For our older children the curriculum ensures that children are given meaningful, interesting, practical play experiences that are going to allow them to become confident competent learners, who enjoy learning because it is fun. We combine child-initiated activities with direct teaching and adult led activities. We give children the opportunity to use all their developing skills to learn in a cross curricula way through play as they explore different activities and experiences including;

• Heuristic Materials – These are collections of everyday objects made of natural materials chosen to offer stimulus to different senses. They support your toddler’s tactile exploration and investigation of materials which are open ended. Your Toddler can manipulate objects in many ways; collecting, arranging, posting, transporting, stacking, knocking down, filling and pouring. These actions strengthen fine motor skills and give children opportunity to explore ‘schema’ or patterns of thinking.
• Investigation and Exploration – We provide resources to encourage your child to investigate and explore the world around them. We include opportunities to explore exciting things from nature and science to how things work and superheroes! Activities are designed to engage your child’s curiosity and develop their knowledge and understanding.
• Physical play – Children’s play is very active and physical, which is essential for development of their brains, heart, lungs, bones and bodies. It improves their movement and co-ordination and contributes to keeping a healthy body weight. Exercise improves their mood and self-esteem and helps them to learn. We ensure that they have lots of opportunities for physical play indoors and outdoors. They love to use gross motor skills to jump, sweep, push, throw, fill, lift, carry, dance and run.
• Creative activities – we provide lots of opportunities for creativity, investigation and exploration and to discover all about the world around them. Your child can experience different textures as they play with malleable materials such as playdough, clay and gloop; made of cornflour and water. Children enjoy painting, water and sand play, as well as sticking collages or making models with cereal boxes and other recycled materials. Children can explore the mathematics of shape and pattern and add mathematical language to their vocabulary. They can discover properties of materials in the world around them and learn to use tools such as pencils, paintbrushes and rolling pins independently.
• Construction area – small and large blocks provide the opportunity for your child to practice and develop their gross and fine motor movements. Together with small world people, vehicles and animals they allow children to create imaginary worlds and tell stories. Children can also work collaboratively to solve problems.
• Role Play – allows your child to act out things they experience in their own lives and to explore different roles. It encourages co-operation and creatively, supports communication, language and literacy skills and increases understanding of the world.
• Music, songs and rhymes – We talk and sing with children, encouraging them to join in action rhymes when they are ready. We listen to and often make music together. We encourage children to listen carefully to different sounds in the environment, made by instruments and in rhymes. We explore rhythm and beat and have fun whilst supporting important communication and language learning.
• Stories and books – We share cosy times snuggling up with picture and story books. Sometimes we also use puppets to bring a story to life. Children listen, concentrate and enjoy joining in with stories and rhymes. They look at books independently retelling favourite stories from pictures and beginning to recognise written words. They learn how books work and how to respect them.
• Mark Making – Resources for mark making including pencils, crayons, paper and notebooks are available in most areas of the nursery to allow children to include writing in their play – such as writing a shopping list in the role play area. There are also specific areas for mark making equipped with additional resources such as rulers and rubbers, calendars and forms to encourage children to begin to make marks, patterns, pictures and eventually number and letters.
• ICT – We support children in exploring technology. We help them to develop skills to use equipment such as remote-control toys, torches, and a range of ICT equipment.
• Letters and Sounds – We use the ‘Letters and Sounds’ phonics programme which is designed to teach children how the alphabet works for reading and spelling. The activities we use from Phase One of the programme concentrate on developing children’s speaking and listening skills, phonological awareness and oral blending and segmenting. We use these activities as part of our curriculum in order to link language with children’s physical and practical experiences. These activities pave the way for children to make a good start in reading and writing.
• Key Group Time – We have ‘small group times’ twice a day were each key group spends time with their Key Person focusing on a particular aspect of learning and development.