The Toddler Room

The Toddler Room accommodates our one and two year olds in two groups, the Cygnets and the Bears. Because there can be such a huge difference in the abilities and needs of a child who has just turned one and a child who is nearly three, we divide our toddlers into separate groups, the Cygnets and Bears. This allows us to provide activities, which are designed specifically at the developmental stage each group, rather than a general activity, which would leave some children bored, and others out of their depth. Many nurseries group their two, three and four year olds into one large class because it is more cost effective but it is not in the children’s interest to do so.

The Cygnets are our walking one year olds. They join the group once they are walking confidently and are ready to mix with our exuberant toddlers. The avreag age for joining the the group is 18 months, but this varies from chilkd to child.

The Bears are our younger two year old children who are under 2½ at the beginning of the academic year, whereas the older two year olds may start the year in the Tigers, if they are ready.

When children move up from the Baby Room there is a full hand-over procedure between the Key Workers and the children are usually introduced to the Cygnets gradually by spending a few days in there over a period of weeks to get to know the rest of the group. Parents are introduced to the Toddlers Key Worker so that they can discuss any concerns that they might have. The system of providing information to parents is different in the Toddler Room. Because the children have usually established a routine of eating, drinking, toileting and sleeping already, their parents are more interested in what activities they have been doing during the day. We therefore no longer provide the daily diaries as we do in the Baby Room but we display the activity programme for the class on the notice board instead. If there have been any problems with a child’s physical well being, if he hasn’t eaten his lunch or has scraped his knee at play time, we will of course discuss it with the parent on collection, or contact a parent earlier if a child is unwell.

The Toddlers follow the Early Years Foundation Stage curriculum with particular emphasis on language development. They have two interconnected, fully equipped rooms, which have direct access to the garden. A wide variety of fun activities are carried out daily, which are designed to develop all aspects of the children’s development, encourage imagination, creativity and an enquiring mind. The Toddler Room has separate areas for messy play, quiet activities, floor play and imaginative play. The home corner is changed weekly to provide a range of settings such as a shop, plane, hospital, post office, home, pirate ship etc. The children continue to develop their knowledge of shape, colour, number and phonic letter sounds and their vocabulary is extended to enable simple conversations about their environment, family, friends and activities. The children are usually completing their toilet training and will still want to have an afternoon nap in this group and we provide all of the facilities that they will need.

The Pre-School Room

Children will enter the pre-school group either on joining the nursery or having moved up from Toddlers, in which case there will be a transitional phase between the two groups as in the Toddler Room. They share a large room which is fully equipped for all of their activities and again has different areas for different types of play. French windows give direct access onto the outdoor classroom so that activities can easily be taken outside in good weather. The Tigers have usually outgrown their afternoon naps but if they still need them the facilities are there for them. The Tigers and Lions share a Key Worker who plans separate or differentiated activities for the two groups. The assistants and the Key Worker form a team to organise and supervise the activities and care for the two groups. The groups will combine for some of the activities and work separately for others. Combining groups for activities, such as Creative, Physical or Personal, Social and Emotional Development (PSED), allows the younger children to learn from the older ones and allows the older children to develop a sense of responsibility and caring for the younger ones. However, separating the groups for activities such as Maths, Communication, language and Literacy (CLL) and Knowledge and Understanding of the World (KUW) ensures that the children’s activities are aimed at the right level for them so that they are neither bored nor out of their depth.

There can be a wide range of abilities within the Lions. Children moving up within the Kindergarten will usually have an advanced level of development compared with children joining from other nurseries or those who may not have been to nursery before. We observe and monitor each child to ensure that they are provided with activities, which are appropriate for their level of development in each separate area of the Early Years Foundation Stage curriculum. If a child’s language skills are underdeveloped for example, either because they have had speech or hearing difficulties or if English is not their first language, they may join a mixed group of Lions and Tigers for CLL activities but be in a separate Lions group for Maths. Alternatively, if one of the Tigers is particularly advanced in Maths, she may join the Lions for that activity and be in a Tigers group for CLL.

The Early Years Foundation Stage curriculum is followed by all of the children and extension activities are offered in all areas of the curriculum to ensure that they are able to achieve their full potential. It is very rare to find a child who is very advanced in all areas of development but most children will have a talent in a particular area, whether it be sport, maths, creativity, communication, model making or a great sense of humour. Our aim is to help each of our children to achieve the best that they can in all areas of their development by extending them in their areas of talent and supporting them in their weaker areas. When our children leave the Lions to start school they have the confidence to know that if they treat others with respect, try their best and ask for help when it's needed, they can achieve anything. What better start can you offer a child?