Guidance on Care and Learning for the 2-5 Year Group

Structure

The day is structured around the children’s care needs. This structure in return gives children a sense of time and place giving purpose to the day. Following a recognised routine each day - with a keyteam known to the child -is essential in creating an environment in which children feel secure. Simply knowing what is going to happen next and with whom, limits any potential for anxiety. It is, therefore, important children are given meaningful recognition by their keyworkers to times in their day. At the nursery we begin each day with the self-registration board where children enter their photo before joining the group. We then have our visual timetable which holds simple illustrations setting out the events of the day from beginning to end. This timetable is up on the wall for all children to see, access as they wish, and more importantly is talked about throughout the day. For example: ‘Let’s go and look at what we are going to be doing next’. This is especially helpful for new children and ongoing is a useful tool for those established in the group.

The following is a list of the names given to each illustration used in the visual timetable and is given in the order it is used each day:

welcome; free play; inside or outside; snack; sand play; water play; free play; nappy time; tidy up time; singing; toilet; wash hands; dinner; quiet time; inside or outside; free play; snack; sand play; water play; tidy up time; story; tea; free play; home

It is important also to have each day repeat as the one before.

The Nursery Environment and the Early Years Foundation Stage

At the nursery we talk about three different areas which are simply named by location or activity. Your child is likely to talk about their day using these names. We have the top room where children choose from a variety of miniature world play, such as dinosaurs, baby dolls and insects etc, the home corner for role play and a book corner. The back room and the outside classroom provide a wide range of art resources for children to explore and experiment with as well as the opportunity to choose from a variety of construction toys, sand and water are also available to the children. These areas are accessible throughout the day and are varied to maintain interest and promote curious minds. The children also have many information technology resources to choose from. All of our play areas are set up to provide cross curricular learning opportunities meaning all areas of learning are integrated in to all parts of the nursery environment. Communication, language and literacy; problem solving, reasoning and numeracy; to name two of the six areas of learning given in the Early Years Foundation Stage (EYFS) – being the curriculum guidance followed for all children from birth through to the first year in primary school at five years of age – the reception year. For more information on the EYFS please see www.standards.dfes.gov.uk/eyfs.

Play and Learning

There are several learning approaches that can be used by a Nursery. At The Green Door Nursery we practice free-flow, which as the name implies, gives children freedom to move and explore all areas within the nursery including the outdoor play area. Free flow is also described as ‘discovery time’. With this our aim each day is to place minimal restriction on activities for children with the exception of occasions where we have a safety need. For example there are; separate garden times for 0-2 years and 2-5 years; and some play resources specifically for older children requiring greater supervision i.e. woodwork. Sometimes, also, we may need to limit numbers of children at an activity purely due to the type of the activity/and the resource used. Not all activities are suitable for a large group. Sometimes, therefore, children might have to wait their turn.

So the free-flow method of learning is based on the principle of allowing children to develop play and choose toys independently with minimal adult intervention in a caring, safe and well-resourced play environment. The Free-flow approach develops independence in children as it is the child’s choice of play and interest which is taken as the lead in learning. When it is the child’s choice play is more meaningful and prolonged than that from an activity chosen for them. Most of our day is taken up with this self-selection process where toys are clearly labelled with words and pictures to support children’s choices and enhance learning.

The role of the keyworker here is to provide the well-resourced learning environment in which to observe the children at play and to take the given opportunities to extend learning. This is called scaffolding learning maximising the potential learning for the child without the Keyworker ‘taking over’ or ‘leading the play’ and through knowledge of the individual child. It is also about having the skill to know when this may be appropriate and how best to do this. Through day to day observation of the child/children’s interests Keyworkers plan and then build-in an activity - called a focus activity - around the interest to further enhance learning. This may be done either with an individual child or as a group.

To help include parents in their child’s learning and give information on focus activities we send out a Focus for Learning Newsletter every two months. Sometimes we may ask for help with activities and request items such as photos. Notices are put up on the parent’s notice board in the central hallway also. We write up what has happened each day in our day book which is displayed on a table in the hallway at the entrance to the 2 – 5 year area at the end of each day. The day book is there for parents to write in and make any comments as they wish - as well as read about their child’s day. It is important we know about a child’s interests at home to build a connection between home and nursery which benefits the child/parent/home/ keyworker/nursery relationship. The day book can be used for this purpose along with giving us any written feedback you wish. We also hold learning reviews for parents twice a year and keep a Learning Diary on each child. We will ask you to complete a written questionnaire after the review so we can make an assessment of our performance. Parents can request a review at any time during the year if they wish to discuss any aspect of their child’s learning. The keyworker may also offer or request a review if there is a care or learning need to discuss with you