Learning and Development

The Nursery is well equipped with resources and learning materials and our qualified experinced staff have the expertise to provide a calm and organised environment, in which children progress happily.  We have a range of outdoor play activities and a good supply of outdoor equipment. Ash House is ideally situated for such activities, being set in its own grounds, which are fully enclosed and include grassed and paved areas.

We follow The Early Years Foundation Stage (EYFS) framework which is designed to cover 7 areas of learning. It consists of 3 prime areas which are: Personal, Social and Emotional Development, Communication and Language and Physical Development. It is seen that these 3 areas are the most important areas from birth and build the roots for the rest of a child's learning.

There are also 4 specific areas which are: Literacy, Mathematics, Understanding the World and Expressive Arts and Design. These 4 specific areas strengthen the prime areas and help us to apply the prime areas within a nursery setting.

The 7 areas are interconnected and most of our activities within the nursery cover more than one area at any one time. The wide and varied range of activities we offer provides the children with not only a basic grounding in numbers and letters, but a wealth of learning experiences, allowing them to progress to their next stage of education with a sense of achievement and confidence. All activities are planned to follow children's interests as by doing so we have found children to want to be more involved in their learning and achieve their potential.

The children undertake a wide variety of activities to make the very most of their natural enthusiasm for learning. All of our activities are planned according to the child's interests and are observed and tracked along the EYFS by the child's individual key person.

We take full advantage of our location and regularly take the children to the local beach, parks, libraries and shops. We also have outside professionals come in to lead the children in Karma Time (Yoga), Spanish and Dance Lessons. The children enjoy these sessions building confidence, self esteem and communication skills.

There are plenty of opportunities for the children enjoy the large outdoor area and apparatus including climbing frames and slides and we also encourage regular trips to local amenities including the parks, libraries, beaches and shops in all weathers as long as they are dressed appropriately.

We promote positive behaviour and strongly encourage children to be kind and caring to one another in a positive and nurturing environment. Children work and play together in a happy, relaxed and positive atmosphere in which encouragement abounds and the surroundings are attractive and adaptable.

The experiences provided for each child are stimulating, challenging, absorbing and satisfying, allowing for every aspect of development and progression through the different stages of the pre-school years. The children are taught by long standing, dedicated, enthusiastic and well qualified staff in spacious and well equipped classrooms. This all combines to help us provide a start to education of the highest standard.

All children will be allocated a key person who will play a vital role in your child's settling in periods. The key person will support the child's emotional wellbeing and help to meet their individual needs while they are in our care. The key person will usually be responsible for feeding and changing their key children along with offering security, reassurance and continuity. As the key workers will build a strong bond with the children they are in the best position to conduct observations, track the child's development/progress and plan for future activities based on their individual interests, age and stage of development.  Key workers work in partnership with parents and carers to develop strong relationships in order to support children's care and development.

We respect parents and carers as the primary educators of their children and ask that you join with us in a partnership, which will enable your child to enjoy his or her time at the Nursery.  Our aim is to assist you in developing your child to his or her full potential.  Parents are welcome to come into Nursery at any time and also, will be invited in, to discuss how your child is developing in line with the Early Years Foundation Stage.  However, appointments with your child's key worker or the Manager can be made at any time.