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The Nursery and Pre-School Age Groups
Please click on the following age groups to learn more about how we care for our children at Glenhurst:
Babies from 3 months to 1 year old
Babies grow immensely quickly between the ages of 3 months and 1 year. In this time they are weaned onto pureed and then solid foods, and learn how to crawl, toddle, walk and then run! They start off with noises which may sound like babble to us but these are their first sounds of communication. Our Nursery Nurses believe in Makaton baby signing, which is used to sign everyday items and activities such as water, milk, juice, various foods, story, sleep and wash hands, as well as being used in nursery rhymes. Makaton is used by signing and saying the words out loud, and it has been proven to enhance speech development in young babies.
In our Nursery, babies are given warmth, gentle handling and expert care by our highly qualified Nursery Nurses. They are given activities to promote their five senses: See, Hear, Touch, Smell and Taste, and other activities which incorporate the “Birth to Three Matters” framework.
Our Nursery Nurses believe in having a close partnership with parents, in particular with regards to receiving information on individual routines, nap times, meal times, comfort items and favourite songs. A communication form is completed and given to parents daily with information such as nappy changes, sleep times, food and drink, carer’s names and any other additional information about baby’s day. A Home Link Book is given to each child which is sent home to parents on a weekly basis. This is a two-way communication book which gives parents an insight to small observations made by their child’s carer and in which parents can send messages to Nursery if they wish.
Parents can feel safe in the knowledge that their little one will develop into a happy toddler in our “home from home” Nursery.
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Children from 1 year to 2 years old
Between the ages of 1 and 2 years children show immense curiosity about the world around them. They need time and space to experiment with new skills and to explore their environment, whilst our team of qualified staff ensure that they do so in safety.
Children at this stage are learning social skills, and enjoy being with and talking to familiar, trusted adults and children. They are encouraged to do tasks and activities for themselves, knowing that an adult is close by and ready to help and support them if necessary.
We aim to give our youngest children the challenges they need but with security, the opportunity to build a wide variety of skills without slowing their enthusiasm to learn, and above all to enable them to develop confidence, social skills and relationships with others.
A Home Link Book is given to each child which is sent home to parents on a weekly basis. This is a two-way communication book which gives parents an insight to small observations made by their child’s carer and in which parents can send messages to Nursery if they wish. Parents are encouraged to come into Nursery as often as necessary to speak to their child’s Key Worker about progress or any problems.
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Children from 2 years to 3 years old
Children at this age need to feel safe and secure, in a warm, nurturing environment. We provide a team of qualified staff to care for your children and help them to become independent learners. Praise is given freely to children, ensuring that they develop confidence and self-esteem, and understand when they have done well. The teachers provide good, consistent role models for the children, to ensure that they learn right from wrong and develop into kind, polite and caring individuals.
Children are active learners and need space and time to explore their environment and experiment, especially with natural materials such as sand, water, dough and bubbles. They need a chance to express their feelings through singing, dancing, painting, drawing and role play. They need to be encouraged to develop their language and expression through listening and telling stories, poems and rhymes, talking with adults and playing word games. The Nursery Leader and her assistants ensure that they have daily opportunities to stretch their imaginations and increase their vocabulary by learning about plants, creatures and machines, naming parts and talking about how things work and why things happen. They learn to recognise their written name and begin to learn the sounds of letters and experiment with writing and tracing and forming letters from dough or in sand. The Jolly Phonics scheme is used to teach sounds and letters in the Nursery.
The children learn through play the language of mathematics by counting, sorting, measuring and talking about shapes and sizes. They extend their knowledge and understanding of the world through tasting and cooking different foods, meeting visitors such as policemen and firemen or the local librarian. There are frequent opportunities to take part in new experiences such as planting seeds, going on a mini-beast hunt or taking part in a special celebration. By manipulating small construction pieces, using tools, climbing, jumping, dancing and pedalling bikes the children become more agile, co-ordinated and self-controlled. The staff plan new learning goals for each child to ensure that whatever their level of development, they are being challenged and prepared for the next stage.
The Nursery Leader and her team provide a continuous assessment of each child using the Foundation Stage Profile. Parents are encouraged to come into Nursery as often as necessary to speak to their child’s Key Worker about progress or any problems, and a Home Link Book enables two-way communication. The Nursery children are encouraged to develop at their own particular pace with all the support that is required. There is a structured approach to the daily activities which helps children feel secure. However our routines are flexible to accommodate celebrations, visits such as from storytellers or the Fire Brigade and other exciting events.
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Children from 3 years to 5 years old
Glenhurst Pre-School covers all aspects required by the Foundation Stage Early Learning Goals and the National Curriculum. The Foundation Stage, covering the period from when a child starts in Nursery until the end of their Reception year, is divided into 6 areas of learning:
- Personal, Social and Emotional Development
- Communication, Language and Literacy
- Mathematical Development
- Knowledge and Understanding of the World
- Creative Development
- Physical Development
Glenhurst also gives children the opportunity to learn French and provides regular outings. There are specialist teachers for music, French, Spanish and I.C.T, and peripatetic teachers for piano, violin and drama.
We assign each child a Key Worker who liaises with the Pre-School Leader to monitor and assess the children’s individual learning goals. Your child’s Key Worker is there to guarantee continuity and stability and is responsible for keeping you informed about your child’s progress and to be there to help with any problems.
Pre-School age children still need their familiar adults and routines, but are growing in confidence to try new experiences, foods and games. They become more confident when role playing familiar activities such as The Shop, Doctors or Hair Dressers. They still need time for free choice and role play and plenty of physical activity and outdoor play.
Academically, they will be continually expanding their vocabulary and general knowledge. They learn all their letter sounds through daily practice with the Jolly Phonics activities, and are provided will Jolly Phonics letters to take home to practice. Activities are planned to increase their pencil control, such as tracing, dot to dot and forming letters in dough, sand or on white boards, and they are given opportunities to practice emergent writing through real tasks and role play. On selected afternoons the children either use the interactive white board or have a twenty minute lesson on individual lap-tops which provide another stimulating variation to their learning of phonics and number. We aim for children to know all their sounds, write their name forming some or most letters correctly and to begin to recognise familiar words by the end of this year.
As their mathematical abilities develop we expect children to be counting beyond 10, recognising written numerals and learning to shape them correctly. They learn to match with one to one correspondence, naming shapes correctly and sorting objects according to given criteria. Class Music lessons take place each week, though singing and rhymes take place every day. Each child is given individual learning targets to match their stage of development and ability. These will ensure that every child is challenged to move on to the next level of learning when they are ready and that no child is held back.
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