Curriculum

At Grace Nursery we are passionate about providing high quality care and education for all children. High quality care leads directly to better outcomes for our children and all the staff are committed to providing children with the best possible start in life and enable them to reach their full potential.

Children are given plenty of opportunities to make choices in their play, which encourages independence, problem solving, negotiating and risk taking skills. Every Child is unique and adults make room for this in their planning. We provide a learning environment both indoor and outdoor so that Children have fun, learn through their play, are challenged, supported and questioned by staff.

Children are supported to engage in free flow play through self – initiated experiences. Our environment is divided into curriculum areas that support active learning. Experiences are planned around children’s interests and key person knowledge of each child’s next steps. There are seven areas of learning and development around the EYFS that practitioners use to plan Child-Led or Adult- Led activities. When children leave to move onto school, they are confident, assured children who are well prepared and ready for the challenges school has to offer them.

Our staff have a diverse range of experience and knowledge that they bring into the setting and are continuously developing their skills and knowledge.
A qualified Early Years Teacher provides professional input to our Staff, Children and Parents.

We hold 2 open days a year where parents can come in and experience a typical day at Nursery and meet with their child’s Key Person to discuss their progress.

New EYFS Reforms: Parent and Carer Information Sheet Click Here

To understand more about the EYFS, please click here:

http://www.foundationyears.org.uk/eyfs-statutory-framework/
www.education.gov.uk/schools/teachingandlearning/curriculum/a0068102/early-years-foundation-stage-eyfs

Observations
We use an on-line learning journal called Tapestry to record children’s development and plan future activities in line with the EYFS. This will enable us to work more efficiently with our Parents as partners. Each observation we make will be done directly onto a mobile app and linked into your child’s personal profile. These observations can include notes, photographs, videos and they can be enhanced by comments from you as Parents. You will be able to view the complete set of observations as a learning journey, flipping through your child’s observation pages, in time-order, or filtering in flexible ways to access your favourite records, and bookmark your favourites for quick access.

Inclusion
We plan learning experiences to ensure, as far as practical, there is equality of opportunity for all children and a celebration of diversity.
We take great care to treat each individual as a person in their own right, with equal rights and responsibilities to any other individual, whether they are an adult or a child. We are committed to providing equality of opportunity and anti-discriminatory practice for all children and families according to their individual needs. No child, individual or family will be excluded from using the Nursery facilities on the grounds of age, gender, sexuality, class, family status, means, disability, colour, ethnic origin, creed, political belief, culture, religion or belief. We work closely with the local authority inclusion team; they support our Special Educational Needs Co-ordinator and staff with training.

Safeguarding

At Grace Neighbourhood Nursery we work with children, parents, external agencies and the community to ensure the safety and welfare of all the children and to give them the best possible start in life. Children have the right to be treated with respect, be helped to thrive and to be safe from any kind of abuse. We support the children within our care, protect them from maltreatment and have robust procedures in place to prevent the impairment of children’s health and development. In our Nursery we strive to protect children from the risk of radicalisation and we promote acceptance and tolerance of other beliefs and cultures. Safeguarding children is everyone’s responsibility. All staff, students and visitors are made aware of and asked to adhere to our safeguarding responsibilities and policy

The welfare of any child is of paramount importance.
All children, whatever their age, culture, disability, gender, language, racial origin, religious beliefs and/or sexual identity, have the right to protection from abuse.
All suspicions and allegations of abuse will be taken seriously and responded to swiftly and appropriately.
All staff (paid/unpaid) working with children and young people in Grace Neighbourhood Nursery have a responsibility to report concerns to the Manager or Designated Person.

Aims and objectives
Our aims are:
• to provide a safe environment for children to learn in;
• to establish what actions the Nursery can take to ensure that children remain safe, at home as well as at Nursery;
• to raise the awareness of all staff to these issues, and to define their roles and responsibilities in reporting possible cases of abuse;
• to identify children who are suffering, or likely to suffer, significant harm;
• to ensure effective communication between all staff on child protection issues;
• to set down the correct procedures for those who encounter any issue of safeguarding
• Ensure effective communication between staff with regard to information sharing.

Designated Persons for the Nursery are:
Karen Stephens – Manager
Linda Osiyemi – Deputy Manager

The full details of our Nursery policies can be viewed by our Parents in the Nursery and a Parent handbook is given to all Parents who use the Nursery.