It can be useful to think of child development in terms of three broad overlapping age ranges and we organise our space, care and curriculum accordingly.
We know you will want to be sure your child is safe, secure and happy in our care, and that is our priority too. We know that this is often the first experience away from home for many children and a significant transition for their parents and families.
Infants depend on the security of knowing a familiar adult is close by and we ensure their special key person builds a bond of trust and responds to their needs.
Through our sensitive care giving practices such as those for feeding and changing, we appreciate that children are learning to trust us and feel settled in our care.
A child absorbs its environment, fostering inner peace. In the 1800s, Friedrich Fröbel stressed the importance of environmental design in terms of a ‘garden’, natural, organic and ever changing. He maintained that when care is given to a child’s surroundings it will create an invitation to learn.
We support our children to challenge themselves physically with our baby gym areas and our push along toys. We model and extend language sensitively thorough thoughtful interactions, tuning in to sounds, conversation, sharing books and rhymes. We love to get messy, and in our Atelier our youngest children are encouraged to express themselves in many different ways through mark making, painting and clay.
We understand toddlers are developing their identities as autonomous learners. In our toddler rooms their desire to explore the world, to increase their independence and to have greater control is supported by familiar adults who are sensitive to their needs and who understand them well.
We know that some toddlers are experiencing childcare for the first time and some are transitioning from other settings or within our setting. Our toddlers are learning to self-regulate amongst feelings that are intense and unpredictable, we are used to this and stay calm, offer them reassurance and choices.
Children continue their learning journeys in our Pre-School rooms. We have developed dedicated spaces to support our older children’s learning, including block play and construction, imaginative and role play, exploration, sensory and malleable, water and sand play, and of course our creative Atelier studio space.
We allow children ownership of the space, allowing empty areas which can be transformed and manipulated. We notice and offer small ‘spaces between spaces’ where children might choose to be alone, alongside places to relax and share stories.
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