At St Thomas Cantilupe we recognise and value the importance of Early Years and the vital role it plays in a child's learning journey. The intent of our curriculum is to equip children with the necessary knowledge, skills and child-initiated activities; bringing together the best approaches, with carefully planned continuous provision and enabling environments that evolve and adapt to meet the interests and needs of the children.

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At St Thomas Cantilupe we value, respect and care for all of our children. We provide a curriculum which is based upon their needs , interests and links to the world around them. We are proud of the inspiring environment we have purposely designed to stimulate and challenge children.

We recognise the importance of developing strong early learning skills in communication, language, phonics and number. This is achieved through a combination of adult led and child initiated activities, a well planned out learning environment, opportunities for purposeful play and building and extending on children's interests and knowledge.

We strive to form positive relationships with parents and work with them to share their child's learning and how best they can support with their child's learning at home. We regularly invite parents in for workshops which help to inform them about how we teach phonics, reading and writing at STC.

At St Thomas Cantilupe we are dedicated to giving children the very best start to their education. The children are provided with a wealth of opportunities for real life experiences which allows them to follow their own interests, to develop valuable skills and make their learning so memorable. Our experienced staff, creative curriculum and inspiring environment all help to ensure that all children make good progress and spark a life long love of learning that will help them to reach their full potential.

St Thomas Cantilupe, nursery and reception classes work closely together to provide an inclusive, challenging and stimulating environment in which the children are able to thrive and develop as individuals. Our pupils' experiences during their time in the early years foundation stage equip them with the skills needed to make the best start to their educational journey. 

Our reception class teacher and EYFS lead is Mrs E Bentley.

Below you can view a welcome message, from Mrs Bentley, for our new starters.

Our nursery is open Monday to Friday,  (operating the same term times as the main school) we offer care and education for children aged between 2 and 5 years at the following times:

We have a spacious outdoor area and dedicated outdoor classroom with mud kitchen and creative play areas. The children have many opportunities to explore and play in a safe and stimulating learning environment, well equipped with a variety of high quality resources that cater for the emotional, social, physical and creative needs of every child.

You can follow us on Twitter by looking for @ThomasCantilupe or by clicking the blue bird icon at the top of this webpage. Below is a tweet which features our Early Years promotional video.

Welcome to Early Years at St Thomas Cantilupe 😀 Where big smiles are all around. pic.twitter.com/6FdruF18o7

 (@ThomasCantilupe)

You can also follow us on Instagram by looking for earlyyears_stc