Starting nursery is an exciting time for children and families. Some children have the opportunity to start Early Entrants’ nursery when they are 2 years old, but the majority of children start nursery in the term following their third birthday. Information can be found on the council website: https://www.fife.gov.uk/

You need to apply for a 3-5-year-old nursery place for child in the January preceding the academic year that your child is due to start nursery. The current application process can be accessed via the council website: https://www.fife.gov.uk/

We hope that when your child starts Paxton Nursery it will be the beginning of a positive partnership, both for you and your child, and that you will always feel welcome in our nursery. We strive to       communicate effectively with you to allow you to support your child at all stages of their learning journey. We currently use the Seesaw app as a platform to share learning and information with parents. This helps to keep you up to date and allows you to be         actively involved in sharing your child’s learning and achievements.

As parents/carers we hope that you will be able to take part in       family learning activities which are planned by our dedicated staff team. Our family learning programme also offers you additional       opportunities to become involved in activities which give you with the chance to get to know other parents/carers in the nursery and to become involved in activities within the local community.

Starting Nursery

In the few weeks before your child starts nursery we will contact you to let you know about activities that you and your child can take part in to help you and your child become familiar with the nursery environment. This is a great opportunity to find out about our        nursery and to take part in activities which will help your child feel secure when they start their sessions with us.

When you child starts nursey they will be allocated a Key Worker in nursery who will support them in their learning journey and make observations about their learning and achievements which will be shared regularly with you.

In their early days of nursery, some children may take some time to build up to their full session time. We will work with you to support your child to achieve this.

Moving on to school

All parents/carers must enrol their child in their catchment school. You can check your child’s catchment school using Fife Council ‘catchment checker’ tool on the council website: https://www.fife.gov.uk/ If you decide that you would like your child to attend a different school you can make a placing request    at      another school.

Children in Paxton Nursery make the transition to various schools in the local area. We have established strong links with feeder primary schools and we have a well-planned transition programme which      allows school staff to get to know about your child before they start in P1. Our Leadership team begin this process in January to ensure that we can plan appropriately to meet the needs of all our children when they move on to P1.

In Paxton Nursery we help our children prepare for moving on to P1 by planning activities which help them become confident and           informed about moving on to P1.

In their last term of nursery, children will have the opportunity to take part in transition activities which are planned by their P1 school. These activities will be shared with you by their primary school. They will give you an opportunity to begin building                      relationships to support your child’s next steps in their learning journey.

Your child’s Key Worker will share learning information with school staff so that P1 staff can plan for your child’s continuing learning journey in P1. Their nursery PLJ will be passed on to school as          evidence of their learning in nursery.

Additional Support Needs

We pride ourselves on meeting the needs of all our children and families in Paxton Nursery. For some children, this might include considering additional supports which can be accessed via               partnership agencies. We collaborate with a range of agencies to ensure that we can provide appropriate supports for our children and      families and we work with parents/carers when planning for these. You can ask a member of our team for advice if you have any     concerns about your child’s development.

Our children deserve the very best and we aim to ‘Get it Right for Every Child’ (GIRFEC) in Paxton Nursery.