Working in Partnership with Parents and Carers

What is it like for a child here? (Activities, Life at Nursery)

Our nursery is a vibrant and happy place. This section aims to cover the basic nursery routines and systems, which help our nursery, run smoothly. But there is far more to life at our nursery than space here allows. The starting point for our Nursery Curriculum is the Early Years Foundation Stage (EYFS) curriculum, but the depth and breadth of coverage go far further. Our curriculum is carefully planned and co-ordinated to ensure the children at Blossom Patch Nursery receive a relevant, balanced, enjoyable and challenging learning experience. The EYFS is designed to cover seven areas of learning. It consists of 3 prime areas, which are: Personal, Social and Emotional Development, Communication and Language, Physical Development. It is seen that these three areas are the essential areas from birth and build the roots for the rest of a child’s learning. There are also four specific areas, which are: Literacy, Mathematics, Understanding the World and Expressive Arts and Design. These four specific areas strengthen the prime areas and help us to apply the prime areas within a nursery setting. All these seven areas are inter-connected, and most of our activities within the nursery cover more than one area at one time.

The nursery has an outside area of which free access is available for all children. In the indoor space, the children are split according to age – the Butterflies (3-5yrs), the Caterpillars (2-3yrs), the Pupas (3months – 2 years). We also have a sleeping area for babies and young children needing a daily rest/sleep.

The children undertake a wide variety of activities to make the very most of their natural enthusiasm for learning at this age. Activities are planned by the Key working, according to the children’s interests and the area of the EYFS. For example, sand play may cover Expressive Arts and Design by allowing the child to explore freely. Building sandcastles with the children encourage their Mathematical skills, their Personal Social and Emotional Development as they share their space and their Communication and Language skills by talking with others.

Some of these activities include experimenting creatively with collage materials, clay, play dough, paints and crayons, spend time dressing up and playing together in the home areas or building their creations from a variety of construction toys. Children are encouraged to enjoy books and stories at all times. Tabletop activities promote the development of fine motor skills with pencils, crayons, chalks, scissors, threading, puzzles and other equipment, while board games nurture the ability to take turns. The children also enjoy cooking and a variety of physical activities.

Older children (our Butterflies) have a ‘Special Time’ lesson in which every child has the opportunity to participate and contribute to a small group activity based usually on numeracy and literacy, which we call ‘circle time’. There are plenty of opportunities for outdoor play, and wherever possible, we operate a free flow between inside and outside. There is an wooden climbing area where they can climb, balance and slide. While singing is a part of every session at the nursery, a twice-weekly music session allows the older children to use the talents of a musically talented member of staff.