At the Giles Nursery and Infants' School 'Early Years' refers to the nursery and reception unit. Early Years refers to children below statutory school age. However, we include the young fives who are embarking upon the National Curriculum.

The aim is to provide a caring, stimulating atmosphere where this transitional stage is made as smooth as possible. The aims of the Giles Early Years are shared with the whole school.

But we hope that:

• The children will feel secure.
• They will find the early years enjoyable, rewarding, satisfying and will make good progress.
• They will use their experiences to explore and experiment.
• They will interact with their peers and adults and learn from each other.
• They will practise, consolidate and extend previous learning and experiences.
• They will move with ease and confidence from one year group to the other.

Admission Procedures

Children are admitted into the main school as follows:

• Children born between 1st of September and 28th/29th February are admitted in September.
• Children born between 1st of March and 31st of August are admitted in January.

Many of the children in our Reception classes come from our Nursery.  If there are more applicants than places the LEA will then apply a series of rules.  These rules have varied during the past few years but current rules will be sent to you with your application form.

Settling In

There has been a tradition at the Giles Infants' School of introducing children very carefully into the life of the school.

We hope parents will support this policy and not urge us to rush the process.  Our many years of experience have shown us how important this early stage can be.  Even those children who seem to have adjusted to school instantly can become very tired during the first few weeks.

• Week 1: Children will spend only the morning at school.  The morning session starts at 9.00 am and end at 12 noon. At the end of this week parents are invited to have a lunch with their child.
• Week 2: Children begin full-time at school.

 Because children are so very different, do discuss their progress with their teacher.  We try to be flexible and will do everything possible to accommodate your own child's particular needs.