Little Cherubs Hazlemere Curriculum
What skills do we want the children to have by the time they leave the setting.
- Resilience.
- Communication skills – relevant to each child, home languages, SEN children- Makaton-signs-key words
- Independence
- Self-confidence.
- Enjoyment of nature and new environments
- A love of books
- Problem solving skills
- A love for exercise and a knowledge of a healthy lifestyle
Resilience
We understand the importance of building resilience in children ready for their school learning journeys. We encourage building resilience by taking a step back when children come across challenges, we are there to support the child and help them work through their problems when needed but we like to give the children the tools to become capable of solving their own problems. We work on emotions throughout the whole nursery and give children the knowledge of their emotions and how to manage them by explaining that it is okay to feel how they are feeling and have an open space for them to talk to us and share their feelings if they would like to. We always encourage the children to have a go and keep trying to reach a goal that they want to achieve, practitioners use encouraging language such as “well done for trying” and “I’m proud of you for doing so well.”
Communication skills
As a setting we encourage a language rich environment. Children are listening to adults narrating their day and using a wide range of vocabulary throughout the day as well as hearing songs being sung, stories being read and different sounds, we have opportunities for different listening games and have time for children to have 1 to 1 interaction with adults.
We embrace different languages in the setting and use key words and phrases that are familiar to each individual child that they may hear at home. We also use Makaton and signing to encourage communication with and children that may have extra needs. We work on plans where children may fall behind with language skills and liaise with parents and outside agencies for extra support.
Independence
Throughout the nursery we encourage independence with the children, giving them skills, they need to be able to be self-sufficient with some skills.
We encourage choice and self-serving at mealtimes as well independence in feeding themselves, right from our baby room (by giving the younger babies their own spoons and encouraging them to have a go) up to our pre-school room where they learn to use a knife and fork effectively and safely. We encourage the children to learn dressing and undressing skills ready for when they leave to join school, as well as learning to recognise their names. We encourage the children to know what belongs to them and be able to access their own belongs when they need to, for example if a child needs to get change we will aim for them to be able to find their own bags and change with support.
Self-Confidence
At Little Cherubs we aim to give children the support and reassurance they need in order to become self-confident children. We use positive praise for when the children put effort into activities- no matter what the outcome is. We give children the tools to manage their own conflicts and make sure their voices are heard. We allow the time for children to have their own choices and to maintain and embrace their individuality. We encourage confidence in new situations and are here to make the children feel safe and secure whilst exploring these new situations.
Enjoyment of nature and new environments
We allow our children to have to explore the environment around us and to explore the nature near us as well as gain a knowledge of nature around the world. We encourage caring for animals and the environment by nature walks and talks about the nature around us and how we can keep it safe and nurture it. We also have pets within the nursery and encourage caring for them and help children learn about what we need in order to make animals thrive. We have lots of talk about life cycles and will develop children’s’ knowledge through their fascination of the world around them.
A love of books
Throughout the setting we encourage a love of books, right from our youngest babies to our school leavers. We will read to the children and make story times exciting by often using puppets and props to bring our stories to life. We aim for a member of staff to be in our book areas in each room so that children can seek them out to read stories if they choose to. We also take walks to our local library and aim for each child within the setting to have visited the library at least once each month. We also have a nursery library which we encourage parents to visit with their children and take a book to read at home.
Problem solving skills
We believe that it is important for children to learn the skills to solve problems themselves. We ask the children questions often in order for them to think of ways that they can do things and give them opportunities for risk and assessing how to overcome problems. We model our own problem-solving skills and often ask children to provide their ideas to support us and their peers. The children also know for example when they spill water at mealtimes what needs to be done and develop the independence to clear up.
A love for exercise and a knowledge of a healthy lifestyle
We are able to encourage a love for exercise by encouraging the children to take part in daily movement sessions and using our environment to make sure that the children are active. The children are able to access our outdoor space often and use the equipment to develop their physical skills and to stay healthy. They have a well balanced diet at nursery and have opportunities to talk about how to stay healthy and gain knowledge of a healthy lifestyle.
