Our environment
We are committed to providing an environment that supports learning and development through play. As practioners, we acknowledge that it is not just what the children learn but how they learn that is important. This is why we provide a wide variety of challenging, exciting, stimulating and appropriately resourced learning environments for the children throughout the nursery.
The Baby Room is an area exclusively for our babies, the Ladybirds, whose ages range from 6 -19 months. This bright and spacious room has been carefully considered to provide an environment that offers our Ladybirds a wide selection of stimulating resources and experiences with plenty of room to explore. There are designated areas within the room for all kinds of play, which includes messy and sensory play and a quiet corner with soft cushions and books. Low-level units are placed around the room so the babies can access a variety of resources. At meal times the babies gather at the table with a carer sitting close by to offer help with feeding. Bi-folding doors open out onto the garden and the nursery allotment.
The Play Place is at the heart of the nursery. It is a large and homely room with a comfy sofa and book corner where children can relax for a story and circle time activities. There are storage units full of resources which are changed regularly in accordance with the children’s interests and topics/themes.
The Conservatory leads on from the Play Place and has doors which can be kept open, or closed to create two separate rooms. The children sit at the tables in the Conservatory alongside their carers to eat their meals or snack. The tables are also used for table-top and creative activities. This room looks out onto our large mature garden.
The Studio is a separate area linked to the Conservatory. It is all about nurturing and fostering creativity and so specifically caters for all kinds of creative and ‘messy’ activities. The resources, tools and mark- making equipment are stored on low-level shelves for easy access by the children so that they can make their own independent choices. This is recognised as an important part of the early years curriculum.
The Loft Room s a double storey, purpose-built, child-friendly, wooden loft space where the children have access to a variety of resources designed to stimulate their imagination.
The Garden is a very important place, given the value we attach to outdoor play. We feel that our wonderful garden and outdoor areas offer huge potential for learning. Exploring this natural environment is extremely beneficial to a child’s development from an early age and we always ensure that the children are given plenty of opportunities to enjoy the freedom of being outside. Our mature garden offers the children a large lawned area, the chance to freely explore secret pathways, fruit trees and an allotment where the children can plant, cultivate and harvest fruit and vegetables to prepare and eat. There is also a well-equipped mud kitchen for the children’s use, where they can hunt for bugs and make mud pies! They can enjoy a wide selection of outdoor equipment such as climbing apparatus, bikes and trikes, bats and balls and balancing apparatus. There are mark-making areas to allow the children to participate in art and craft activities, as well as a construction area. We have allocated covered areas which offer protection from the sun and rain to enable the children to play outside safely. Our gardener regularly comes into the nursery to maintain it and check that all the plants are safe and cared for.
The pre-school children have the run of the Pre-school Area upstairs. The two rooms and a landing provide plenty of scope for different elements of play and learning as well as for smaller group-time activities. They have a wide variety of resources to further their development and skills.
The Main Pre-school Room enables more formal learning opportunities with the use of a large whiteboard and interactive display boards. There is also a selection of resources available for the children to access independently. The room is arranged so that the children are able to access mark-making materials, numeracy and literacy equipment
The Landing is a sunny area to which the children seem to be drawn during child-initiated play. Here they have access to construction toys, puzzles, small world toys, trains, cars, etc. and can choose what they want to play with.
The Computer Room is another of our upstairs rooms for the exclusive use of our pre-school children. Here the children can use the computer to develop their ITC skills and access information to support their learning. We also use this room for our home corner (which changes along with our themes/topics). There is a quiet book corner in which the children can relax while reading their favourite books.
