Nursery’s full time move will benefit parents and children

A OMAGH nursery has been given the go-ahead to only offer full-time places from this term, in a move which will benefit both the children who go there and their parents.

Omagh North, a community-based nursery school on Old Mountfield Road established in 1979, has been given permission by the Department of Education to switch from 78 ‘mixed-pattern’ places (made up of 26 full-time and 52 part-time pupils) to offer 52 full-time places.

This in in line with recommendations contained within the Department of Education’s ‘Fair Start’ report, which will eventually see all pre-school children in the North offered a solid grounding of four-and-a-half hours of quality education per day.

Omagh North principal, Amanda Duffy-Phillips, described the decision as ‘amazing news’ for the nursery.

fantastic

She said, “The Department for Education hope to drive forward this plan which will see all pre-school children avail of four and a half hours of pre school education. It has come just a little bit sooner for us, which is fantastic.”

The principal continued, “It means that the pre-school children will have more opportunities and quality experiences because their day will be longer.

“They will have more of a chance to explore things for a longer period of time, all for the benefit of preparing them for the next stage of their education.”

For some schools, reducing their intake might not seem appealing, but according to Amanda, it’s the best model of education to benefit pre-school pupils, enhance their learning and development as well as to hone in on expertise of staff.

“Many other schools might not want to reduce their intake, but we know that having 52 pre-schoolers here in a school that was always built and conceived for pre school education – going right back to where we began – was the right move for Omagh North Nursery School.

“And as we head toward our 45th anniversary, we are going from strength-to-strength.”

One parent at Omagh North Nursery School, Andrea Smyth, shared how the move to full-time will benefit both her and her son,
Alfie.

“The change to full-time class will really benefit Alfie and I,” said Andrea, who lives on the outskirts of the town.

new routines

“The four-and-a-half hours will allow for new routines to build and bring plenty of new learning opportunities for Alfie to prepare him for
P1.”

She pointed out how Alfie will now enjoy the social setting of dinner time at school, enjoying a hot meal with his pre-school friends.

“I think from a parent’s perspective as well, it gives me more time from drop-off and I know that Alfie will be happy.”

Charlotte Jones, mother of Omagh North pupil, Ivie-Mae, said that her daughter has come on ‘leaps and bounds’ since beginning at Omagh North.

“There has been such a dramatic increase in Ivie-Mae’s people skills and her ability to interact with others,” said Charlotte.

“She’s grown so confident and has really came out of her shell in her time here at Omagh North and she really is thriving; not to mention chomping at the bit to get back to school again this year.”

Charlotte said, “The change to full time will mean less running for me, but ultimately it will benefit Ivie-Mae in a great way.

“She will get more time to focus on her educational needs before she enters P1 and learn the routine.”

Omagh North boasts an inclusive and diverse range of pupils and, this year alone, pre-schoolers from nine different countries all across Europe and further afield are enrolled.

“Our children come from all parts of Omagh and around the world, and when they leave us they head off to as many as nine different primary schools, all across the surrounding areas of Omagh,” added the principal.