Kneehigh Nursery: Learning & Activities

Our 2-3 year olds will be supported to thrive as they develop self-assurance through the provision of a key worker who will provide consistent, warm and responsive care for them. This enables them to feel emotionally safe, secure and confident to begin to develop positive relationships with other staff members and children.

The children will grow in independence, rejecting help (“me do it”) as a result of the warmth and affection, combined with clear and appropriate boundaries and routines, that is provided by staff. A spirit of friendly co-operation is developed amongst children and adults through the variety of resources inside and outdoors which encourage exploration and discovery, promoting children’s independence further and growing their self-confidence.

Our 2-3 year olds will be encouraged to listen to simple stories and understand what is happening, with the help of the pictures. They will be supported to start to develop conversation by staff providing them with opportunities to share picture books every day, encouraging children to talk about the pictures and the story by commenting on the pictures, then waiting for a response. They will also model questions asking children about the pictures: “I wonder what the caterpillar is doing now?”

Our 2-3 year olds will be supported to develop physically. Staff will help young children learn what physical risks they are confident and able to take. Staff will encourage and supervise children to climb unaided and to stop if they do not feel safe. Various equipment is provided, such as dens, tunnels, large boxes and climbing frames, to develop their awareness of space and develop their physical abilities. Staff will also work in partnership with parents to help children learn to use the toilet with help, when they are ready.

Our 3-4 year olds are provided with role-play areas in response to children’s fascination, life experiences and interests. This develops their play with one or more other children, extending and elaborating play ideas, supporting children to carry out decisions and begin to respect the wishes of the rest of the group.

In response to children’s increasing independence and sense of responsibility they are able to independently select and use activities and resources, with help from staff when needed. This helps them to achieve a goal they have chosen, or one which is suggested to them. As time proceeds, staff increase the range of resources and challenges, outdoors and inside, widening the range of activities that children feel confident to take part in. Staff model inviting new activities that encourage children to come over and join in, such as woodwork or painting with frozen coloured ice.

Our 3-4 year olds will develop their communication skills as staff model language that promotes thinking and challenges them by using open-ended questions and helping children to elaborate on how they are feeling. They will develop the skills to be able to express a point of view and to debate when they disagree with an adult or a friend, using words as well as actions. To develop children’s enjoyment of listening to longer stories and remembering much of what happens children will be offered at least one daily story time as well as other opportunities to share books throughout the session.

Our 3-4 year olds will develop their skills in using one-handed tools and equipment, for example, making snips in paper with scissors. Staff will enable children to do this by showing children how to use the one-handed tools (scissors and hammers, for example) and then guiding them with hand-over-hand help. As your child’s confidence grows staff will gradually reduce the help they are giving and allow them to use the tool independently.

Staff enable children to become increasingly independent in meeting their own care needs, e.g. brushing teeth, using the toilet, washing and drying their hands thoroughly by talking to children about the importance of eating healthily and brushing their teeth. This is discussed regularly with all children as part of the Healthy Early Years programme, alongside the body’s need for exercise and sleep.

Our 4-5 year olds will see themselves as a unique individual, with their own likes, dislikes and skills. They will demonstrate resilience and perseverance in the face of challenge, in readiness for school, as staff have helped them to develop problem-solving skills by talking through how they, you and others resolved a problem or difficulty. Children are shown that mistakes are an important part of learning and going back is trial and error not failure.

Staff will develop the children’s ability to articulate their ideas and thoughts in well-formed sentences as they help children build sentences using new vocabulary and rephrasing what they say. Staff will narrate their own and children’s actions in order to model accurate grammar, using past tense, plurals and complex sentences. Staff will comment on what is happening in a story, link events in a story to their experiences and talk about the plot and the main problem in the story to enable children to listen closely and talk about stories to build familiarity and understanding of the content.

Our 4-5 year olds will confidently and safely use a range of large and small apparatus indoors and outside, alone and in a group because they will be encouraged to use a range of equipment. These might include: wheeled toys, wheelbarrows, tumbling mats, ropes to pull up on, tunnels, tyres, structures to jump on/off, den-making materials, logs and planks to balance on, climbing trees, balance beams, slides and agility ladders. By staff encouraging children to draw freely and teaching and modelling correct letter formation children will begin develop the foundations of a handwriting style which is fast, accurate and efficient.