The Autumn term in Nursery focuses on helping children feel happy, settled and confident within their new environment. We place a strong emphasis on building relationships, developing routines and supporting children to become familiar with the Nursery day through play, exploration and carefully planned experiences.

Our curriculum is centred around the key concepts of Celebration, Self-Awareness and Community, helping children begin to understand themselves, their feelings, their families and the world around them. Through high-quality interactions, stories, songs and play experiences, children are encouraged to develop confidence, independence and a sense of belonging within the Nursery community.

Children explore a range of carefully chosen core texts including Colour Monster, We’re Going on a Lion Hunt, Dear Zoo, The Little Red Hen and Owl Babies. These stories support children’s communication and language development while introducing important themes such as emotions, friendship, belonging and caring for others.

Throughout the term, children take part in daily nursery rhymes, singing and language-rich experiences which help to develop listening, attention, vocabulary and early communication skills. Opportunities for mark making, sensory play, outdoor learning and creative exploration are woven throughout the environment to support all areas of learning and development.

As children grow in confidence, they are encouraged to make choices, explore independently and begin developing the important foundations needed for future learning.

What This Looks Like in Nursery

• Building relationships with adults and making new friends
• Learning Nursery routines and developing independence
• Exploring emotions and talking about feelings through stories and play
• Singing nursery rhymes, joining in with actions and developing listening skills
• Sharing favourite stories and exploring core books together
• Developing communication and language through conversations, role-play and storytelling
• Taking part in sensory play, messy play and creative activities
• Exploring the indoor and outdoor environment with confidence and curiosity
• Beginning to develop fine motor skills through mark making, painting, playdough and using tools
• Learning to take turns, share resources and play alongside others
• Exploring seasonal changes and celebrations within our community
• Developing confidence to make choices, investigate and learn through play