1. 

Our Early Years Foundation unit consists of three classes: a nursery class, a mixed nursery and reception class and a reception class. Every class has direct access to an outdoor space because we know the importance of exciting learners through carefully planned inside and outside environments.  Our teachers plan a curriculum that enhances children’s interests and builds upon them. Children choose freely where they would like to play whilst adults support the play by firing children’s imagination and developing their language. Children also have the opportunity to be led by adults in learning including phonics or other areas of the early years curriculum to enable the child to progress in their knowledge and understanding. 

Our wider school grounds are extensive and we take the opportunity to enable children to develop across all the areas of learning within our school environment. We also take the opportunity to use our school specialists in sport and music to develop children’s physical development and speech and language skills. We invite visitors into school to broaden our children’s experience and encourage our children to have outside trips to develop their understanding of the world around them. 

We value our relationships with parents and carers and share information about children's learning through our communication channel, Class Dojo. We encourage parents to tell us about their child’s development through conversations and through Class Dojo because we know the important role parents play as their child’s first educator. 

We are proud of our Early Years Foundation Unit that offers a supportive and nurturing learning environment for children from 2-years old until 5 years old. Our close school family enables children to transition well into year 1 building upon the play-based and adult led learning of those important foundation years.