We live in a diverse community and all our staff and children reflect that. Being able to interact in a positive environment with people of so many different cultures, backgrounds, beliefs and languages is one of the most amazing things about our nursery, so we want the children to feel that this is amazing and fun as well. It all focuses on one word: Respect.

Our values are simple and orientated around helping all children from any background to join in our own little wonderful community here at monkey puzzle.

Mutual respect and tolerance are central to our values, it’s something we never stop learning about throughout our lives and it’s important to us that your child starts this learning journey on the right foot. Respect can mean and apply to many things, but here we think of it as a mentality which helps us get along and grow together. The mentality we seek to encourage is one of acceptance, consideration and kindness. We believe that 3 key learning areas for children are respecting individuality, respecting communities and respecting rules and that all of these areas are interlinked, with respect being central.

Everyone is a unique and free individual, with our own thoughts and feelings and we all deserve to be treated as such. That means understanding how people are different and how to respect and appreciate those differences. We want children to develop their own confidence in themselves, not just by teaching them, but also by celebrating what makes them unique. We want our children to feel proud of their progress so we always praise improvements and make sure they can see how we feel. Our walls are filled with the children’s work and they help us make a lot of our displays too, with each child making their own special mark in our nursery.

As adults, we have to be able to understand and respect a variety of boundaries, ranging from people’s personal comforts to the laws of our land, as well as the importance of the rule of law. Children can’t understand such complexities, but it’s an important part of their emotional and social development to get used to boundaries and responsibilities. Children are encouraged to be considerate of others, to cooperate patiently with the adults and to all help keep our rooms somewhat tidy, though of course we do most of the clearing up ourselves! This helps to make the nursery a fun and fair educational setting for all children, whilst helping them to develop an understanding of boundaries and a sense of right and wrong based on respect for others and their environment.

Britain is a democratic, multicultural community of individuals and we want to make sure that children are well prepared to flourish in such a community. Our focus is to create a community which helps every child grow to fulfil their potential through learning and fun. Key to being a happy member of a good community, is being able to give consideration and to help others understand and be considerate of you. We encourage this with group activities combined with a freedom and comfort in expressing thoughts and feelings. Children are asked about how they and others feel, as well as given chances to participate in voting on the direction of some activities, so that they can develop an understanding of other’s preferences and how we all matter equally.