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Holy Child Primary School, Derry

Learning and Teaching

Mrs Catherine Breslin - Nursery Assistant
Mrs Catherine Breslin - Nursery Assistant
 
Ms Deirdre Doyle - Nursery Assistant
Ms Deirdre Doyle - Nursery Assistant
 
Miss Rachael Lynch - Nursery Teacher
Miss Rachael Lynch - Nursery Teacher
 
Mrs Áine O'Connor - Nursery Teacher
Mrs Áine O'Connor - Nursery Teacher
 

Teaching and Learning

The Nursery staff at Holy Child Nursery Unit aspire to provide the best start to education for each child that comes through our doors.

As a team, we work very hard to create an invigorating environment to challenge our students while maintaining their happiness and wellbeing first and foremost. We provide a stimulating curriculum for our children through a thematic scheme of planning which caters for every child’s needs.

We focus mainly on Language Development to ensure we are giving our students the best chance to reach their full potential. Our Speech Therapist has proven to be a vital element of our Nursery team. We have recently created a lot of resources and time to help with our children’s wellbeing and mindfulness. There is a dedicated time each week to focus on wellbeing as well as opportunities throughout each day for children to experience mindfulness activities.

We, at Holy Child Nursery Unit, aim to provide opportunities for our children to develop and grow and we explore every area of the Nursery curriculum to do so. Our active learning approach keeps our children engaged and interactive in their own learning in a comfortable and safe environment. Our staff are constantly changing and adapting our planning to suit our classes and their styles of learning.

We follow the Northern Ireland Curricular Guidance for Pre-School Education, promoting a play-based learning environment which is child-driven and child-focussed.

We cover the following six areas of learning;

  • Personal, Social and Emotional Development
  • Physical Development and Movement
  • Language Development
  • Early Mathematical Experiences
  • The Arts
  • The World Around Us

Staffing

Our Nursery teachers are Miss Rachael Lynch and Miss Mrs Áine O’Connor. Our Nursery assistants are Ms Deirdre Doyle and Mrs Catherine Breslin. 

Session Times

8:30 – 9:00am – Supervised Breakfast Club 

9:00 – 9:15am – Morning Meet and Greet

9:15 – 11:10am – Child-Initiated Play

                             Listening Games

                             Snack Time

                             Indoor Physical Play

                             Tidy Up Time

11.10 – 11:30am – Focused Carpet Time

11.30 – 12:00pm – Shared Outdoor Play

12:00 – 12:50pm – Dinner Time 

12:50 – 1:00pm – Afternoon Play

1:00 - 1.15pm - Pick Up

 

Further Learning Opportunities

Throughout the week we also have external visitors coming to the Nursery Unit for extra sessions such as Miss Doreen with Jo Jingles (Music and Movement), Maiden City Soccer (Fundemental Movement) and visits to Creggan Library.

We offer extra Speech and Language sessions for children who need further support after school, and run a Transition Programme to help children with the transition from Nursery to Primary 1.

Home-School Links

We recognise that parents are also the child’s first and primary educators, so work hard to establish a partnership with parents from the offset.

We send home weekly language packs and reading books, run “Big Bed Time Read” events throughout the year, invite parents and grandparents in to school as much as possible, and use the SeeSaw education app to send photos and updates from your child throughout the school day.

Sharing from the Start

We are delighted to be reinstating our successful “Sharing from the Start” programme with our partner school, Ebrington Nursery Unit, throughout this school year.