Intent

At Little Discoverers Nursery we endeavour to welcome our discoverers, to make sure they are happy and in a safe and secure environment. To make sure they come into nursery and are developing at their age-appropriate targets. They are flourishing and developing well.

At Little Discoverers Nursery we recognise children’s experiences at home and build on it, provide first-hand learning experiences, whilst allowing the children to build resilience, ambition and integrity.  We endeavour to give the children the Cultural Capital they need to become confident and develop their experiences. This will give our discoverers the best start in life and the support that enables them to fulfil their full potential and achieve future success. Every child is recognised as a unique individual and we celebrate and welcome differences within our community. The ability to learn is underpinned by the teaching of basic skills, knowledge, concepts and values. We provide enhancement opportunities to engage learning and believe that our first experiences of nursery should be happy and positive, enabling us to develop a lifelong love of learning. We use a Conscious Discipline approach to promote positive attitudes to both learning and behaviour. This will reflect the values and skills needed to promote responsibility for learning and future success. Community involvement is an essential part of our curriculum as we celebrate local traditions, learning new skills to enable the children to take an active role in events throughout the year. Children leave the Nursery with a sense of belonging to a tightly knit community, ready to start Reception class the following academic year. They have the confidence and skills to make decisions and self-evaluate, make connections and become lifelong learners.

Our aim is to create a learning environment and build relationships which support, enhance and invite a child’s curiosity, confidence and individual competency to flourish regardless of backgrounds, circumstances or needs. We aim to work collaboratively with parents and carers to encourage independent, enthusiastic learners who thrive and reach their full potential. It is our intent that children who start at LDN begin their lifelong learning journey by developing physically, verbally, cognitively and emotionally whilst also embedding a positive attitude to nursery and a love of learning.

To ensure children make outstanding progress at LDN, it is our intent to take into consideration their starting points and needs of our discoverers as they begin their learning journey. Every child has access to a broad, balanced and differentiated play which prepares them for now and for the future in terms of opportunities and experiences. Following personal interests and individual needs, allows us to plan and provide opportunities throughout our EYFS curriculum to support learning and development and achieve their next steps.

Our EYFS curriculum aims to enable our children to be:

  • Competent and creative learners; who are curious about the world around them.
  • Secure and confident; who enjoy coming to nursery and learning new skills and knowledge building on their existing learning.
  • Skilful communicators; who connect with others through language and play, ensuring that they play in a vocab rich environment.

Implement

We aim to provide experiences and awe and wonder activities for our discoverers according to their interests. To plan their next steps according to their interest so they develop well and meet their targets. We provide a play-based and experiential learning environment and basic skills, to ensure children make rapid progress before transitioning into reception. They are provided with ample opportunities accessible in our indoor and outdoor provision. They engage in focussed activities as well as self-initiated and free flow activities. The learning experiences within our Early Years are linked to the seven areas of learning and development within the EYFS. These areas are split into three prime areas and four specific areas. The three prime areas are those which the children should develop first and are considered most essential for the healthy development and future learning of our children. We encourage children to demonstrate their attitudes and behaviours to learning through the Characteristics of Effective Learning.

Impact

We carry out observations and assessments which represent our discoverers progress. They are learning by using a range of new vocabulary through their play and in conversation with staff. At the end of every term, we carry out a summative assessment which enables us to see the progress of our discoverers. By monitoring assessment, we can effectively demonstrate what learning is taking place and how each child is progressing in all seven areas of the EYFS curriculum. The impact will also be measured by how effectively it helps our discoverers develop into well rounded individuals who embody our values and carry with them the knowledge, skills and attitudes which will make them lifelong learners and valuable future citizens. We endeavour for our discoverers to be Reception ready and have all our nursery core values embedded by the time they leave Nursery. We use learning journal tapestry to record observations and share with parents.