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		<title><![CDATA[St Clare's Catholic Primary School Gallery Feed - Our Provision]]></title>
		<link>https://www.st-clares.essex.sch.uk%2Fgallery%2F%3Fpid%3D7%26amp%3Bgcatid%3D15</link>
		<description><![CDATA[At St Clare&rsquo;s Nursery we follow&nbsp;the EYFS&nbsp;Statuary Framework, which includes the Seven Areas of&nbsp;Learning&nbsp;and Characteristics of Effective Learning. We also follow Cornerstone Curriculum, White Rose Maths&nbsp;and&nbsp;Letters and Sounds Programme. The nursery is set up with these in mind. Children&nbsp;are able to&nbsp;access&nbsp;all of&nbsp;these areas on a free flow basis.&nbsp;

We encourage children to learn through play,&nbsp;child&nbsp;and adult initiated activities. For&nbsp;example&nbsp;arts and craft, tuff trays,&nbsp;messy play&nbsp;e.g.&nbsp;water, sand,&nbsp;mud&nbsp;and children&rsquo;s individual&nbsp;interests.&nbsp;We also access a variety toys and equipment in the garden.&nbsp;&nbsp;

Personal, Social and Emotional&nbsp;(PSE)&nbsp;

We support children to&nbsp;build positive relationships,&nbsp;develop&nbsp;self-confidence&nbsp;and understand their emotions. Children are encouraged to share, take&nbsp;turns&nbsp;and develop independence in a safe environment. Children are supported through transitions by their key person&nbsp;and opportunities are provided for children to manage feelings through reassurance,&nbsp;routine&nbsp;and positive relationships.&nbsp;

The children are provided with the following&nbsp;opportunities and&nbsp;resources to&nbsp;support their PSE&nbsp;development:&nbsp;


	
	Realistic home corner &ndash; including babies,&nbsp;prams, cots, feeding equipment, clothing&nbsp;kitchen utensils,&nbsp;and food play sets,&nbsp;hoovers, sofas&nbsp;etc.&nbsp;
	



	
	Role play area which changes&nbsp;frequently&nbsp;&ndash; including doctors, vets, hairdressers, garden&nbsp;centre&nbsp;and ice cream shop.&nbsp;
	



	
	Construction area &ndash; including a variety of&nbsp;bricks, cars,&nbsp;construction vehicles, tool set, dressing up&nbsp;and&nbsp;workbench.&nbsp;
	



	
	Small world play &ndash; including cars, garages, trains&nbsp;and tracks, space&nbsp;toys, multicultural people&nbsp;and&nbsp;doll houses, farm and zoo animals,&nbsp;hospital&nbsp;and fire stations.&nbsp;
	


&nbsp;

Communication and Language&nbsp;

We support children to develop their listening,&nbsp;understanding&nbsp;and speaking skills through stories, songs,&nbsp;play&nbsp;and positive communication. Children are encouraged to express their thoughts and feelings in a safe and supportive environment. We aim for children to become confident communicators with an increasing&nbsp;vocabulary. The following strategies are used to enhance these skills:&nbsp;&nbsp;


	Visual timetables,&nbsp;calendar&nbsp;and weather board.&nbsp;
	
	Puppet play.&nbsp;
	



	
	Singing and circle times.&nbsp;
	



	
	Makaton during songs,&nbsp;action&nbsp;rhymes&nbsp;and stories.&nbsp;
	



	
	Visual reminders&nbsp;(now and then board).&nbsp;
	
	
	Self Registration.&nbsp;
	


&nbsp;

Physical&nbsp;

We support children to develop their gross and&nbsp;fine motor skills through play. We provide&nbsp;challenging activities&nbsp;to encourage children&nbsp;to build confidence,&nbsp;resilience&nbsp;and independence.&nbsp;The use of the following&nbsp;resources&nbsp;provide&nbsp;extensive opportunity to expand their development within this area:&nbsp;


	
	A large garden&nbsp;containing&nbsp;a climbing frame, bikes and scooters, sand pit,&nbsp;water tray,&nbsp;mud&nbsp;kitchen, balance beams and more.&nbsp;
	



	
	Tuff trays promoting fine motor skills.&nbsp;
	



	
	Newly developed soft play area and sensory area.&nbsp;
	



	
	Threading.&nbsp;
	



	
	Scissor control.&nbsp;&nbsp;
	



	
	Mark making.&nbsp;&nbsp;
	


&nbsp;

Literacy&nbsp;

Children are encouraged to develop a love of books and mark making through a range of activities, cosy&nbsp;areas&nbsp;and circle times. We support early reading and writing skills through songs,&nbsp;rhymes&nbsp;and meaningful experiences. Opportunities are provided for children to integrate and immerse themselves into&nbsp;stories&nbsp;and&nbsp;we strive to&nbsp;enhance engagement and enjoyment&nbsp;throughout.&nbsp;Provision includes:&nbsp;


	
	&lsquo;Letters and&nbsp;Sounds&rsquo;&nbsp;&ndash; Phonics Programme followed also used in&nbsp;Reception -&nbsp;We focus on children recognising environmental sounds before moving onto rhyming words, letter sounds and syllables&nbsp;by playing a structured set of games every day.&nbsp;
	



	
	Core&nbsp;books&nbsp;-&nbsp;Wonky Donkey, The Very Hungry Caterpillar, Traditional Fairy Tales and Julia Dondalson books such as The Gruffalo, Stick Man and The Snail&nbsp;And&nbsp;The&nbsp;Whale to name a few.&nbsp;
	



	
	Story Sacks/ Story&nbsp;Spoons.&nbsp;
	



	
	Puppets.&nbsp;
	


&nbsp;

Mathematics&nbsp;

Children are encouraged to explore and develop their understanding of numbers, shapes, space and measure through activities and everyday experiences. We support children to explore patterns, problem solving and mathematical language through&nbsp;the White Rose Maths Programme as well as:&nbsp;


	
	Number Block activities.&nbsp;&nbsp;
	



	
	Number songs.&nbsp;
	



	
	Counting forwards and backwards.&nbsp;
	



	
	Shape matching,&nbsp;sorting&nbsp;and recognition.&nbsp;&nbsp;
	



	
	Weighing and measuring.&nbsp;

	&nbsp;
	


Understanding the World&nbsp;

We support children to explore people,&nbsp;places&nbsp;and the natural world through hands on experiences. Opportunities are provided for children to investigate,&nbsp;discuss&nbsp;and learn about the world around&nbsp;them. We also provide the following experiences&nbsp;which lead to further discussions,&nbsp;broadening&nbsp;the children&rsquo;s knowledge and understanding:&nbsp;


	
	Bug hotel in the garden.&nbsp;
	



	
	Growing area&nbsp;maintained&nbsp;by the children.&nbsp;
	



	
	Special Dates celebrated &ndash; including Mother&rsquo;s Day, Father&rsquo;s Day, Pancake Day, Remembrance&nbsp;Day&nbsp;and Bonfire Night.&nbsp;
	



	
	Festivals and Religious Events &ndash; including Christmas, Easter, Diwali, Chinese New Year etc.&nbsp;
	



	
	Special snacks to celebrate cultures,&nbsp;traditions&nbsp;and cuisines.&nbsp;
	



	
	Cooking once a week&nbsp;(day is alternated each week to ensure all children access this).
	


&nbsp;

Expressive Arts and Design&nbsp;

Children are supported to explore creativity, imagination and&nbsp;self-expression&nbsp;through art,&nbsp;music&nbsp;and dance.&nbsp;Opportunities are provided for children to experiment with materials,&nbsp;resources&nbsp;and role play. For example:&nbsp;&nbsp;


	
	Craft activity daily, linked to the Cornerstone Curriculum topic for that week.&nbsp;
	



	
	Play dough.&nbsp;
	



	
	Access to drawing, mark making, paint, scissors throughout the session.&nbsp;
	



	
	Chalk and other mark making resources in the garden.&nbsp;
	



	
	Music sessions using various musical instruments.&nbsp;
	



	
	Group songs and dance.&nbsp;
	


&nbsp;&nbsp;

Soft Play and Sensory Area&nbsp;

We have recently developed a soft play and sensory area in the nursery.&nbsp;

The sensory area has a dark den, sensory lighting, calm&nbsp;sounds&nbsp;and soft pillows. This provides a safe, calm space for children to unwind and regulate when feeling overwhelmed. Children who&nbsp;require&nbsp;additional&nbsp;sensory support can access this space during their session on a 1:1 or within&nbsp;a group. The space also has sensory puzzles and books providing tactile and visual stimulation. In addition, we have toys that spin, flap, light up, can be squeezed, pushed and guttering for rolling balls, these support co-ordination and teach&nbsp;cause and effect.&nbsp;&nbsp;

The soft play area is a safe space for children to exert their energy, learning skills in climbing, building co-ordination,&nbsp;balance&nbsp;and physical fitness. Children also learn the skills of turn taking, enhancing confidence, resilience, self-esteem, independence, curiosity and how to problem solve in challenging situations.&nbsp;

These areas can be accessed by children with&nbsp;additional&nbsp;needs during episodes of dysregulation, ensuring they are safe and&nbsp;supporting their development.&nbsp;

&nbsp;

Our Garden&nbsp;

Since opening the nursery in September 2021, we have been&nbsp;very lucky&nbsp;to have received&nbsp;donations from&nbsp;families, the community and the school PTA which has enabled us to develop our outside environment.&nbsp;On our grassed area we have a climbing frame, balance beams,&nbsp;tyres,&nbsp;tunnels, bridges, music&nbsp;wall&nbsp;and small climbing structures.&nbsp;All of&nbsp;these resources help&nbsp;the children to develop their gross motor skills,&nbsp;resilience&nbsp;and&nbsp;confidence.&nbsp;We also have lots of bikes,&nbsp;cars&nbsp;and scooters for the children to enjoy riding up and down the garden on.&nbsp;We have a variety of smaller resources for the children to enjoy such as hoops, beanbags, bats and balls, mark making flowers, chalk, basketball&nbsp;hoops&nbsp;and football goals.&nbsp;&nbsp;

&nbsp;

Mud Kitchen&nbsp;&nbsp;

Staff have recently expanded our mud kitchen area to include realistic kitchen&nbsp;utensils,&nbsp;cookery&nbsp;items&nbsp;and lots of bark for the children to&nbsp;explore.&nbsp;A very big&nbsp;thank you to&nbsp;The Tyre Centre Clacton for a donation of tyres to help section&nbsp;this area.&nbsp;&nbsp;

&nbsp;

Growing Area and Bug Hotel&nbsp;

In our garden we have&nbsp;a special area&nbsp;dedicated to growing&nbsp;as well as&nbsp;bug investigation. The children plant flowers, fruits and vegetables and look after the garden by watering,&nbsp;weeding&nbsp;and planting seeds. We have so far grown radishes, carrots,&nbsp;lettuce&nbsp;and beans. The children pick their&nbsp;produce&nbsp;and we try it during snack time.&nbsp;

Next to our growing area we have our bug hotel. Staff have made this using&nbsp;pallets&nbsp;and various loose parts. The children enjoy bug hunting and placing their bugs inside the hotel. We have recently invested in some bug hunting equipment and are&nbsp;in the process of building&nbsp;a bug investigation station. This will expand on children&rsquo;s knowledge about different bugs and insects &ndash; looking at how many legs they have, what colours&nbsp;they are&nbsp;and their preferred habitats.&nbsp;

&nbsp;

Sand pit&nbsp;&nbsp;

We have a large sand pit in the garden which was very kindly built by one of the staff&rsquo;s family members. The children can access this every time we are outside. We rotate resources in here, for example, construction vehicles and dinosaurs. The children are encouraged to transport&nbsp;the sand around the sand pit, build structures and&nbsp;sandcastles&nbsp;and explore the different textures of wet and dry sand.&nbsp;&nbsp;
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		<pubDate>Mon, 1 Jun 2026 16:52:37 GMT</pubDate>
		<lastBuildDate>Mon, 1 Jun 2026 16:52:37 GMT</lastBuildDate>
		<item>	<title><![CDATA[ ST CLARES SCHOOL – Our links ]]></title>	<link>https://www.st-clares.essex.sch.uk/gallery/?pid=7&amp;gcatid=15&amp;albumid=29</link>	<description><![CDATA[<img src ="https://www.st-clares.essex.sch.uk/_site/data/images/galleries/29/small-Image4.jpg">]]></description>	<pubDate>Mon, 1 Jun 2026 16:52:37 GMT</pubDate>	<guid isPermaLink="true">https://www.st-clares.essex.sch.uk/gallery/?pid=7&amp;gcatid=15&amp;albumid=29</guid></item><item>	<title><![CDATA[ Curriculum Favourites ]]></title>	<link>https://www.st-clares.essex.sch.uk/gallery/?pid=7&amp;gcatid=15&amp;albumid=28</link>	<description><![CDATA[<img src ="https://www.st-clares.essex.sch.uk/_site/data/images/galleries/28/small-Dinosaur1.jpeg">]]></description>	<pubDate>Mon, 1 Jun 2026 16:44:10 GMT</pubDate>	<guid isPermaLink="true">https://www.st-clares.essex.sch.uk/gallery/?pid=7&amp;gcatid=15&amp;albumid=28</guid></item><item>	<title><![CDATA[ Community Links ]]></title>	<link>https://www.st-clares.essex.sch.uk/gallery/?pid=7&amp;gcatid=15&amp;albumid=27</link>	<description><![CDATA[<img src ="https://www.st-clares.essex.sch.uk/_site/data/images/galleries/27/small-Garden1.jpg">]]></description>	<pubDate>Wed, 27 May 2026 11:59:54 GMT</pubDate>	<guid isPermaLink="true">https://www.st-clares.essex.sch.uk/gallery/?pid=7&amp;gcatid=15&amp;albumid=27</guid></item><item>	<title><![CDATA[ Nursery Provision ]]></title>	<link>https://www.st-clares.essex.sch.uk/gallery/?pid=7&amp;gcatid=15&amp;albumid=23</link>	<description><![CDATA[<img src ="https://www.st-clares.essex.sch.uk/_site/data/images/galleries/23/small-2E54B75E9E884190A7FE4612DBB84777.jpg">]]></description>	<pubDate>Mon, 9 Mar 2026 08:30:50 GMT</pubDate>	<guid isPermaLink="true">https://www.st-clares.essex.sch.uk/gallery/?pid=7&amp;gcatid=15&amp;albumid=23</guid></item>
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