"Children concentrate effectively due to the good levels of support given by staff"
Learning in the early years is important in its own right, not just a preparation for primary school. Children are active learners. They learn through all their senses through exploration, investigation, trying out, listening and watching as well as play. Children are social learners and interaction with other children and adults is encouraged. Play and the child's own motivation are essential to learning. We provide for each child's individual learning requirements and interests including those children who need additional support or who have particular needs or disabilities.
Our pre-school activities follow the The Early Years Foundation Stage. This involves learning through play and covers the six areas of learning:
Knowledge and Understanding of the World
Children will be offered the chance to explore and experiment with natural and man made materials. They will be able to compare and identify the feature of different objects, recognise similarities and differences and talk about their discoveries with other children and adults.
Physical Development
Children will be given the opportunities both indoors and out to develop, practice and master skills of balance, movement, running, jumping and climbing. At all times they will be closely supervised to ensure safety while encouraged to test their own abilities with challenging activities which are fun.
Communication, Language and Literacy Children will be given many opportunities to talk about their experiences and to listen to others. They will be encouraged to express their own ideas and in a way which can be understood. They will hear stories, rhymes, poems and songs and when confident will join in with them. Books will always be readily available to children for looking at, to listen to, to read stories and to recognise how printed words and pictures can convey meaning. Materials for mark making will always be available and children will be helped to understand the purpose of writing.
Problem Solving, Reasoning and Numeracy
Children will get the opportunities provided by many different activities to match, sort, sequence, count and order everyday objects which will form the basis of an understanding of mathematics. Through this knowledge they will be able to solve problems. They will hear examples of the language of mathematics; identify objects by shape, size, number etc. Simple rhymes will help them to learn number sequence.
Creative Development
Activities for creative development play will always be available including paint, crayons, pencils, gluing, collage, model-making using materials which are natural and man made. Children will be provided with opportunities to respond to music and recognisable artistic works. They will have opportunities for imaginative play, individually and with others.
Personal Social and Emotional Development
Children will be encouraged to build friendships with other children and adults which will enable them to practice skills of sharing, caring, helping, working together, solving problems and taking responsibility for the environment and themselves. They will be encouraged to concentrate and persevere on individual tasks and to ask for help when needed.
Popular activities that are supplied by outside agencies are:
- French are half hour lessons that are available once a week. These introduce the children to French and create awareness of foreign languages and cultures.
- FUNdamentals sports sessions are available twice a week, which concentrate on developing the children's agility, balance and co-ordination introducing them to the enjoyment of sport.
During the summer we hold a themed garden party for the Duckling and Rainbow children with a bouncy castle and a ball pit to play on and indoors we hold a buffet tea. The Sunshine children enjoy a trip to such places as Marwell, The Sea Life Centre or Paultons Park. At Christmas we all participate in a Christmas concert which is held at the Otterbourne Village Hall and is performed by the Rainbow and Sunshine children with the Ducklings in the audience. Parents are invited to participate in all of these activities and we have always been very well supported.
