Our Nursery
Our Lady of Lourdes Nursery is part of our main school and provides a secure and stimulating environment for all children to learn, play and flourish. Nursery children learn and play in the Nursery class and in a mixed Reception Nursery Class. Teachers in the Early Years work and plan together so that the learning activities and the environments meets the needs of our children.
The children have supervised access to our extensive outside grassed and paved area where they love to explore their outside world and learn about their environment. It is carefully organised to enable children to develop and demonstrate characteristics of effective learning.
Teachers support children in their play by providing activities that children can explore so that they can be creative learners or working to solve problems in their play. We prepare our environments with resources that offer limitless opportunities for play and learning. Children learn by playing alone or by taking part in, play that is guided by adults. Our nursery staff are experienced at planning activities that enable all children to thrive.
Children in our nursery have music sessions with our specialist teacher, as well as activity sessions with our PE teacher. Wherever possible nursery children take part in school events with the children from the main school.
We gladly welcome children with special needs and government funding is available for children of 2-, 3- and 4-year-olds.
OUR INSIDE SPACE
Our Early Years environment is designed to meet the needs of the children in our care. Our experienced staff make sure that the environments are carefully shaped to let children play and learn providing lots of choices to foster their creativity and interests. Our children have the opportunity to learn through exploration and discovery. Children in our Early Years love to experiment, be creative and try ideas. It is in early childhood where those first-hand experiences develop understanding of the world alongside their social and emotional development.
Our Early Years team are experienced at providing a nurturing environment whilst the activities and play are designed to enable children to make progress in their knowledge and understanding. It is in our Early Years that children develop a clear sense of belonging to our school and learn to take responsibility for their classrooms.
OUR OUTSIDE SPACE
We recognise the importance of outdoor learning and we are pleased that Our Lady of Lourdes has an extensive outdoor space as well as special outdoor spaces for those in nursery and reception. We have an Early Years Garden, a play area outside our nursery classroom and a quad that is sandwiched in the middle of our Early Years Foundation Unit.
Children learn through play and in the outside areas children have the opportunity to discover the world around them and experiment with the natural environment. Our staff encourage children to appreciate the world around them and look after our environment.
Children at our school have the opportunity to go out for most of the school day. In the outdoor areas the play and learning activities help children to become curious about our world and it is this curiosity that fosters a love for learning.
It is outside where children have the opportunity to develop their physical skills which are so important to promote health and co-ordination. But being outside also provides the opportunity for mental wellbeing when children have access to quiet time and relaxation or opportunities really focus on their play and develop their concentration skills.
The EYFS guidance doesn’t differentiate between the value of indoor and outdoor learning. They are both be equally effective as long as learning sessions are carefully planned
| Our Fees are as follows: | Cost per session |
|---|---|
| Breakfast Club for 2 year olds | £8 |
| Breakfast Club for 3 and 4 year olds | £12 |
| Preschool Session (am or pm) for 2 year olds | £24.50 |
|
Preschool Session (am or pm) for 3 and 4 year olds |
£18.00 |
| Lunch club | £5.00 |
| After-school club from 3.15pm - 4.15pm | £7 |
| After-school club from 3.15pm - 5.30pm |
£16 |
| Snacks | £1.50 per week |
PAYMENT
Details of payment required for unfunded sessions, lunch clubs and breakfast and after school clubs are available on MCAS at the start of every half term.
We ask that you pay half-termly, our fees for each term can be made in two instalments.
Late payment of instalments may result in your child losing their place at pre-school. All fees must be cleared by the end of every half term. Please read our payment policy.
Funding
2 year olds
Eligible working parents of 2-year-olds will be able to claim 15 hours per week, for 38 weeks per year, from the term after their 2nd birthday (5 sessions). Eligible families must apply to Childcare Choices and be approved the term prior to claiming the funding (before your child turns 2) If you are eligible, please contact the office staff on office@ourladyoflourdes.southend.sch.uk. We must advise the council that we will be claiming 2-year-old funding BEFORE your child starts at pre-school. We will need a parent’s date of birth and their NI number.
3-4 year olds
All children are entitled to 15 hours universal funding (5 sessions) from the term AFTER their 3rd birthday. 30 hours childcare is available to eligible working families of 3 and 4 year olds in England. This is an additional 15 hours on top of the 15 hours available to all parents of three and four year olds.
If you think you are entitled to 30-hour funding, please go to Childcare Choices. You will find a link to the Government’s childcare calculator, information on how to claim it and the deadlines involved – for example, if you are claiming for the autumn term starting September 2025, you must apply before 31 August 2024. If you miss this deadline, you will not receive the universal 30-hour funding for that term. Lunch club sessions attended by your child will then be added to school money and invoiced to you payable in two instalments.
If eligible you will be given an 11 digit code, you will need to bring this code, your national insurance number and your child’s date of birth to the school office before a 30 hour space can be allocated as the school office must validate your code on the Early Years portal.
Every 3 months you will then need to reconfirm this code to ensure funding continues and ensure all information is up to date. HMRC will send reminders.
All parents/carers of children eligible for 30 hour funding are required to sign the parent/carer declaration form before the start of each term to confirm the number of funded hours they wish to access at our pre-school. You will also need to give the 11-digit code starting 500 and your NI number.
Additional information
Breakfast club, after school club and lunch club are not included in nursery universal funding and so additional charges are payable.
A funding form is required even if you do not claim additional funding - this allows us to claim your 15 hours universal funding - without this we may not be able to claim your funding and you may be liable for payment.
The declaration form is emailed to parents before the start of each term and is due back before the start of the new term.
Southend-on-Sea Borough Council has agreed that if a parent/carer decides to increase the number of hours their child is accessing after our headcount date (usually within the first 2 weeks of term), we can charge the parent/carer for these additional sessions. You will be able to claim for the increased hours, provided you meet all entitlement criteria, from the start of the next term.