Welcome to MAPS Nursery - Our 2 Year Old Provision

We wish you a warm welcome from all our staff: Julie E, Julie B, Gaynor, Marie, Rehana and Demi.

Our 2 year old nursery provides education and childcare, our qualified and experienced team aim to consistently improve on their service delivery and practices. The setting actively promotes equality and inclusion and supports children with additional needs and those who speak English as an additional language.  We provide opportunities for learning and development that are rich, stimulating and fulfilling, including a lovely outdoor play area.

The nursery is part of Matthew Arnold Primary School and works with its experienced staff. Children within the nursery are able to participate in weekly sessions and we provide different experiences for our children to participate in, including a visit from farm animals, incubation of baby chicks and more!

Currently we offer fee paying and funded places for 2 year olds.  Financial support for 2 year olds has been introduced and we can offer up to 11.4 hours per week over 50 weeks per year. However, you must meet a given criteria to qualify for a place. Please contact the nursery for further details.

Your 2 year old is eligible for this funding the term after their 2nd birthday. Children born 1st January to 31st March would be eligible from April. Children born 1st April to 31st August would be eligible from September and children born 1st September to 31st December would be eligible from January.

Please note that a place at MAPS Nursery does not grant automatic transition from a 2 year old place to a 3 year old place at Matthew Arnold Primary School Nursery. Applications for a 3 year old place must be made through Matthew Arnold Primary School and you must apply through the school administration office. Places for Matthew Arnold Primary School Nursery are allocated in application date order. If your child attends our provision and a 3 year old place within the school nursery is available when your child is eligible, you will be contacted by the school to offer you this place.

At our recent Ofsted inspection on 22nd August 2014, the nursery was graded as  'Requires Improvement'. Areas for development included:

• Staff need to be consistent with how they ask questions during activities, to maximise the opportunities for children to extend their critical thinking skills.
• Procedures for monitoring and evaluating the quality of teaching and for managing staff performance need to be fully established by management.
• To increase opportunities to support and enhance children's awareness of difference and diversity, through resources and images, which represent diverse backgrounds..

The following measures have been put in place:

• Staff have had training on how to use questioning to maximise learning.
• Staff supervision is carried out every half term. Management regularly observe practice and give both constructive feedback and areas for improvement.
• Staff carry out peer to peer observations.
• New learning journeys are in place and are monitored by Senior Management. Examples of good practice in the children's learning journeys are being shared with staff for guidance. Mentoring is in place with school staff.
• Resources have been purchased to promote diversity. Further resources will be purchased as necessary.