The Early Years
The Early Years Department consists of Nursery and Primaries 1 and 2 and is led by our Early Years Depute, Mrs Margaret Marquis.
The Nursery
Our Nursery, which is registered as a Partner Provider Centre with the City of Edinburgh Pre-School Partnership, endorses the contents of the Scottish Pre-School Curriculum Framework and its five key aspects of children’s development and learning:
- emotional, personal and social development
- communication and language
- knowledge and understanding of the world
- expressive and aesthetic development
- physical development and movement.
Our Nursery operates a Keyworker system, each key worker being responsible for her own group of eight children. Appropriate resources are provided in response to careful observation. Staff plan activities and experiences which recognise the importance of emotional, personal and social development, the acquisition of literacy and numeracy, the contribution of creative and physical skills and an ever-increasing knowledge of the immediate environment and the wider world. The development of each child is charted through the carefully structured Keyworker system. At all times parents are kept fully informed and any anxieties are shared. This ongoing assessment forms the first part of the vitally important pupil profiles which we develop as the children go through school and this structured profiling enables staff to teach all Nursery pupils appropriately.
All Nursery children sit the School’s Primary 1 Entrance Assessment in January / February, as entry to the School is not automatic. Whilst many of our Nursery pupils proceed to Primary 1, entry is competitive due to the high demand for Primary 1 entry. A place in Primary 1 cannot therefore be guaranteed to all Heriot’s Nursery pupils.
Primary 1 and Primary 2
The boys and girls in P1 and P2 are cared for by their own Class Teacher and benefit from specialist teaching in Physical Education and Music. For children who encounter educational difficulties we have the services of our Support for Learning Department and our Nursery Nurses while our Enrichment Teachers extend and support all pupils’ learning.
In P1 and P2 we introduce the children to school life in a relaxed, happy and yet well-disciplined environment. Each boy or girl is treated as an individual and encounters a rich and varied curriculum encompassing academic, emotional, cultural, social and physical experiences so that each child can be given the opportunity to develop to the best of his or her potential. Our approach is based on A Curriculum for Excellence and we place great emphasis on a wide and varied curriculum while maintaining high standards in Numeracy, Language and Science. We also place great importance on developing a child’s self-confidence, respect, co-operation and communication skills.
During these early years children form attitudes and perceptions which will be with them for life and so we strive to nurture in the children those values which will serve them well in years to come, none being more important than the seeing of themselves as valued and important individuals, each with a separate and positive sense of identity.
The Primary 1 and 2 pupils are fully integrated into the life of the School and benefit greatly from the close contact they enjoy with the Junior School prefects and the Sixth Year pupils. All parents are made to feel welcome as we fully appreciate the value of close co-operation between Home and School.