Learning through play

Throughout their early years, play is one of the most important things for your child, as it helps them to discover that learning can be lots of fun. At St George’s, we offer a wide range of indoor and outdoor activities, so that every child has the chance to develop their natural curiosity. As Georgie, our mascot, might put it, we want them to “Play, Learn and Smile”.

We are governed by Ofsted and follow the Early Years Foundation Stage (EYFS); the government framework that sets standards for care and learning in the early years. This framework, plus our Key Person approach, gives every child continuity, security, reassurance and a chance to learn and grow as they play.

The EYFS* is divided into 4 themes:

A unique child
Every child is a competent learner from birth who can be resilient, capable, confident and self-assured.

Meeting the individual needs of every child lies at the heart of the EYFS. At St George’s we plan for each child’s unique care and learning requirements and embrace diversity. Art and craft activities enable our children to express themselves and as we have no expectations of how their work should look, each child learns that they are valued.

Positive relationships
Children learn to be strong and independent from a base of loving and secure relationships with parents and/or Key Person.

We use the Key Person system to build up relationships with children and their families from the very first settling in visit. The visits help your child to get used to their new surroundings and for you both to get to know the staff and ask lots of questions. This also gives us the chance to tell you about our policies and find out about your child’s daily routine.

Enabling environments
The environment plays a key role in supporting and extending children’s development and learning.

All of our rooms have age-appropriate toys to encourage children to investigate and explore the different learning areas. We encourage our children to decide for themselves which activities they want to do.

Learning and development
Children develop and learn in different ways and at different rates and all areas of Learning and Development are equally important and inter-connected.

We get to know every child and create an individual Online Journal to show how they’re developing. We’ll encourage you to read your child’s journal and add interesting things they’ve done outside nursery. This helps us plan activities that they enjoy and find stimulating.

*Ref: Statutory Framework for the Early Years Foundation Stage, DfES Publications click here