We know that it is often daunting choosing a nursery and even more so feeling that you have made the right choice afterwards, so we have both formal and informal communication with parents about each child’s daily routine and development. It’s amazing just how much our little ones get up to in a week from structured activities to free play.
Planning is done on a weekly basis for all our rooms according to your child’s needs and interests. Each room is open plan with ‘workshop areas’ including creative, role play, messy and quite areas. Each area is fully equipped so children can learn through play and fulfill their potential with adult support to lend a hand. Each child has a key person who is available to talk to at anytime. We ask for you to provide information about your child’s interests and their recent achievements every 6-8 weeks which enable us to plan for your child’s next steps in their learning and development. These next steps are then shared with you and they include some ideas about how you can support your child’s learning at home. For information about each area of the nursery click on the links below: – Monkey Room (3 months to 2 years) – Panda, Giraffe & Elephant Rooms (2, 3 and 4 years) – Our Garden
Monkey Room
(3 months to 2 years)
Monkey room is home to our youngest children. With space for up to 8 babies aged between 3 months to 2 years old, we offer individual care to every child.
We work with parents to ensure that we closely follow baby’s home routine. Each baby is cared for according to their own individual needs and not by a group timetable.
We believe that by spending time getting to know your routine at home we can make this first transition into a nursery easy for both you and your child.
Each baby has a ‘What I have done today’ sheet which is completed by their carer on a daily basis, and will give you a complete overview of your baby’s day.
Monkey room will provide your baby with a variety of stimulating toys and activities as well as much love and care.
Every day children have the opportunity to take part in a sensory activity such as exploring paint or shaving foam, splashing water, pouring sand or squishing baked beans or jelly between their fingers.
Several times a day the children are involved in singing nursery rhymes – current favourites are ‘wind a bobbin up’, ‘wheels on the bus’ and ‘slepping bunnies’.
Our Garden
We are very fortunate to have access to a large secure outdoor play area. The garden underwent a major redevelopment in 2011 and now the garden offers the children the chance to really explore the outdoors with various areas for digging, being creative, growing and gardening, large outdoor play equipment, bikes and balls.
We access the garden on a daily basis with umbrellas and waterproofs available for rainy days to really give the children access in all seasons. Children are asked to bring in wellington boots and waterproofs so showers don’t stop play! The garden has some delightful purpose built shaded areas which provide the ideal place for the children to have an afternoon picnic tea on sunny days.
Many of our parents comment that there is nothing quite like coming to pick their child up on a lovely summer’s day from our garden. It is very easy to see how much they have been enjoying themselves..
Panda, Giraffe and Elephant Rooms
(2, 3 & 4 years)
These rooms are designed for children to explore, to discover new experiences, to develop independent skills and to build relationships with their peers and adults.
Our children are always active and they have the freedom to choose which room they would prefer to play in as each room offers a different experience. The Panda Room has a large role play area and many different construction and small world resources. The Giraffe Room is our creative room where children have access to painting, drawing, cutting, sticking, playdough, sand and water as well as messy activities such as cornflour play and shaving foam. The children also take part in many cooking activities and help us make food for the children to enjoy at teatime. The Elephant Room offers quieter activities such as games and puzzles. It also has a large comfy book area, a computer and a dark den as well as many mathematics and scientific resources to encourage these vital skills.
The children are the inspiration to the projects that they undertake and staff are led by their interests. Recently they have been learning about space, the moon and stars as well as dinosaurs.
The children have access to a vast selection of books that they can choose from and they can also borrow books from our own library. We are currently taking part in a Reading Project to develop children’s literacy skills and help them become confident and enthusiastic readers and writers.
Children take part in a variety of activities throughout the day including joining in with group songs and rhymes. They also have the opportunity for some quiet time to snuggle up and listen to their favourite stories or simply lay down and have a rest from all the excitement.
Meal times are just as important as rest and play and our meals are provided by Healthy Roots who provide us with a handmade, balanced, nutritious meals using natural and seasonal ingredients designed specifically for children – a copy of the menu is on display in nursery. The children serve their own food and eat together, with the adults, in a family environment to encourage the children to try new foods, to role-model good table manners and to promote a social environment and good communication skills. We all wash up our own plates and cutlery before cleaning our teeth.
‘My daughter’s enjoyed her time at Windmill. We’ve been so impressed with you all and how she has developed since joining – it’s a fantastic nursery, you all do a great job.’