The Environments
Our environments are often defined as the “third teacher”.
This is because it allows children to explore their interests, collaborate with other children openly, and learn from experiences inside and outside the nursery rooms.
Each room is very welcoming and aesthetically pleasing.
As Educators we draw inspiration from the community, cultures, nature, and fill the room with natural, colorful, and useful materials – from musical instruments to seashells.
Our Nursery rooms are designed to encourage relationships, communication, and collaboration through play.
Our play materials are thoughtfully incorporated to encourage creativity, problem-solving work, experimentation, exploration and open-ended play.
The Nest
Age six months to two years
Your baby’s physical surroundings play a vital role in healthy development. In other words, the environment is the child’s third teacher! We provide a baby room that is thoughtfully designed to engage all of baby’s senses in a positive way: We know that our babies thrive in a soothing sensory environment. Our Nest feature's soft colors, appropriate lighting that isn’t too bright and a balance between “noisy” and “quiet” activities. Our Nest is also kept free of clutter. We provide many different “no-right-answer” activities to encourage creativity and imagination. We have lots of open-ended toys like blocks, balls and baby-friendly furniture that’s easy for crawlers and early walkers to use. The babies in the Nest need the opportunity to make independent choices. That is why we offe a variety of materials and letting the child decide which one to play with. The educators offers gentle support by describing the selected object as baby interacts with it: Our Educators keep detailed records of each baby’s progress and interests. From our records we are able to refine the curriculum, improve teaching methods and provide excellent care for all infants in our program. Come and take a look around our Nest and see for yourself how beautiful this space is !
The Bumble Bees
Age two to three years
In our Bumble Bees we offer dedicated spaces for construction, exploration, imaginative play, sand & water play, mark-making and working with all the senses. We have Creative Area's that allow children’s creative expression. And we offer empty spaces for the children to express themselves. We believe that children are capable of leading their own learning supported by experienced, expert educators. We encourage children to develop their own theories so they can make sense of the world and to explore those theories with their friends. We listen to their ideas, take them seriously and help facilitate these through carefully crafted projects led by experienced and dedicated educators.
The Ladybirds
Age: Three to School Age
Our curriculum begins with our image of the child as rich in potential, strong, powerful and competent. Projects can develop from children’s own interests. We have weekly meetings to discuss what aspects of children’s learning are being supported at any time and how we can extend this further. A single project is likely to have periods in which language development and communication is key, or detailed design and creativity or mathematical aspects. A number of projects will develop over the course of a year, so that children’s learning is broad as well deep. Our Projects last for as long as the children are interested, questioning and learning.... This strong image of the child is something we hold as a group of educators; it shapes our expectations of children and means we work with an emergent rather than fixed curriculum, through projects which cross all areas of the EYFS.
Outdoor Explorers
We spend as much time out in the open as we do inside and have the most amazing spaces to discover. We have our own Outdoor Explorer Classroom where children are taught through a specific programme of Nature based activities bringing the outdoors to life through carefully planned projects.
Our Outdoor Explorers Program is a fundamental part of our curriculum. Our program allows children the opportunity to move freely around their learning environment outdoors and in our Outdoor Explorer Classroom.
Children are encouraged to make a connection with the natural environment and begin to learn and understand about the world around them. Play amongst nature is incredibly beneficial for children’s wellbeing. Outside children can actively explore, engage with and experience the different types of natural environments that Explorers offer.
The children can be found spending days in our Forest School, preparing vegetables grown in our edible garden , taking care of our plants and herb garden ,using nature to create works of art and celebrating the seasons in our many open spaces. We have a saying at The Old School House which is as long as your dressed for the weather we are heading outside each and every day come rain or shine!
