Curriculum
At Greystones Preschool we aim to take time to get to know and nurture every child that attends our setting. In each session we split the children into two groups which rotate around our indoor and outdoor provision. Each group has maximum of 13 children and two or three qualified practitioners. This allows us to spend quality time with your child whilst observing, assessing and planning for the next steps in their development. It also promotes strong bonds between the children and their key person.
Children start to learn about the world around them from the moment they are born. The care and education offered by our setting helps children to continue to do this by providing all the children with interesting activities that are appropriate for their age and stage of development. Our environment is rich in possibilities and our aim is that, by the time the children leave our setting to transition in to school, they will have had a broad range of experiences.
Being active and playing supports young children’s learning and development through doing and talking. This is how children learn to think about and understand the world around them. We use the EYFS statutory education programmes to plan and provide opportunities which will help children to make progress in all areas of learning. This programme is made up of a mixture of activities that children plan and organise for themselves and activities planned and led by practitioners.
We understand that all children engage with other people and their environment through the characteristics of effective learning that are described in the Early Years Foundation Stage as:
- Playing and exploring - engagement
- Active learning - motivation
- Creating and thinking critically - thinking
We aim to provide for the characteristics of effective learning by observing how a child engages with learning and being clear about what we can do and provide to support each child to remain an effective and motivated learner.
We assess how young children are learning and developing by observing them. We use information that we gain from observations of the children, to understand their progress and where this may be leading them. We believe that parents know their children best and we will ask you to contribute to assessment by sharing information about what your child likes to do at home and how you, as parents, are supporting development.
We keep a learning journey for each child. Your child's learning journey helps us to celebrate together her/his achievements and to work together to provide what your child needs for her/his well-being and to make progress.
Your child's key person will work in partnership with you to keep this record. To do this you and she will collect information about your child's needs, activities, interests and achievements. This information will enable the key person to identify your child's progress. Together, we will then decide on how to further support your child’s learning and development.