Our Education

Parkhall Pre-School recognises the importance of providing children with the best standards of education appropriate to their age. Staff training and curriculum reviews will take place regularly to ensure a high standard is maintained and the guidelines set by OFSTED are followed. We are committed to working towards the “Early Years Foundation Stage” which covers seven areas of learning in child development.

The seven areas of learning are as follows:

• Communication and Language
• Physical Development
• Personal, Social and Emotional Development
• Literacy
• Mathematics
• Understanding the World
• Expressive Arts and Design

Continual monitoring of the curriculum ensures that we are offering a progressive range of activities and experiences, which enable us to meet the individual needs of each child.

Each child is encouraged to reach his/her full potential by offering a warm and caring environment, with simulative toys and activities to enhance his/her all round development. A positive image will be encouraged from an early age. This will continue throughout their duration at our nursery. It is our aim when children leave, that they have gained self-confidence and a positive attitude towards life.

We believe in promoting equal opportunities as an everyday occurrence in a child’s experiences and not as a token gesture.

Parkhall Pre-School operates a key person system with carefully planned activities for children. This enables children to work in small groups and have one to one support to ensure they develop a wide range of skills.

THE EARLY YEARS FOUNDATION STAGE CURRICULUM

COMMUNICATION AND LANGUAGE:

Listening and Attention: children listen attentively in a range of situations. They listen to stories, accurately anticipating key events and respond to what they hear with relevant comments, questions or actions. They give their attention to what others say and respond appropriately, while engaged in another activity.

Understanding: children follow instructions involving several ideas or actions. They answer ‘how’ and ‘why’ questions about their experiences and in response to stories or events.

Speaking: children express themselves effectively, showing awareness of listeners’ needs. They use past, present and future forms accurately when talking about events that have happened or are to happen in the future. They develop their own narratives and explanations by connecting ideas or events.

MATHEMATICS:

Numbers: children count reliably with numbers from 1 to 20, place them in order and say which number is one more or one less than a given number. Using quantities and objects, they add and subtract two single-digit numbers and count on or back to find the answer. They solve problems, including doubling, halving and sharing.

Shape, Space and Measures: children use everyday language to talk about size, weight, capacity, position, distance, time and money to compare quantities and objects and to solve problems. They recognise, create and describe patterns. They explore characteristics of everyday objects and shapes and use mathematical language to describe them.

UNDERSTANDING THE WORLD:

People and Communities: children talk about past and present events in their own lives and in the lives of family members. They know that other children don’t always enjoy the same things, and are sensitive to this. They know about similarities and differences between themselves and others, and among families, communities and traditions.

The World: children know about similarities and differences in relation to places, objects, materials and living things. They talk about the features of their own immediate environment and how environments might vary from one another. They make observations of animals and plants and explain why some things occur, and talk about changes.

Technology: children recognise that a range of technology is used in places such as homes and schools. They select and use technology for particular purposes

PHYSICAL DEVELOPMENT:

Moving and Handling: children show good control and co-ordination in large and small movements. They move confidently in a range of ways, safely negotiating space. They handle equipment and tools effectively, including pencils for writing.

Health and Self-Care: children know the importance for good health of physical exercise, and a healthy diet, and talk about ways to keep healthy and safe. They manage their own basic hygiene and personal needs successfully, including dressing and going to the toilet independently.

EXPRESSIVE ARTS AND DESIGN:

Exploring and using Media and Materials: children sing songs, make music and dance, and experiment with ways of changing them. They safely use and explore a variety of materials, tools and techniques, experimenting with colour, design, texture, form and function.

Being Imaginative: children use what they have learnt about media and materials in original ways, thinking about uses and purposes. They represent their own ideas, thoughts and feelings through design and technology, art, music, dance, role-play and stories.

PERSONAL, SOCIAL AND EMOTIONAL DEVELOPMENT:

Personal, social and emotional development is a very important aspect of the child’s life. We therefore encourage the children to know who they are and where they fit in. They are made to feel good about themselves and to develop respect for others. This helps to become more independent.