Learning’s an adventure in the Lower Nursery

The youngest children at St Faith’s Prep’s Sandcastles Nursery are going on a bear hunt today.

Caroline Rembridge is busy with the two to three year olds, revelling in the mud, snow and rivers, all set up through messy play on the table. Her own hands, along with other smaller ones, are having a lovely time feeling their way through this bear wood. Over at the sensory table, other hands are hanging logs on the tree, feeling the bark, pine cones and shaking bottles of mud and water. They can paint a bear plate – a couple of wonderful examples are hanging above the table, along with all kinds of wonderful representations of bear-filled woods. Trees, or indeed anything else that comes to mind, are being modelled on the Playdoh table and there is plenty of colouring to be done too. Caroline loves her arts and crafts and is clearly not afraid of making a mess! Here is a teacher in her element.

Jo Chapman, in the home corner, is baking with her charges. The garage and the lego are at the ready for the next activity. Jo can’t resist the pull and wonder of the children, the miracle of their growth and progress and the fact that they make her laugh and bring joy every day.

Next door, Alicia Ramsay is chatting to George, who is full of thoughts and plans and keen to share them. Alicia is studying hard, working on finishing her training and in love with life at St Faith’s. She says that she has learned a great deal from the experienced hands at the school, all of whom are very willing to support her and demonstrate the . She is fascinated by studying the theory and then seeing it in practice. She is another wonderful practitioner in the making.

The three year olds are outside just now, having enormous fun and, although they won’t realise it, working just as hard! Climbing, along with bikes and other ride-alongs help to develop their gross motor skills and build confidence; time at the sensory trays develops critical thinking; there are positional activities that support Maths; and the Lego and other building and drawing equipment encourage creativity and fine motor skills. For those who want to kick back, the bear-cave cosy corner is available for reading and relaxation. When they have had enough of the great outdoors, there’s more to come inside. The honey pot turn-taking game is waiting for them, along with bear hunt yoga, a What’s Hiding in the Grass? cutting activity and ICT camera work. Teddy bear songs and stories will see the children empathising with how our bears are feeling and behaving, and practising the range of language the new theme has introduced. This busy and productive experience for the three year olds is led by Miss Booth and Miss Claricoat and a great deal of planning sits behind the lively, fun learning-through-play of the day.

It is easy to see the care with which all these opportunities have been set up to develop the children’s learning and their social, emotional and physical selves. Girls and boys are encouraged to make decisions and choices, playing and exploring in the areas that interest them. They take or are led to opportunities for reading and number work, following suggestions, but also bringing their own individual take to their learning. They must share and take turns with each other, actively learning key social skills, and are encouraged to express themselves through the media and materials on offer. The Lower Nursery staff work together to ensure that the many different elements of learning complement each other, combining to create a vibrant and impressive learning experience for every child.

It is lovely to see such experienced and able staff in place, women who genuinely have a great love of children and are hugely satisfied to see them progress and do well, taking pleasure in sharing all they achieve with parents. The online Tapestry communication tool certainly gives them an easy way of doing this and of course there is lots of opportunity for face-to-face communication. This sense of community is a particular strength of the Nursery. Each child has his or her own key worker, but with such a high staff-to-child ratio, all the children are well known by the staff and benefit hugely from a close-knit team.

Soon they will be moving up to the top of the Nursery, where there will be fresh challenges and experiences to enjoy.

Find out more about life at Sandcastles Nursery.