Nagila Pre-School
Nagila, which means “rejoice,” is the excellent and highly praised nursery of EHRS
Early Years Foundation Stage
The Early Years Foundation Stage covers the ages 0 – 5, and continues through the Reception Year at full time school, which prepares children to move onto Key Stage 1 when they reach school age. Research shows that children who have attended pre-school are at an advantage in school work when they are tested at the age of seven.
Seven areas of learning covered
Three prime areas of learning:
- Personal, Social and Emotional Development
- Communication and Language
- Physical Development
Then four specific areas of learning build on the prime areas:
- Literacy
- Mathematics
- Understanding the World
- Expressive Arts & Design
Learn Through Play
Activities include water, sand, clay, painting, singing, drama, nature, cooking, dancing, musical appreciation, woodwork and crafts, which are all provided on a regular basis.
Letter and number work form part of everyday activities and routines, which helps to develop the children’s understanding of numeric concepts and literacy skills.
For older children these areas are also addressed more formally to cover early mathematics and pre-reading and pre-writing work.
We encourage the children to be kind and helpful to other children, and to be creative and active themselves. We aim to prepare children for their entry to primary school so that they leave us as confident, happy children, keen to learn and absorb knowledge, and socially ready and mature to fit into the new social group at their school.
Parents are considered partners and recognised as the most important educators of their own children. Children’s progress is regularly monitored and discussed with parents who are invited to join us for regular events such as Shabbat, Seder, Chanukah and end of year parties.
Jewish Heritage
The children’s awareness of their Jewish heritage is encouraged in a number of ways.
- They learn about all the major festivals with activities centred on songs, food, and varied craft activities, such as making Challah for Shabbat, matzah for Pesach, Simchat Torah scrolls and puppets for Purim
- We have weekly fun Hebrew sessions led by a visiting teacher, to which there is a small additional charge
- We end the week with a Shabbat celebration, often including a weekly outing by the Shabbat Ima and Aba to buy the challah
- The children enjoy visits to the local shops and other places of interest
- Visitors are also invited in to Nagila to talk about what they do at work
- We have our own t-shirts and sweatshirts available from the school
Our Staff
All teachers hold recognised Early Years qualifications and are led by an Early Years Professional (EYP). Recent research (by The Effective Provision of Pre-School (EPPE) Project) has shown that one of the key indicators of the quality of childcare is the qualifications held by staff.
Our dedicated teachers promote the learning process by actively listening to and observing the children. They enable opportunities for discovery and problem solving, guide and document the learning process, nurture individuals and relationships and help to build a sense of community.
- Milissa Seiler MA – Head Teacher (pictured)
- Susannah Shackleton – Deputy Manager / Setting SENCO
Find Out More
Policies and Procedures
- Download Role of the Key Person and Settling In
- Download Promoting Positive Behaviour Procedure
- Download Adverse Weather Procedure
- Download Uncollected Child Policy
- Download Information Sharing Policy
- Download Nagila Complaints Procedure
- Download Managing Children who are Sick, Infectious or With Allergies Policy
- Download Safeguarding Children, Young People and Vulnerable Adults Policy