"Tell me and I forget. Show me and I remember. Involve me and I understand."
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Chinese proverb
Our philosophy and aims underpin everything that we do in our nurseries and provides the framework for our approach to developing the children in our care. So if your looking for a nursery that offers outstanding childcare in Stoke-on-Trent, Newcastle under Lyme or Cheadle in the Staffordshire Moorlands then we’d love to hear from you.
Our Philosophy
Working with children in their early years is a unique and rewarding profession that for the right individual is a gift. Watching young children grow into confident, happy individuals, because of the care and education that we provide, through carefully planned play based experiences is truly magical.
All of our team share this same passion, with a real love of children. We work hard to ensure that every single child receives the highest standards of care and the best start to their learning and development, in order that we can prepare them as fully as possible for their start to school life.
We know that around half of a person's ability to learn is developed in the first four years of their life, therefore we take our responsibility to influence this learning seriously. We believe that children are their own best educators and parents their best first teachers, we therefore make every effort to provide the children with choices in their learning, with liaison and feedback from parents being absolutely fundamental to this process. These vital early years lay down the pathways on which all future learning is based and we believe that all children are capable of making the most progress when parents and practitioners work in partnership.
Our philosophy is based on the theory that children learn through active involvement with their environment and we therefore place great importance on learning in the great outdoors. The children in our care get to go outside every single day in to our enclosed areas and they also visit many areas of the local community to generate new understandings of the world around them.
Through providing an enriched and stimulating environment, filled with child-initiated, child-directed learning experiences, we offer children the opportunity to learn and grow in a wide range of skills. We know that children learn best by what they experience with all of their senses, we therefore aim to incorporate sensory experiences into as much of our learning as possible.
Developing physical skills lays the foundation for the cognitive abilities needed for reading, writing and arithmetic. By observing how adults and older children use language, young children gradually expand their vocabularies. Environments become richer as they learn to understand others and express their ideas more effectively. As children’s abilities and self-confidence develop, they become increasingly capable of learning from their mistakes. They also begin to seize the initiative to explore and to take risks. When independence is fostered and they are encouraged to make choices more and more for themselves, they will more willingly attempt new and increasingly challenging tasks.
Independence is developed through trust; we maintain small classes and low child-key worker ratios. In this environment, children can feel safe and are encouraged to explore not only materials, but also their relationships with peers and adults. Children feel important and valued when others listen to them, seek out their ideas, and are allowed to express themselves. They learn that all they do and say is important and has an effect on others.
Our Aims
We work hard as a team to give your child the very best start to their care and education outside of the family home. We know that leaving your child in the care of others is a big decision and we aim to do everything we can to make this experience as positive as possible for both you and your child.
The most important priority for us is that your child is HAPPY at nursery. This forms the basis of our nursery aims.
Home from Home – Your child is important to us and we will do everything we can to create an environment that feels secure and safe for them. We want your child to feel confident in their nursery environment, be that in the classroom or the outside area, so that they are willing to take risks in their play and know that they will be supported in their endeavours.
Aspirational – We want the absolute best for your child, and we want them to achieve to the very best of their ability. We recognise that children make progress at different rates and whilst we wouldn’t wish to hold any child back, in the same vain we wouldn’t want to rush them towards an end goal before they are developmentally ready. Early Years is about providing children with the opportunity to try new things whilst developing confidence, this can only be achieved by shaping our learning to match the individual needs of our children.
Parent Partnership – Our relationship with parents is fundamental to the success of our nursery. Our staff value the essential contribution parents make to their child’s experience at nursery, from the very first visits during transition to the contribution parents make to planning and learning experiences. Parents and grandparents are invited in to nursery on a regular basis and are kept informed of children’s daily experiences whilst at nursery.
Positive Attitudes – Our staff have a positive approach to all aspects of nursery life and act at all times as positive role models. They display a can-do attitude and encourage everyone to be a part of our nursery family that includes our children, parents, staff, students, volunteers and the wider local community. We recognise the important contribution that the wider community family plays in every child’s life.
You are LOVED – We will love and nurture your child from the moment they join our nursery. We will encourage them to take part in all of the activities that we offer, so that they are confident to have a go at all of the opportunities that they may encounter, as they move through the nursery and on to their primary education experience. Your child will know that they are special to us.
These aims are underpinned by our overarching vision that your child will experience Laughter, Learning & Lots of Love during their time at our nurseries.