CURRICULUM

The Early Years Foundation Stage (EYFS) sets the standards that all early years providers must meet to ensure that children learn and develop well and are kept healthy and safe. It promotes teaching and learning to ensure children’s ‘school readiness’ and gives children the broad range of knowledge and skills that provide the right foundation for good future progress through school and life.

Every child deserves the best possible start in life and the support that enables them to fulfil their potential. Children develop quickly in the early years and a child’s experiences between birth and age five have a major impact on their future life chances. 

​

At Purple Lion Day Nurseries all our practitioners are trained and prepared to embrace the individual needs, interests, and stage of development of each child in their care, and use this information to plan a challenging and enjoyable experience for each child in all of the areas of learning and development. Practitioners working with the youngest children are focusing strongly on the three prime areas, which are the basis for successful learning in the other four specific areas. The three prime areas reflect the key skills and capacities all children need to develop and learn effectively, and become ready for school. It is expected that the balance will shift towards a more equal focus on all areas of learning as children grow in confidence and ability within the three prime areas. But throughout the early years, if a child’s progress in any prime area gives cause for concern, our practitioners will discuss this with the child’s parents and/or carers and agree how to support the child. Practitioners will consider whether a child may have a special educational need or disability which requires specialist support. They will link with, and help families to access, relevant services from other agencies as appropriate.

​

Assessment 

Assesment plays an important part in helping parents, carers and practitioners to recognise children’s progress, understand their needs, and to plan activities and support. Ongoing assessment is an integral part of the learning and development process and it involves practitioners observing children to understand their level of achievement, interests and learning styles, and to then shape learning experiences for each child reflecting those observations. Our practitioners will share their observations on Tapestry on a weekly basis. Parents are invited to check and keep track of their child’s development on Tapestry by logging in with the details they were provided with during the enrolment process.

​

Planning

Each area of learning and development is implemented through planned, purposeful play and through a mix of adult-led and child-initiated activity. Play is essential for children’s development, building their confidence as they learn to explore, to think about problems, and relate to others. Children learn by leading their own play, and by taking part in play which is guided by adults. There is an ongoing judgement to be made by practitioners about the balance between activities led by children, and activities led or guided by adults. Our practitioners will respond to each child’s emerging needs and interests, guiding their development through warm, positive interaction. As children grow older, and as their development allows, it is expected that the balance will gradually shift towards more activities led by adults, to help children prepare for more formal learning, ready for Year 1.

Supporting children with EAL (English as another language)

For children whose home language is not English, our setting takes reasonable steps to provide opportunities for children to develop and use their home language in play and learning, supporting their language development at home. We also ensure that children have sufficient opportunities to learn and reach a good standard in English language during the EYFS: ensuring children are ready to benefit from the opportunities available to them when they begin Year 1. When we asses communication, language and literacy skills, we will assess children’s skills in English. If a child does not have a strong grasp of English language, practitioners will explore the child’s skills in the home language with parents and/or carers, to establish whether there is cause for concern about language delay.

Suppoting SEN ( Special Educational Needs) children:

If there are significant emerging concerns, or an identified special educational need or disability, our practitioners will develop a targeted plan to support the child’s future learning and development involving parents and/or carers and other professionals (for example, the provider’s Special Educational Needs Co-ordinator (SENCO) or health professionals) as appropriate.

​

Why choose us? 

Our educational programs are designed to meet the needs of both children and families through specific goals and objectives. We focus on building off of the strengths of each child, taking advantage of every teachable moment.

Our nursery offers young children the tools and support they need for their healthy development. All activities are carefully designed to adequately nurture the emotional, intellectual and physical growth of our kids. Through stimulating situations and hands-on learning opportunities, children are free to develop into bright young minds.