Our nursery environment and facilities enable your child to explore, develop and learn. Our Baby, Toddler and Preschool spaces are specially designed and equipped especially with them in mind. You’ll see many familiar homely items such as bookcases, tables, chairs, and sofas just much smaller than you are used to!
The children are at the heart of the whole design concept of our nursery. We have three rooms which accommodate children aged 3 months – 5 years, all of which provide enchanting environments for children to learn and explore. Our three rooms are Babies, Toddlers and Pre-School. Each environment is designed to offer a multitude of educational stimuli for your child to explore through autumnal play. Different parts of each room provide a range of areas for your child to either be noisy, hands on and practical, or perhaps comfortable, quiet and reflecting. Learning is based on your child’s choice, so the facilities and resources are specifically designed to be child friendly, accessible and fun.
Babies Environment
Our mobile and non-mobile babies benefit from the large, bright, open plan day room, well equipped with the latest in sensory equipment to test their senses and encourage development. As babies spend a lot of time sleeping at this early age, we have our newly renovated sleep room. We constantly monitor the temperature to ensure the babies are comfortable and the integrated glass wall allows us to monitor the children at all times. As a golden rule, there will never be more than three babies to any one member of staff so you can be assured that your little one will get the essential attention they need at this stage in their life. Your child’s key person will take care of all your child’s personal needs whenever possible. We have a dedicated space in our garden with soft artificial grass for the babies to crawl and stumble to their hearts content.
Toddlers Environment
The Toddler Room is a playground fit for any young explorer! By this age your child will be eager to engage with the surrounding world, so it is important that there is plenty of opportunity for them to do so. With a grand play gym from Community Playthings as the center piece for the room, there will also be a wet play area, role-play area, creative/arts area and plenty of table top space for group activities. And if that all sounds a little too hectic there is also a cosy/book corner for children to get warm and comfortable, sit and read, or rest and sleep.
Preschool Environment
On the ground floor of Academy house we have dedicated areas for our pre-schoolers. Their day is structured around their changing interests. The rooms are very well appointed with outstanding levels of equipment, allowing your child to discover at their individual level of understanding. The room focuses on the primary area’s of the ‘Early Years Foundation Stage’ framework and encourages learning through play. The specific areas offer different activities:- The ‘Story Corner’ where children can sit in a group and listen to stories, a home corner, a construction area to develop coordination and a messy play area for painting and generally getting rather messy. The children benefit from a staffing ratio of one member of staff looking after no more than three children. As this is the time when the majority of children start ‘toilet training’, the pre-schoolers have access to brightly decorated children’s toilets, encouraging independence.
Pre School children also follow the ‘Early Years Foundation Stage’. We support them and prepare them for their eventual move to school. This is a more settled routine, with children working in small groups. Through our observations of children learning through play, we are able to introduce adult led activities that follow the interest of individual children, linking them to the seven areas of learning:
- Communication and language
- Physical development
- Personal social and emotional development
- Literacy
- Mathematics
- Understanding of the world
- Expressive arts and design
Outdoor Play Area
The children have open access to the garden every day and complete a lot of their daily activities outside. The garden features an outside classroom, super absorbent safety surfacing for all those trips and falls and a fantastic new mud kitchen.
All our children get the opportunity to go on local educational trips, and whether it be to the local shops or places of interest we always risk assess our outings and ensure that ratios are adhered to. We also invite the local emergency services to come in and talk to the children about safety awareness and how to use the phone in an emergency.
Community Playthings
Our Nursery equipment and furniture are sourced from Community Playthings. They specialise in customising nursery settings, designing each space to provide stimulating learning environments for children.
“We design and manufacture furniture and play equipment in the UK for primary schools and early years settings. Together with visionary educators, we have been creating beautiful learning environments for over 50 years.
The way that children play influences our designs. Each item is designed to support open-ended play, making sure a child’s imagination is never limited by what they play with. The environment children play in has a great effect on them. Calm, protected areas allow children to concentrate on their play. Children who have ample opportunities for play go on to become eager learners. Our furniture is modular and adaptable, enabling the environment to be changed and developed.”
