Our Day – take a look at what we do in our nurseries every day
Your Child at a Channings Nursery
Your child deserves the best possible start in life and the support that enables them to fulfil their potential. Children develop quickly in the early years and we recognise that, whilst in our care, we are preparing your children for later learning. We encourage them to explore, ask questions and develop confidence and we never forget that play is always the most important part of childhood.
Our Childcare Aims
- To realise the potential of every child.
- To provide a safe, warm and exciting environment in which each child can develop.
- To give each child the knowledge, skills, concepts and attitudes to make the learning process rewarding and exciting.
- To help children become competent in the use of language and number.
- To help children develop personal and social skills.
- To promote an awareness of moral, social and cultural values.
In each of our Channings Nurseries we follow the Statutory Framework for the Early Years Foundation Stage (EYFS). The EYFS sets the standards that all early years providers must meet to ensure that children learn and develop well and are kept healthy and safe.
We recognise that each child develops his/her own preferred way of learning. There are three characteristics of effective teaching and learning and these are
- playing and exploring – children investigate and experience things, and ‘have a go’
- active learning – children concentrate and keep on trying if they encounter difficulties, and they enjoy achievements
- creating and thinking critically – children have and develop their own ideas, make links between ideas and develop strategies for doing things
In line with the philosophy of the Early Years Foundation Stage curriculum and our own aims we consider the individual needs, interests and stage of development of each child. We use this information to plan a fun, challenging, relevant and motivational experience for each child, which follows his/her own interests throughout all of the seven areas of learning and development, which are broken down into two sections; Prime and Specific.
All areas of learning and development are important and inter-connected. The prime areas are particularly crucial for igniting children’s curiosity and enthusiasm for learning, and for building their capacity to learn, form relationships and thrive. The three prime areas are
- communication and language;
- physical development
- personal, social and emotional development
The EYFS also states that we must also support children in four specific areas, through which the three prime areas are strengthened and applied. The specific areas are:
- literacy
- mathematics
- understanding the world
- expressive arts and design.
At Channings Childcare we support children’s learning through both planned play and by extending and developing children’s spontaneous play. This is made possible by the arrangement of our rooms, in such a way that there is continuous provision of all facilities for the children. This allows them to explore at their own pace and through their own motivation.
We follow the four guiding principles of the EYFS which are:
A Unique Child – recognising that every child is an individual and that every child is a competent learner from birth.
Positive Relationships – developing strong and independent children from a base of caring and secure relationships with parents and key staff within each of our rooms.
Enabling Environments – creating secure, fun and stimulating environments to support and extend children’s development and learning.
Learning and Development – recognising that children develop and learn in different ways and at different rates.
Nursery Environment
Our nursery environments are arranged to promote best childcare practice. We have separate baby, toddler and pre-school rooms, each equipped with resources and activities appropriate to the age of the child.
The children are able to choose from the activities and resources available at all times. Learning becomes a continuous process through play, problem solving and decision making.
All ground floor rooms have direct access to outdoor play areas giving children the opportunity to extend their play experience. All outdoor areas are secure and the buildings have coded entry systems.
Babies
The baby rooms at our nurseries are bright and stimulating with lots of space for early movement.
In caring for your baby, we shall do as you ask. When parent and baby first come to our baby room we will ask you to spend some time with us to help us to understand your baby’s routine and needs. We will gently integrate your baby’s routine into our nursery day. Your baby’s day will be filled with toys (regularly cleaned and sterilised), messy play, exploration, talk, music, walks and hugs. All of our baby rooms have a chair where your key worker can sit comfortably to spend time with your baby, especially when bottle feeding. Gradually, we will work with you to wean your baby onto a varied menu of homemade food. Finally, when babies are tired, they are encouraged to sleep in our cosy cots.
Tweenies & Toddlers
Tweenie and Toddler aged children are cared for in rooms which are spacious and exciting, designed to encourage your child’s growing confidence, independence and increasing mobility. Nursery days are filled with painting, chalking, cutting, sticking, water and sand play. Every day sees a different messy play activity using a huge variety of everyday materials.
In our nurseries we follow the Early Years Foundation Stage Framework which recognises the importance of development and learning at this stage. The nursery day becomes more structured with the emphasis on language, learning through play, the acquisition of life and social skills and interaction with others.
Pre-School Children
Our nursery pre-school rooms are designed to be a children’s world. The room layout, play areas, resources and activities ensure that children have continuous access to whatever they need to support and extend their learning experience.
In the pre-school rooms, imaginative play remains the main vehicle for learning. Favourite activities from the Toddler Room are still found. Children will also enjoy early reading and maths tasks, mark making, construction, baking, ICT, exercise and dance.
The children gain confidence from a daily routine while the opportunities for free choice develop independence, give them an awareness of time and help to prepare for that important transition to school.
Outdoor Play
The EYFS puts an even greater focus on the importance of outdoor play for children of all ages.
We have secure outdoor space available at each of our nurseries for all of our children to use, and in addition to this we make great use of the surrounding natural environment on the door step at each of our settings.
While your child is at nursery he/she will have periods of time outside, irrespective of the weather. This varies from room to room, according to the age of the children. We ask that suitable clothing for the time of year is brought into nursery.
We plan a range of activities for outdoors, which link to and extend their knowledge of the activities that are being explored indoors. Outdoor play allows children to develop skills that could not be practised safely indoors, providing opportunities to run, climb, dig, balance and throw.
All of our gardens have play houses, sand and water equipment, bug houses and growing areas where children are given the opportunity to learn about gardening, nature and growing plants. Sometimes what can appear to be simple resources can provide invaluable learning opportunities for your child.
Our babies and younger children are also taken for walks in the local area in our 4 seater buggies and our 6 seater Turtle Bus.
Parent Partnership
Staff and parents have a partnership in our nurseries. We believe that parents have a key role in the development of both the children and of life within the nursery. We have developed several methods to keep parents involved in their child’s day and informed about their child’s development. The nursery staff / parent partnership works in both directions. Every child has a key worker, who will meet the parent at either end of the day and exchange information about life in the nursery and also at home. Our younger children have a daily diary for sharing information.
All of our children have a “Learning Journey” file and parents are welcome to look at this at any time.
On entry to our nursery or when a child moves rooms we ask parents to complete an “all about me” booklet.