New provision for two-year-olds at St Bernadette’s Catholic Primary School in Nunthorpe is helping ensure children are up and running when the time comes to begin their full-time education.

St Bernadette’s children with Mrs Islam, Miss Haw and Mayor Cooke.

Thanks to generous funding from housing developers, ten toddlers came into a brand-new building on the school site at the start of the school year.

Middlesbrough Council added additional cash for outside play facilities, and the town’s Mayor Chris Cooke came along to meet the children and see the new set-up for himself.

Mayor Cooke with children.

Unfortunately, Storm Chandra decided to put in an appearance too, making playing in the new council-funded sandpit and mud kitchen impossible, but Mayor Cooke enjoyed a game of dinosaurs with the children instead.

“We set up our two-year-old provision at the end of September, so it’s only relatively new,” said headteacher Sarah Brady.

“We have places for 10 children and are almost full, but it’s quite a large space and we’d love to extend and offer more places.

“The funding from Middlesbrough Council has really helped improve our outdoor area, which we plan to build on over the next few years.

“We were delighted Chris was able to come in and see what we’re doing here, and the children certainly seemed to enjoy his visit.

“We’re planning to bid for more outdoor furniture and resources when the new funding becomes available in April.”

A BBC crew also came along to interview Mayor Cooke for its weekend politics programme.

Mayor Cooke said:

“It was great to visit the children at St Bernadette’s and see first hand how ambitious Miss Brady and her team are for the students.

“The school grants we introduced were designed to help teachers create better environments and experiences. I had great fun meeting the nursery class and seeing them learn as they played.

“With more grants, extra holiday clubs and youth clubs in every ward, we’re pushing hard to create more opportunities for our young people right across Middlesbrough.”

The new early years building was paid for by Section 106 funding, which developers contribute to improve communities they build housing in.
It opened its doors at the start of the school year and is proving hugely popular.

“The children have settled in so well and come in happy and smiling every day. We can see them improving their communication and personal and social development, which has a positive impact as they move into nursery and the rest of the school.

“We also run a toddler group for babies up to three-year-olds once a month, when we invite any who wants to to come along to sessions run by our teaching staff and music lead.

“It’s all about giving the children a strong starting point and welcoming them into the St Bernadette’s family as soon as possible.

“We’re delighted to be able to offer more to the community and to have so many happy children here at St Bernadette’s.”