Why Edgbaston Kindergarten Is The Best Choice For Your Child

To summarise why Edgbaston Kindergarten is the best choice for your child:-

• Gold Standard awarded in the Quality Assurance Scheme
• Excellent OFSTED inspection report
• High staff to child ratios mean that your child receives the attention he needs
• Montessori methods and ethos develop early independence and a love of learning
• Strong partnership with parents ensures peace of mind
• No Crying policy means that you never need worry that your child will be left to cry uncomforted
• Large outdoor play area ensures plenty of fresh air, exercise, and romping
• Strong emphasis on intellectual development, so that your children can achieve their full potential

When you start looking for a nursery for your child, it can be difficult to sort through the information and highlight the factors that are important to you. All of the nurseries sound marvelous on paper, and you really have to visit them in person to get the true atmosphere of the nursery.

All day nurseries have to be registered with Ofsted, who require basic standards to be met. This means that you can be confident that your child will be physically well cared for by suitable child carers. The premises will be safe, sufficient space will be available and there will be a minimum number of staff per child. In these aspects, all nurseries will be pretty much the same. Where they differ, is in the ethos of the nursery, this is determined by management policy.

At Edgbaston Kindergarten we know that parents would like their children to receive the same sort of attention at nursery, that they get at home, but with the added bonus of having other children around to socialise with. Parents spend a great deal of time teaching their children, either looking at books together, talking about what they are doing, or answering those never ending questions. They are developing their child’s language skills through one to one conversations, singing songs and reading stories. It is very difficult to provide this level of intellectual stimulation in a nursery setting unless a) there are sufficient staff to provide one to one attention when required, and b) the ethos of the nursery places emphasis on intellectual stimulation. It costs a lot more per child to provide this sort of service to parents, and if nursery owners want to maximise profits, or provide low cost nursery provision, then it makes it uneconomical.

Many nurseries aim merely to provide a play setting where the children have fun, minimum staff numbers are required, and very little learning takes place. This is fine if the children are only attending for a few sessions a week, parents are teaching them at home, and they just want their child to mix with other children. Where children are attending more often, they can get bored, disruptive and studies have shown that their speech development can be delayed.

At Edgbaston Kindergarten, we aim to provide an educational setting in which the children can have fun, but learn at the same time. We achieve this by having small class groups with a high number of staff per child. We place great emphasis on the family atmosphere of the nursery. Because we have the extra staff, a child can cuddle up on a lap if she wants to, without the rest of the class feeling neglected. Children can be taught on a one to one basis while the rest of the class carries out a group activity with another member of staff. Small group sizes mean that there is less noise and distraction during the day. Quieter children find this friendlier, bouncier children find it calming, and all children find it easier to concentrate on what they are doing, and learn more effectively.

Tried and tested Montessori Methods are used in the Kindergarten, but we have also incorporated recent developments in childcare. Montessori methods promote memory, listening and concentration skills in preparation for school. The children are given responsibility for certain aspects of the Kindergarten’s day, and learn respect for others and their environment. Self-help skills are taught from an early age, to develop the children’s independence. Structured activities are interspersed with free activities and regular play times to ensure that the children have plenty of time for free play and letting off steam.

Edgbaston Kindergarten is a child centred nursery, so it is organised around the needs of the children, not the convenience of the staff. For example, most nurseries serve lunch at 11.00 and insist on after-lunch naps. This is so that the staff can have their lunch while the children are quiet. We employ sufficient staff to maintain staff to child ratios even when the staff have lunch, so the children eat at a normal time and don’t nap unless they are actually tired. During free play sessions our staff join in with the children’s games, they don’t just watch them while they chat amongst themselves. As a parent, you know that young children love adults to get involved with their play, and they enjoy it all the more. We also have a no-crying policy in the Kindergarten. This means that if a child is upset, the staff will immediately take action to comfort him, or provide a distraction, just like a parent would at home. No child is ever left to cry because the staff are too busy. If a child should prove to be inconsolable despite all our efforts, a parent would be contacted and informed of the situation.

We consider that parents are the best authority on their own child, and we always work in partnership with parents. We ask parents to inform us about their child’s usual routine, likes and dislikes before joining the Kindergarten so that we can prepare for their arrival. Parents are always welcome to discuss their child with his or her Key Worker at the beginning or end of teaching sessions (before 9.30 or after 3.30), however, we do ask parents to allow time for this so that activities are not interrupted. If a child has had a restless night, or has expressed concern about something, it is important that the information is passed on that day. If more time is needed for discussion, then an appointment can easily be made at a mutually convenient time.

Discipline in the Kindergarten is firm but fair, and the children soon learn that boundaries are set on their Most difficult behaviour in young children is usually the result of boredom or lack of attention. Our children receive a great deal of attention, and are kept occupied with interesting activities throughout the day. Consequently, we rarely have any problems with behaviour.

In terms of educational provision, Edgbaston Kindergarten aims to ensure that all of the children reach their full potential. Unlike other nurseries, we do not restrict the children to learning pre-school skills in the year before school. We introduce the children to number, shape, colour and the phonic alphabet as soon as they join the Kindergarten. We start with a few minutes a day, and then build up the activity length as the children’s concentration span increases. If a child is ready to move on to more advanced work, then it will be offered, no matter what age the child may be. If a child is having problems in a particular area, we will organise additional one to one sessions to overcome the problem.