St. Aloysius Nursery Unit Prospectus

1. Introduction

St. Aloysius nursery unit is a brand new, high standard, purpose built facility in the school.
The nursery unit comprises its own entrance and reception area, a carpeted playroom, parent consultation room, quiet room, toilet facilities and a safe enclosed play area.
The curriculum will take into account the all-round development of the child and aims to ensure that each child progresses at its own rate through challenging and stimulating play in a secure and happy environment.
The children will have the opportunities to develop values, positive attitudes, skills and concepts and to acquire knowledge and understanding through a range of well planned activities.
The nursery unit appreciates the important role of parents in their children's education. We recognise your valuable contribution as your child's first educators and thus encourage an active partnership between the home and the school to help extend and promote your child's development.
We hope you will share with us in making this a very happy and productive period in your child's life.

2. Pastoral Care

St. Aloysius nursery unit is an integral part of St. Aloysius Primary School. As such, the nursery unit aims to foster the same Catholic attitude and value system prevalent throughout the school. We will therefore work together to create a loving, caring, fair and honest environment which actively and positively promotes good relationships between staff, children, the home and the church. The effective formation of these relationships will ensure that each child's spiritual needs are nurtured and developed to the same extent as their emotional, social, intellectual and physical needs.

3. Aims

To work collaboratively with parents, the church and the wider community to offer appropriate provision for each child's individual needs.

To provide a safe and stimulating environment, in which children feel happy and secure and parents feel welcome.

To encourage the emotional, social, physical, creative and intellectual development of children.

To encourage positive attitudes to self and others and develop confidence and self- esteem.

To extend the children's abilities to communicate ideas and feelings in a variety of ways.

To help mould confident, eager and enthusiastic learners who are looking forward to starting school.

4. Parents as Partners

We at St. Aloysius nursery unit aim to promote a very active partnership between the home and the school. We encourage parental involvement in the life of the nursery school and hope that parents and staff can work cooperatively, building up trust and confidence in one another and complementing and supporting each others role in meeting the needs of the child. In particular we request your cooperation with the following:-·

Attending the pre school visit and other meetings at which you will find out about the nursery school curriculum and other matters relevant to your child.

Spending time settling your child into the nursery unit.

Talking to your child each day about his/her activities in the nursery unit.

Helping with school trips under the guidance of the teacher.

Providing materials for the nursery e.g. boxes of tissues, items for the colour corner, interest table or junk for the creative play.

Implement and support our school rules at home.

5. Play

''Play is the important means of learning in early childhood'' (Plowden Report, 1967)

The staff of St. Aloysius nursery unit recognise the importance of play as the crucial and principal mode of young children's learning. When planning the curriculum we provide as diverse and as many play opportunities as possible to promote the optimum learning potential of each child. Daily play activities offered fall into the following categories:

Imaginative play

Encourages children to explore the world around them and to explore the world within their own minds. Role play- e.g. a shopkeeper, a doctor. Plenty of dressing up clothes and interesting equipment will spark imagination.


Social play

Helps to develop communication skills and social interaction. Children develop patterns of behaviour and an awareness of how behaviour affects others. They can overcome fears, inhibitions and aggressions e.g. visits to the hospital. By being 'grown up' children attempt to understand the adult world.


Creative play

Encourages children to express themselves through a variety of media: painting, drawing, craft activities, drama and movement and musical exploration.

Constructive play

Develops manipulative skills, sequencing, matching and controlling. Children can grasp concepts of size, weight, shape and number. Involves a wide range of materials e.g. Lego, Duplo, Mobilo, Interstar etc., collections of junk and assorted material e.g. sand, dough, clay.

Investigative play

Encourages children to explore, classify, question, predict and test. Children examine a variety of materials, objects and situations and thereby develop basic mathematical and scientific concepts.
Water play Water play is therapeutic, calming and relaxing. Children examine the properties:how it pours, drips, splashes, makes ripples etc. Children explore properties of materials in water - floating, sinking, absorbent etc. Children learn basic volume and capacity concepts.
Sand play Similar therapeutic values to water. Children can explore and describe the qualities: pouring, sifting, moulding, patting etc. Children can investigate the difference between wet and dry sand, making models, patterns and landscapes. Children discover how wet sand takes the form of its container.

6. Discipline

All children have the right to play in a safe, secure, orderly environment. In order to provide this we ask for your support in consolidating our policy of positive behaviour when children are at home.In our nursery this is how we behave:

We listen to our teacher and mummy/daddy/granny.

We take turns.

We share everything.

We all love one another.

We all help and care for each other.

We wear aprons for messy activities.

We all help to tidy up.

We always say 'please' and 'thank you'.

7. Special Educational Needs

Children with special educational needs will be integrated and encouraged within the nursery unit. Where necessary, the assistance of appropriate professionals will be enlisted to help identify the special needs so that, if required, individual learning programmes can be devised for the child and appropriate resources provided. Extra time and attention will also be given to help individual children with any special problems they might have.

8. Conclusion

We hope that you have found the information contained on this page useful in terms of clarifying the aims and objectives of the Nursery Unit, the learning opportunities that will be available to your child and the context within which these experiences are offered.We look forward to meeting the children and hope that their experience of the Nursery Unit will be a happy and productive one.I

f you require any additional information please do not hesitate to contact Clare McAllister, at:-

St. Aloysius Primary School Nursery Unit
Ballinderry Road
Lisburn
BT28 1TB
Telephone: (028) 9263 4704