At Charnwood Forest Nursery we have one lovely big room where all our children (2-4s) play, learn and explore together.
Our older children gain confidence and empathy while younger children gain greater aspiration to join in and have access to more challenging resources.
We create a ‘home from home’ feel for our children at the setting and allow our children to make the setting their own. Ways in which our team support learning and development for our mixed aged environment is as follows
Planning for the individual child, starting with information gathered from their home environment.
Spilt group times when necessary, this is based on individual development not on age.
We differentiate all activities to support all children
We have a strong base routine in place
We ensure each child is given the space they need to actively learn, play, explore and critically think
We take a continuous provision approach to the layout of the room so that children can access resources that interest them and learn in a way they choose.
We have a strong key person system in place that is important for the emotional development of all children and to build long lasting relationships with all team members.
We support the Play based approach as it is important for our children to develop social and emotional skills and for them to have the ability to develop positive relationships with their adults and peers. As children play together they learn to get along with one another, cooperate, communicate effectively, problem solve and resolve conflicts.
For children to be able to play and learn effectively they need to form strong attachments with adults and peers. In our setting we feel that emotional attachment is important as it allows our children to have a secure base in which to explore, learn and foster these relationships. This approach supports children's wellbeing and motivation giving them opportunities that support self regulation and resilience.
