At Sure Start Speke we follow the Foundation Stage Curriculum for children aged 3-5. Our planning is based upon children's previous knowledge, skills and interests. We cover each area of learning through familiar themes and topics and planning is evaluated and changed every 6 - 8 weeks.
We ensure that children learn through play based activities and provide a secure, fun and stimulating environment where children learn with enjoyment and challenge.
We offer a wide range of activities and experiences which cater for all our children's interests, needs and abilities.
In the Nursery our Pre-School children play and learn in an environment which is split onto six areas of learning:
- Personal, Social and Emotional Development
- Mathematics
- Knowledge and Understanding of the World
- Creative Development
- Communication, Language and Literacy
- Physical Development
We encourage children to explore all areas and develop and represent learning experiences that help them to make sense of the world. Our practitioners support children in practising and building up ideas, concepts and skills and children can choose to be alone or play alongside others.
1: Personal, Social and Emotional Development
This area of learning aims to promote emotional well-being and respect for others. We provide experiences and support to enable children to develop a positive sense of themselves, and so give them opportunities for success in all other areas of learning.
We plan experiences and activities that promote emotional, moral, spiritual and social development alongside intellectual development.
We help children to embrace differences in culture, gender, ethnicity, religion, additional needs and disabilities. We also find every opportunity to give positive encouragement to the children and all practitioners act as positive role models.
We encourage greater independence at all times throughout the day and give particular attention to our sharing and caring ethos.
2: Mathematics
We introduce the children to the area of Mathematical Development through a range of fun and practical activities which are supported with language and underpinned by the children's developing communication skills. Children learn to solve problems and develop mathematical understanding through day to day experiences and routines at nursery, in the home and in the environment.
Mathematical experiences are offered to children across all of the 6 areas of learning within our nursery environment. We sing number and finger rhymes, use role play situations to solve problems and explore numbers, use calculations to make plans for models and use construction to find out more about shape, space and measures. Our practitioners are skilled in supporting every child to develop mathematical confidence and competence and extend their learning through daily observations, assessments and plans.
3: Knowledge and Understanding of the World
This area is about children making sense of their world using crucial knowledge, skills and understanding which they have developed or are still in the process of developing. Our nursery aims to provide children with the best possible opportunities to extend their knowledge and understanding of the world and provide the foundations for later work in Science, History, Geography, Information and Communication Technology and Design and Technology.
We also aim to create an awareness of the cultures and beliefs of others. We encourage the children to explore, observe, problem solve, predict, make decisions, think and discuss in an indoor and outdoor environment which is designed specifically to stimulate children's interests and curiosity.
Children are encouraged to join in discussions which help them become aware of issues and differences in gender, ethnicity, culture, additional needs and disability issues.
Our daily 'meet and greet' sessions offer children and our practitioners the chance to share out of nursery experiences. We talk about our own lives, family and friends and also where we live.
We regularly take our children on trips out to extend their knowledge and understanding of the world. These trips are usually related to the curriculum's topic or theme. Children are then encouraged to follow up their experiences within the Nursery environment; for example a Doctors Surgery in the role play area or a building site in the construction area.
We also use ICT apparatus to encourage our children to show an interest in ICT. Our children particularly enjoy taking photographs using the digital camera.
4: Creative Development
In our Nursery we promote an ethos which values the creativity, originality and expressiveness of every child. We encourage all children to express themselves through a range of activities and experiences.
We provide many mark making materials and tools together with natural objects and media. Children use their senses to respond to activities and practitioners use their skills to extend the children's imagination.
All children are given sufficient time to explore, develop and finish working at their ideas.
The Nursery environment is designed so that the children can access all creative activities independently and our 'Imaginative Bay' enables children to initiate their own learning and understanding in the areas of Art and Design, Music, Dance and Role Play. We even have our own 'Children's Art Gallery' where children can proudly display their own representations.
Our children access outdoor play for three sessions daily. During this time children, use natural and man made resources and materials which compliment the particular theme or topic. Again all 6 areas of the curriculum are provided during outdoor sessions.
We have developed topic boxes which children can play with outdoors; such as the window cleaner's box, the gardening box, the ambulance box as well as the usual provision to develop fine and gross motor skills.
5: Communication, Language and Literacy
Children are encouraged to communicate and extend language at all times and through all activities. In this area we present activities that aim to support the children whilst also developing a greater sense of confidence and disposition to use their skills.
Children communicate thoughts, ideas and feelings, incorporating communication, language and literacy development in our planned play based activities in each area of learning.
We use displays in the nursery to reflect upon the importance of printed language. We regularly take children to explore the local environment, visiting the local shops, library, health centre, John Lennon Airport and many other local groups and organisations to search for signs and notices.
We learn about the different purposes of writing and children are encouraged to attempt mark making through play situations which are familiar to them; telephone messages in the home corner, shopping lists, writing bus tickets, making cards and books.
6: Physical Development
Effective physical development helps children develop a positive sense of well-being'. Curriculum Guidance for the Foundation Stage DFES 2000.
Our nursery aims to develop skills in coordination, manipulation, movement and control. We initially concentrate on the development of gross motor skills; walking, running, sitting, balancing, jumping, dressing and undressing, catching and throwing.
We then move onto the development of fine motor skills; palmer grasp, pincer grasp, control in mark making (using pencils, pens, paint brushes etc), hand to eye coordination, using cutlery to feed themselves, and fastening clothing. Most young children will not develop competence in the use of fine motor skills until gross motor control is successfully mastered.
Through a range of daily activities including play dough, sand play, mark making, threading and fastening buttons and zips, movement and exercise and outdoor play using large and small apparatus we support children to try out new challenges and gain confidence in what they can do. Our children feel a real sense of achievement when they have successfully developed a new skill, repeating the activity over and over again.
We promote healthy life practices with regard to eating, sleeping and hygiene and give time to discuss the importance of feeling healthy and recognising changes that happen to the children's bodies when they are active.
