Our Nursery Units
We have five nursery units, providing facilities tailored to each age range:
Baby Unit (1:3 ratio)
Parents and children are warmly welcomed into this unit by our fully qualified and experienced staff team. Prior to starting in this unit the Team Coordinator will thoughtfully allocate your child to a member of the team, who will be known as your child’s key carer. Attachment is key to emotional health and well being and this member of staff will build close relationships and be solely responsible for the day to day personal needs of your child; planning for and recording their developmental journey. However, as this is a team, all staff will ensure the safety and welfare of all children and will be available to offer advice or answer questions you may have. Children will begin in the unit following two weeks (free of charge)of gradual settling in visits, during which time relationships and trust between you, your baby and the key carer will flourish to prepare for their first full day. To support your babies development there will be lots of opportunity for sensory experiences, heuristic play and schematic learning.
Toddler Unit (under 2's 1:3, over 2's 1:4 ratio)
Toddler age children are undergoing an extraordinary stage of curiosity and enquiry. These patterns of development encompass the ability to interact with others including exploring self control; the ability to understand, communicate and use language; cognitively they are developing the ability to learn and solve problems and physically also engaging how to use their whole body. Keycarer attachment continues to be important to support the long term emotional security of each child.
In Toddler Unit the staff team aim to…
Promote independence and self-help skills with support from sensitive adults.
Provide quality opportunities to extend children’s individual interests and schematic play.
Support families with an open, professional attitude.
Work together with parents as partners to celebrate each child’s individual personality and culture.
2 - 3's Unit (1:4 ratio)
Between the ages of 2 - 3 years children are beginning to purposefully engage with their peers and form friendships, learning skills such as sharing, turn-taking and participating in group play. The children are investigators embracing the world around them within warm and secure relationships. The ratio of staff to children is one to four, allowing staff to truly engage in group play to offer positive role modelling and support in this area of development. Positive communication and language acquisition are areas of expertise for staff working with this age group.
3 - 4's Unit (1:8 ratio)
The 3-4’s unit values the stage of autonomous learning for this age group. At this stage in their development the move from a unit of 12 to a unit of 16 is welcoming to a child, it allows children time to gain self confidence in a slightly larger group and better prepares them for the introduction to the larger group in pre-school at a later date. More time is available for children to master independent personal skills in a more relaxed and less busy environment.
The smaller group also allows for more focus on the thoughts and ideas of the three year old. Activities are available at an achievable level and staff have found the children gain a deeper understanding of concepts, exploring and investigating at their own pace. Children’s language becomes more visible. They are confident to speak out in smaller groups and use more rich appropriate speech to describe their own thoughts and ideas and solve their own problems. Staff are committed to listening to and working with children as partners in their learning. Children are understanding reasons and feelings more, having time to understand each other and develop compromise.
Pre-School (1:8 ratio)
Our aim is to provide the most stimulating and inspiring environment for your child to learn in. Children's early years experiences help to create strong and lasting foundations on which they can build on in later life. These foundations will prepare your child for their journey throughout life, creating memorable and lasting experiences unique to your child. Within the unit we will support your child in their interests, extending on those elements that are prominently stronger. We follow the Early Years Foundation Stage (EYFS) framework ensuring we meet the needs and requirements when planning for the children. The children may acquire many new skills during their time in preschool enhancing their vast knowledge and understanding of the world, which will benefit their preparation for the transition to school. Literacy in preschool is approached in a fun and informal way to allow the children to explore with letters at their own pace, whilst forming the foundations to prepare them for the formal phonics programme used in school. Childsplay provide the opportunity for children to participate in an additional language class, French or Spanish, taught at Childsplay by links with an external professional agency.
We strive to provide a smooth and settling transition to school. We will work closely with yourselves and related professionals to provide the best for your child. You will discover many connections within the unit that give close links to school, we aim to introduce these in order to prepare your children, giving them the best possible start in their new school environment.
Photographys by Peter Frayne Photography