Childcare

Babies

We know that as soon as children are born, they thrive on learning about the world around them. As they grow, their ability to learn grows with them. Our baby rooms are designed to create a warm and homely feel and are furnished with soft chairs and comfy cushions. All equipment and activities are chosen to ensure appropriate development in learning areas.  

Each baby room is resourced with a variety of play equipment designed for sensory stimulation. The daily routine within the baby rooms is tailored around the individual needs of the children and activities are blended to create a careful balance between stimulating discovery play using treasure baskets and quieter times using songs, finger rhymes, music and tapes, when babies are soothed and cuddled ready to snuggle and sleep.

With the youngest children, we plan carefully for each individual so that they learn through their own natural curiosity. All children are allocated a key-person when joining the nursery. This ensures that a close and loving relationship is secured with individual children and clear records of development are kept to record children’s progress throughout their learning journey.

Continuity and stability of routine and care are very important to the well-being of the very young. Staff will ensure that they follow the individual requirements of each child and their routines will be tailored specifically to meet their needs.

Older Babies

As with the baby room, the environment within older babies is organised to allow children easy access and freedom to explore and investigate and discover. The day’s activities reflect the individual stages of development that the children have reached. We ensure that children are fully engaged and absorbed in what they are doing.  

This is achieved by providing warm and comfortable surroundings, entwined with multi-sensory opportunities. We know that when children are deeply involved, they are developing and learning.

Our qualified and experienced staff  are dedicated to the development of the babies, and are themselves the most valuable resource in helping babies learn to play and communicate. Children continually learn through their senses and we use a wide variety of exciting materials to allow children to learn about texture, taste, smell, shape and sound. This heuristic play is undisturbed and enables babies to be curious and to investigate in their own time. The children have freedom to explore and make choices, and routines are determined by, and flow to suit the needs of the child.

We ensure that when children move into older babies, they have an easy and simple transition. This is achieved through regular communication between staff and discussion about children’s achievements. Easy and comfortable communication between the baby and older baby staff and parents engenders confidence and peace of mind that benefits both parents and children.

Close emotional attachments underpin all later learning and the key-person relationship builds upon the social and cultural context in which a child lives.

Our imaginative babies on a typical day.

We ensure that all of our babies encounter a wealth of experiences that enable them to explore and investigate using all of their senses.

Inside and out  -   the choice is theirs.

We know the real value that outside play has on children’s learning and development, as well as contributing to their health and well-being. With this in mind, we ensure that children have daily opportunities to play outside. Physical activity is an essential part of a child’s development and in the long term aids concentration and attention.

The joy of investigation.

We know that babies love to explore the environment that surrounds them,  and all their needs are both special and individual. We provide a range of unique activities that allow them to investigate through a variety of play with natural sensory materials.

Meal times.

Meal times are an integral part of the day. We provide a healthy, balanced diet with food that is freshly prepared each day. Children’s individual needs are respected and we ensure meal times are a lively social time of the day.

Individual care routines.

We ensure that all children’s needs are met. We ensure that care routines, such as sleep, feeding and nappy changing are carried to reflect individual requirements.

Heuristic play.

We place great emphasis on the learning environment and use a range of stimulating materials and equipment for children to investigate and explore and discover.

Heuristic play is a way of offering a group of children a range of objects to explore freely, with little adult intervention. This type of activity is particularly useful in encouraging young children to engage in an activity for more than a few minutes!