Baby Unit

We are registered for babies from three months. Our main baby room has been specially designed to provide a safe, secure setting. We have a range of toys and equipment to aid learning through discovery. We have provided a variety of tactile materials and sensory areas, so that our babies can develop through exploring their environment.

Dedicated Baby Unit

The baby unit uses the birth to three framework.

Activities provided take into consideration the importance of development and stimulating the senses. These include water play, paint exploration, sticking and gluing. Our more adventurous activities are gloop (messy play with corn flour, water and colouring), pasta play (usually cooked and coloured, rather slimy and great fun!!), jelly play, mashed potato play and play with our treasure baskets.
Babies sleep in one of our two special sleep rooms so they can sleep undisturbed by children playing. Babies spend time in the garden, learning to crawl and walk, play with water and a variety of outside toys. Regular walks in our double buggies are part of the babies’ routine.

Staff who work in this area are experienced in working with babies or have a special interest in them. We are able to give them plenty of individual attention, love, affection and approval in a calm, relaxed environment. The consistency of staff ensures the babies form close bonds with their key worker and associate key worker.

Parents are encouraged to bring their babies for “settling in visits” prior to beginning Nursery.

We aim to help babies become secure and happy in their new surroundings. These visits give parents ample opportunity to pass on information about their baby, and builds mutual understanding between parents and staff. The transition from home to nursery is therefore as smooth as possible. Each baby is regarded as an individual and we adhere to the baby’s routine in the nursery. Information about baby’s day is sent home each evening in a link book. This records sleep times, feeding, nappy changes, an outline of what the baby has played with and done throughout the day, as well as anything else the parents may need to know. We monitor their progress and record key developmental stages. These Developmental records are available for the parents to see at any time.

Toddler Area

The Bumblebees and the Ladybirds

The toddlers are divided into two groups according to age and ability. The Bumblebees are the youngest, approximately 12 – 18 months: the routine and activities offered take into account their specific needs. Sensory play and learning through discovery continues to be important.

Opportunities for physical play are increased, as are the range of equipment and activities offered. Indoor and outdoor equipment such as slides, tunnels, trampolines and small climbing frames are used to develop balance, mobility and increase confidence in movement. Play with beanbags, balls and hoops develop the toddler’s manipulation and small motor skills.

Calm heuristic play sessions encourage concentration and manipulation and appeals to natural curiosity by using a selected range of containers and everyday objects, which the toddler can explore.

Creative play sessions help to promote imagination and include dressing up, home corner, musical instruments and singing time.

The Bumblebees gradually begin to enjoy stories, learn finger rhymes and action songs, encouraging language development and listening skills in a stimulating fun way.

There is plenty of opportunity for play with puzzles, books and a large variety of construction toys

The Ladybirds approximately 18 months – 2 1⁄2 years old enjoy similar activities and experiences, taking into consideration the groups increasing abilities. The Ladybird room has areas for art and messy play, construction toys, home corner play, role play and adult led tasks which develop concentration. Group story time is introduced at this stage of nursery life.

We aim to encourage cooperation and consideration towards each other through group activities in order to build good social skills.
The toddlers’ progress is monitored through active involvement and observation of their play.

We monitor physical, social, language and intellectual development and key developmental stages are recorded on each child’s development profile.

The Bumblebees and Ladybird groups follow the Birth to Three framework.

Group leaders of both Bumblebees and Ladybirds liaise closely with parents to ensure parental wishes are observed and good communication is maintained between home and nursery. Staff working in this area are experienced in working with children under two.

Pre-School Area

The Frogs and Ducklings

Their day is more structured. We encourage all children to be independent, disciplined, build self confidence, and take care of their personal needs wherever possible.

Their session/day is divided between their respective schoolrooms, where they concentrate on pre-school activities in language, numeracy, literacy, environment studies and science and the creative room where art and craft and imaginative play, musical activities and concentration work are developed. Regular opportunities to learn and explore their skills on the computer is provided.

Both groups work to a chosen theme each term and activities are developed which relate to the 6 areas of learning as we follow the foundation stage curriculum.
The younger children choose a pre-reading book to take home to share with their parents, when the individual child has gained the necessary skills to move onto the next stage, a structured reading scheme is introduced, books are taken home so that parents can share in their child’s growing confidence, as their child learns and understands that script carries meaning.

In our pre-writing skills we teach towards cursive, introduce phonics and encourage emergent and developmental writing skills. We use lower case in all writing exercises, in preparation for reading and writing.

We concentrate on number awareness, one to one correspondence and naming of basic shapes, for our mathematical development.

Each year the nursery enters in Portsmouth in Bloom, which gives the children an excellent understanding of recycling, growing and our environment, broadening their general knowledge as they learn.

All staff working with the children monitor their progress through observations. This is noted in their developmental profile and used in the future planning.
Children work with the staff individually to aid or extend them appropriately.
Parents are encouraged to share their children’s progress, through regular casual discussions with their Group Leader or if necessary a more formal progress meeting can be arranged.