Our Environment.
PLAY, PLAY and more PLAY! Play is the real work of childhood. When children are engaged, the opportunities for learning are endless and children have new experiences every day. To enable the children’s play, we aim to provide a homely, calm and loving environment, which is full of ‘awe and wonder’ and ‘sprinkles of magic’.
Our environment is stimulating and inviting, adopting a modern day approach to ensure that children learn and develop at their own pace. We promote messy play, allowing the children to have as much fun as possible.
We have minimised the plastic that all smells and feels the same and replaced them with real objects and loose parts. This encourages problem solving and decision making with a completely child-centred focus. Children are enabled to explore with all of their senses, ask questions and observe. Loose parts feed their natural curiosity, igniting imagination.
We encourage children to explore both indoors and outdoors and have our doors open throughout the day. We have a beautiful outdoor area, which allows the children to explore, take risks and build their resilience by trying new things.
The Curiosity Approach.
‘The Curiosity Approach’ encourages children and adults to explore authentic resources which represent ‘real life’. This ignites excitement, promotes developing language and creates a love for learning.
When children have a love of learning, there is no limit to their discoveries!
‘In The Moment Planning’.
Allows teachers to respond immediately to children’s interests and next steps, as opposed to planning and predicting what they might be interested in next week.
Each week, the staff will have 5 ‘focus children’. Staff will develop their skills through thoughtful provocations and invitations to play and learn.
Definition of Teaching.
Teaching should not be taken to imply a ‘top down’ or formal way of working. It is a broad term which covers the many different ways in which adults help young children learn. It includes their interactions with children during child-initiated play and activities:
Communication and modelling language,
Showing,
Explaining,
Demonstrating,
Exploring ideas,
Encouraging,
Questioning,
Recalling,
Providing a narrative for what they are doing,
Facilitating,
Setting challenges
Our Parents.
Positive partnerships with parents is a vital part of our approach. Parental engagement is just as important as engaging with the children. We aim to create an ‘extension of family’, and ensure our parents are welcomed and listened to. We provide daily opportunities for interaction with staff, offering advice, support or just a general chat!
‘Stay and Plays’ are a continuous part of our routine, offering parents and family members to come and join us. These sessions strengthen our relationships by providing opportunities to get to know each other, and allowing the children to take ownership and being proud to show their ‘adults’ their achievements.