Fox Hollies Russell Nursery School

Food & Nutrition

Meals designed to provide a well-balanced diet which is both nutritional and enjoyable.

• On site freshly prepared meals and snacks
• Fresh ingredients sources from local reputable supplies
• We cater to all dietary needs for all ages
• Meals include fruit and vegetables

Meals are prepared on site by our chef who sources only the freshest ingredients from local and reputable sources. This not only helps your children eat healthy but also helps the local stores.

Our meals are hand picked to provide your children with a nutritional well-balanced meal that meets all of your children’s dietary needs.

We encourage a healthy eating lifestyle so all of our meals and snacks include fruit and vegetables.

During meal times, we encourage your children to be independent and to use good table manners.

Fox Hollies Baby Unit

Learn by doing with a purpose-built sensory area, soft play, sand play and water play to help give your baby a head start in life.

• Purpose-built sensory area
• Sand and water play
• Story, dancing and sing along times
• Access to two playgrounds
• Access to garden area
• Meal times
• Baby walks around local area
• Open communication between staff and parents on daily activities
• Working alongside The Early Years Foundation Stage (EYFS)

We work alongside The Early Years Foundation Stage (EYFS) and ensure that your baby is fully supported through all of their development needs.

Our Baby Unit is cosy and full of fun messy play opportunities that are matched to the interests of the babies and their stages of development.

We have a purpose built sensory area which the babies have free-flow access into.

Some of the favourite activities that help stimulate the babies are soft play and sand/water play although the babies also enjoy story times, dancing sessions and sing along times to familiar songs and rhymes.

Babies have access to our two playgrounds.  Soft mats are used whenever the babies are taken out.  In addition to this, babies are also taken outside in prams in the local area as much as possible.

Meal times are lots of fun and represent an important social occasion for children and staff to bond. This also helps to build structured routines and boundaries that will help the development of a baby. Meals are cooked fresh onsite by our chef.

Babies have access to our two playgrounds one of which is their own outside play area and also the garden area. Whilst out on the play grounds we use soft play mats to ensure that the babies have pleasurable soft time to explore.

Parents provide us with a lot of information about their children’s personalities, interests, favourite toys, sleeping patterns and dietary needs. We use “The Early Years Foundation Stage” curriculum as a basis for planning a programme for our youngest children which is varied and flexible and also fits in with familiar routines already established at home.

In addition to our Parents’ Evenings, we place great importance on daily discussions with parents to reflect on the day’s events. We keep a written record of every child’s day which is given to parents to take home with them.

Fox Hollies Toddler Unit

Toddlers enjoy taking part in the expressive arts in our specifically designed unit which help to further build upon their current skill sets.

• Large open play areas
• Local walks
• Seven areas of learning and development
• Expressive arts
• Learning to make sound via phonics
• Designed for toddlers between 1-2 years old
• Cooking Sessions
• Singing & dancing sessions
• Music making area
• Painting time
• Sensory and soft play
• Toilet training facilities
• Working with The Early Years Foundation Stage (EYFS)

The large open area for our toddlers, allows access to all of the areas of the learning environment so that they can take part in the expressive arts and learning phonics from a young age.

The Toddlers Unit is specially designed for toddlers between the ages of 1-2 years old. The environment has been designed to be warm and welcoming to help stimulate the toddler.

The Toddler Unit provides a range of activities for the toddlers to take part in. These activities include cooking, singing & dancing, making music, painting, soft play and sensory play.

Toddlers at this age learn spontaneously, and in order to maintain their confidence and to keep pace with their interest and rapid developmental skills, we provide fun and challenging activities to stimulate their learning and progress.

The Early Years Foundation Stage (EYFS) is implemented throughout the planning of the Toddlers Unit to ensure that they have everything needed to aid in their experiences.

Most of the equipment, materials and displays are kept at the toddlers eye-level so that they can access them easily throughout the sessions.

We also play outside as often as we can in our two playgrounds. Toddlers also get the opportunity to go on regular walks in the local area.

Our staff are chosen for their caring skills, their ability to interact with babies and young children and have years of experience with children. Our philosophy is to employ and retain quality staff.

We work closely with parents and take the opportunity to involve them in the development of our planning and the organisation of activities.

In addition to daily communication with parents we share our observations and records regarding children’s progress and development at Parents’ Evenings which are held every term.

Fox Hollies Pre-school Unit

The nursery takes great pride in preparing the children for school by ensuring that the children take part in numeracy, literacy and phonics.

• Caters for 33 Children aged between 2.5-3+ years
• Sand/water Play
• Painting activities
• Reading in our library
• Computer play time
• Imaginative play time (including roleplay)
• Construction equipment
• Getting ready for school activities/role play
• Nativity displays
• Numeracy, Literacy and Phonics
• Day trips
• Confidence building

The Pre-school Unit is always busy with painting and collage activities as well as sand and water play.

Children are given the opportunity to choose activities which also include the library, computers, imaginative play, construction equipment and music.

We have getting ready for school activities which include role playing and this also supports parents in this transition to big school.

Our pre-schoolers are given a variety of activities and experiences to help them to grow in their development. The children take part in nativities, languages and go on trips to help build their confidence.

Our curriculum is child-centered and builds on the children’s own ideas and interests. One of our projects involved new born animals, an idea which was inspired by a visit to the Farm. The children created paintings, collages and clay models of a variety of new born animals.

Our room leader for the Pre-school Unit is also our deputy manager and has many years of experience teaching Pre-school children.

The Pre-school Unit comprises of Pre-school One (2.5 to 3 years of age) and Pre-school Two (3 plus years of age). Both the schools incorporate The Early Years Foundation Stage (EYFS) into their planning and preparation.

We believe that learning should be fun and should be a natural part of everyday life. We encourage children’s interest in reading, writing, numbers and information technology. Our aim is to form a base for successful learning which will last for life.

Parents’ Evenings provide a chance to review a child’s progress. Our continuous assessments and samples of the children’s work from their time with us form the basis of discussion. Parents can look in depth at our literacy and numeracy programmes, Memory Book and other aspects of The Early Years Foundation Stage of the National Curriculum.