Our Structure

The children have free flow play.  Activities include painting or drawing, sand or water, play dough, jigsaw puzzles, construction toys, home corner and art and crafts. All children can access the enclosed decking area.

The children are then split into two groups. Those leaving for school in the current academic year are given more structured work to do focusing on achieving their Early Learning goals.

Those leaving the following academic year continue to play whilst still focusing on their Early Learning goals.

All children then have snack in their appointed rooms. The children then come back together in the main playroom. The session finishes with a story or singing.

Snack time is organised to promote your child’s independence and to encourage healthy eating.  Each session the children will be offered a choice of either fresh milk or water to drink.  We provide fruit and vegetables as our snack and occasionally other foods as appropriate to our topic. Children are encouraged to pour their own drink and select their own fruit or vegetables. We have trained staff to a Level 1 course in food hygiene to prepare the snack.

The Curriculum

Learning through play - Play helps young children to learn and develop through doing and talking, which research has shown to be the means by which young children learn to think. Our setting uses the practice guidance Development Matters to plan and provide a range of play activities which help children to make progress in each of the areas of learning and development in the EYFS. In some of these activities children decide how they will use the activity and, in others, an adult takes the lead in helping the children to take part in the activity. 
 

Children start to learn about the world around them from the moment they are born. The care and education offered by the Pre-School helps children to continue to do this by providing all of the children with the interesting activities that are right for their age and stage of development. We do this by implementing the Early Years Foundation Stage (EYFS).
 

The EYFS is a stage of children’s development from birth to the end of their first (Reception) year in school. It is a framework that explains how we support your child’s learning, development and care through a range of activities. This enables us to make sure that your child achieves the most they can while in our care.
 

The EYFS Framework explains how and what your child will be learning to support their healthy development. Your child will be learning skills, acquiring new knowledge and demonstrating their understanding through 7 areas of learning and development.
 

Children should mostly develop the 3 prime areas first. These are:

• Communication and language
• Physical development
• Personal, social and emotional development.

These prime areas are those most essential for your child’s healthy development and future learning. As children grow, the prime areas will help them to develop skills in 4 specific areas. These are:

• Literacy
• Mathematics
• Understanding the world
• Expressive arts and design.

These 7 areas are used to plan your child’s learning and activities. The professionals teaching and supporting your child will make sure that the activities are suited to your child’s unique needs. This is a little bit like a curriculum in primary and secondary schools, but is suitable for very young children, and is designed to be really flexible so that staff can follow your child's unique needs and interests. Children in the EYFS learn by playing and exploring, being active, and through creative and critical thinking which takes place both indoors and outside.
 

At The Grange we use Learning journeys to help us to support the learning and development of your child. Learning journeys are a way of collecting observation notes and information about every child. The information is then used to help us to understand their needs and provide for them. Once a term these records are shared with you to inform you of your child’s progress and development.