First Class Nursery 3.34

First Class Nursery follows the British Foundation Stage curriculum and Under 3's specific curriculum.

This entails:-

Personal, social and emotional development

This is a critical area of development for young children and we see this as the foundation for success in all other areas of learning.

The children will learn to develop confidence, independence, and interactive skills to deal with all every day tasks. Even the simplest task of dressing, washing hands, brushing teeth, sharing toys and playing side by side with other children, encourage personal, social and emotional development.

The children will learn to build constructive and positive relationships with other children and adults and learn what is right and what is wrong. They will develop an awareness of their own needs views and feelings and the needs views and feelings of others, as well as expanding their spiritual, moral and cultural understanding.

Children learn from positive examples provided by the teaching staff and so their personal, social and emotional development is positively fostered with a caring, loving and understanding approach.

Language and literacy

Within the category of language and literacy we encourage the children to use the skills they have already gained such as talking, reading aloud and copying things that they hear and see.

To further develop this area we use a variety of methods such as singing, music, reading, role play, acting and puppet work.

On an academic level children learn to link sounds to letters, write their names, read familiar words and build their foundation towards eventually learning to read and write alone.

Language fills every part of our day whether it is written, or spoken or by using our body facial expression and listening skills.

Problem solving, reasoning and numeracy

Children are introduced to mathematical learning, from the simplest tasks such as building blocks and shapes, to pouring water from different sized containers, to counting in the correct order.

We start our program introducing shapes, numbers, size, patterns and every day objects so that children develop and understanding of scale and the way that we use numbers as symbols for many things.

In the older age groups children start to work on more complex mathematical work such as adding, subtraction, estimating and measuring.

Knowledge and understanding of the world

Children start to make sense of their world from the minute they are born. They are driven to understand and to learn how things work and why they happen.

They go about this by exploring their environment initially and then by exploring outside of their immediate surroundings.

Children like to find out about living things as well as understanding events that they observe over time, so we introduce the children to growing plants from seeds and watch the changes in weather and their environment so that they can understand past, present and future and how this relates to their lives.

We also introduce children to the world outside of themselves and include experiences such as the celebration of international festivals , teaching the children about the traditions, habits and beliefs of people from other countries.

We have an extensive range of topics that run on a monthly basis which challenge the children to learn about the world outside of home and nursery and in these topics children learn the skills of exploring, challenging, questioning and decision making.

Creative development

Children start to explore colour, texture, shape and form with the many uses of art materials, such as clay, dough, sand, water paints, crayons, felts, and pencils.

Every artistic medium offers a new learning experience and allows the children to express themselves freely.

Children can be prolific artists and will cover every blank space with their marks and images.

Free expression and imagination are encouraged in art, design, music, dance, imaginative role playing and stories. Children use their senses in a variety of ways to see, hear, smell, touch and taste.

Children learn dedication to ongoing projects by using connected learning goals which run through the projects over several months as well as for example taking care of a plant that grows and develops over time. We constantly encourage creativity and use events such as trips to local bookstores to stimulate enthusiasm in projects such as poetry and creative writing, reading and art.

Physical development

We offer each child physical opportunities that challenge them and are appropriate for their age and ability. Large and fine motor skills are stimulated by offering big and small equipment which use a range of physical movements.

The younger children are encouraged to handle all sizes, textures and shapes and to reach for objects ahead of them using their hand and eye co-ordination if they are not mobile.

Older children work with smaller items, including, building, threading beads, construction toys, pencil work, and use music and movement to develop the full range of physical skills.

Our garden is considered an extension of the nursery learning environment and is designed to challenge the children physically, encouraging a full range of movement and flexibility.

For the younger children appropriate physical equipment is included in the children’s play room until they are old enough to enjoy the larger outdoor equipment.

All children are given the opportunity to be outside daily. The children are encouraged to develop their strength, dexterity, co-ordination and control of movement throughout their time at nursery.