hildren can start in one of our Nursery Classes from the age of 2 years and 9 months. Here they will be in the care of a qualified teacher or early years professional with one or more teaching assistants depending on the size of the class. During their time in the Nursery Class, some children come to school every day whereas others gradually increase their sessions ready for full time attendance in the Reception Class. Children in our Nursery and Reception Classes are expected to wear full school uniform.

Nursery and Reception constitute the second phase of the Early Years Foundation Stage which can be divided into 6 key areas of learning:

• Personal Social and Emotional Development
• Communication, Language and Literacy
• Mathematical Development
• Knowledge and Understanding of the World
• Physical Development
• Creative Development

The Early Learning Goals in each of the above six areas are achieved through a mixture of structured and free play, plus more formal methods of teaching where appropriate. When they are ready, the children begin learning to read and write using the Jolly Phonics method (www.jollylearning.co.uk).

French begins in the Nursery Class; swimming and Teddy Tennis (www.teddytennis.com) in Reception. Yoga, drama and ballet (www.chelseaballet.com) are all optional extracurricular activities.

All children are entitled to receive the Nursery Education Grant for 6 terms following their third birthday.