Childcare
Welcome to Daycare,
Our cosy environment promotes child lead learning throughout the day, your child will be able to access the garden area throughout the session as we promote free flow play which supports children's health, development and wellbeing. Our nurturing team builds positive relationships with every child in our care, promoting learning and development at your child's pace and following each child's interests. We use the key person system to enable good attachments and to build relationships with our families.
Our Ethos
At Grandpont we are growing and learning together. Children are at the centre of all we do.
We have a diverse community that supports an inclusive family feel where everyone is kind, feels safe and is respectful.
We offer a platform for learning where children play and have fun, have opportunities to explore both inside and out in a caring and motivating environment.
Learning and Development
Each child is supported to learn and develop using a child lead approach. We will tune in to your child's interests and support learning following their needs and pace. Each child has a learning journey where we observe every child and plan/ provide learning opportunities. We share learning stories with families monthly and enjoy hearing about children's achievements and interests from home. We value each child and promote equal opportunities and celebrate our families and community.
Curriculum Intent, Implementation and Impact
Intent
Every child deserves the best possible start in life and Early Years provision that helps them achieve their full potential. At Grandpont Nursery School and Childcare we have high ambitions of all children and are committed to providing a curriculum to meet the needs of each child to ensure that children from disadvantaged backgrounds will do well. Our intent is that the curriculum gives each child the knowledge and cultural capital they need to succeed in life.
We have a clear intent to support all children to make rapid progress. The curriculum is planned and sequenced to build on what children know and can do. It recognises the importance of starting from the child, following their interests and fascinations to develop the knowledge and skills they need in all areas of the curriculum. Alongside this, our intention is that children develop strong characteristics of effective learning so that they become learners for life.
The holistic approach to teaching and learning will support children’s development and progress through experiences that are embedded in a meaningful context. We do this through a personalised, flexible curriculum that responds to children’s interests and fascinations, building on what they already know and can do. The intention is to engage and motivate our children so that they have an exciting time at Grandpont, reach their potential, and become the best learner they can possibly be.
At Grandpont we want to ensure that parents and carers are our partners in supporting children’s learning and development. Parental involvement in how children learn and what their early experiences are helps practitioners plan for effective learning throughout the early years. Our intent is to develop a genuine partnership with families, working together with each contributing their particular expertise and knowledge so that support is effective and relevant.
Implementation
Our broad and balanced curriculum is a progression of carefully planned teaching and learning experiences that respond to children’s development. These are based on the educational programmes in the Early Years Foundation Stage Statutory Framework, and we use ‘Birth to Five Matters’ to support identification of the development for each child in each area of learning.
We find out about and build on children’s previous learning and the experiences they have at home. We are committed to developing good communication with parents so that information can be shared to ensure that new learning builds upon and strengthens children’s previous understanding.
Practitioners create a positive, caring and welcoming atmosphere where the children feel secure and confident, while still being challenged to achieve their best. Our emphasis is very much on helping individual children to achieve their full potential. We are fully inclusive, and all children are expected to think about the needs of others. We value and respect all families and aim to develop a positive two-way relationship with each parent or carer.
We know that children do their best when all their emotional, physical and learning needs are being met. We embrace the individual and all practitioners understand that each child is different, and their learning requirements and styles are unique too. By focusing on a high level of wellbeing and involvement in learning, we can support each child’s confidence as a learner and their ability to create and think critically.
Children learn through their own self-initiated play and explorations, and through small groups where the Key Person has planned the activity. Children can explore their interest and expand their learning through rich experiences in our indoor and outdoor environments. Practitioners plan for and ensure that both the inside and outside spaces are fun, safe, engaging and offer challenge. Children’s learning is supported and extended by practitioners through timely and sensitive interactions in children’s explorations. These interactions might include:
- communicating and modelling new language
- providing a narrative for what children are doing
- showing, explaining and demonstrating exploring ideas and theories
- questioning to enhance learning – “I wonder how…”
- recalling and linking to previous learning
- facilitating eg fetching a resource that a child wants
- setting challenges to deepen and extend learning
Our curriculum covers all the 7 areas of learning and supports the children to develop strong characteristics of effective learning. Practitioners understand that the prime areas of learning begin to develop quickly in response to relationships and experiences and run through and support learning in all other areas of learning. All 7 areas of learning (see below) are used to plan children’s learning and activities.
Prime Areas of Learning
- Personal and Social Development
- Communication and Language
- Physical Development
Specific Areas of Learning
- Literacy
- Mathematics
- Understanding the World
- Expressive Arts and Design
At Grandpont we encourage children to develop their imaginations, to get actively involved in learning and to make decisions. Through their play our children will:
- Explore, develop, and represent learning experiences
- Practise and build up ideas, concepts and skills
- Learn how to understand the need for rules
- Take risks and make mistakes
- Think creatively and imaginatively
- Communicate with others as they investigate and solve problems
To plan appropriate activities, practitioners start with careful observation. We record these in a secure online journal called Tapestry. This is shared with parents and family members can add their own thoughts and observations. We reflect on our observations and use our assessments to identify a child’s development and plan experiences that allow all children to access a broad, balanced, well-resourced curriculum which offers opportunities for enjoyment and success through active learning. Planned activities - including an emphasis on cultural capital and extending our children’s worlds - as well as our organisation of our learning environment promote equal opportunities, support children with special educational needs and ensure that every child is included and supported.
Impact
By the time children leave Grandpont they will:
- have a sense of wellbeing and high self-esteem
- have strategies to manage their feelings and behaviour
- have the ability to communicate clearly
- be independent, creative, resilient learners
- see themselves as a confident learner
- be able to negotiate and problem solve
- develop the knowledge and skills for the next stage of education
Leaders and practitioners at Grandpont will:
- tailored children learning to their interests, strengths and needs
- ensure every child makes good progress, inclusive of SEN and disadvantaged children
- make sure that every child is included, supported and valued
Parents and carers will:
- know that their child is very special to their Key Person
- be confident that they are recognised as experts on their own children
- knows that they are their child’s first and enduring educator
- be confident that they and the Key Person are genuine partners in their child’s learning
- be well informed about how teaching and learning supports their child’s progress
- know how they can build on their child’s learning at home.
The Governor with curriculum responsibility is Dr Yan Wong.
What will my child need to bring to Daycare?
Please provide your child with weather appropriate clothing i.e. waterproofs, sunhats and shoes / wellies.
Spare clothes because your child will paint, play with sand, water and sensory materials.
Nappies and soothing cream, baby wipes are provided.
A packed lunch, due to allergies please ensure no nuts or seeds are included in your child's lunch. We do provide a morning snack and a light tea. We like to promote healthy eating with occasional treats.