Learning & Play

We know that children learn best through play, so we offer a play-based curriculum which supports all areas of learning and development.

We carefully structure the environment in terms of the toys and equipment we provide in order to create environments that will inspire your child and feed their imagination. We aim for environments that make ‘education inevitable’! (Margaret McMillan) The way in which our nursery rooms are organised allows children to initiate their own activities and to make independent choices. It gives them the confidence to explore and learn in safe and secure, yet challenging, indoor and outdoor spaces.

Outdoors is a special place and can contribute enormously to your child’s happiness, well-being, development and learning. Outdoor play helps children to make sense of the world around them, develop new skills, experience the seasons, elements and natural world and create happy memories. Your child will have opportunity to play outdoors every day and to go on trips and outings in the local community.

Our early years curriculum is designed to foster your child’s curiosity and motivate them to plan and initiate their own learning as well as to participate in activities planned by adults. We want them to feel that learning is fun so that they will be enthusiastic to learn new things for the rest of their lives.

We deliver our early years curriculum through a variety of play opportunities including construction, role play and imaginative play, heuristic (discovery) play, literacy and numeracy activities, water, sand, malleable, stories, mark making, creative and art activities, outdoor play, science and nature, music and sensory experiences. We carefully plan our activities taking into account the age and stage of development of each child, to ensure that play is high quality and purposeful. Our staff plan and lead activities which will build on your child’s knowledge, skills and abilities and extend their thinking to enable them to make progress in their learning.

For children under two we focus on the prime areas of learning and development and ensure that their personal, social and emotional development is supported by developing a close relationship with their Key Person and with other members of staff and children. Our staff talk and sing with the children to support their developing communication and language skills and they provide opportunities to use their fine and gross motor skills to support their physical development.

For children over the age of two activities broaden to ensure that the specific areas of learning including Literacy, Mathematics, Understanding the World and Expressive Arts and Design are also supported.

From the age of two years we use the high-quality phonics resource ‘Letters and Sounds’ together with a wider language rich early years curriculum to support your child’s early literacy 

We make formative assessments of your child’s learning based on observations. We complete summative assessments called Progress Summaries termly. These assessments are used to track your child’s progress and to ensure that they receive the support they need. We will share and discuss these assessments with you regularly.