The Nursery Day
A typical day in nursery combines child led play and learning with planned learning opportunities as well as everyday routines. It is essential to achieve a good balance of activity types if children are to achieve the optimum learning and development.
Children benefit enormously from being able to initiate their own activities and pursue their own interests, all the time supported by sensitive, knowledgeable adults. Benefits include:
· Development of their executive function (working memory, flexibility of thought, self-regulation)
· Thinking creatively and solving problems that occur
· Social and emotional development
· Empathy with others
· Self-expression
We provide a wide range of resources to enable children to create their own play, either alone or as part of a group.
In addition, as children grow, they begin to enjoy more structured opportunities led by adults. At Apple Tree these include cooking and baking, gardening, science investigations, specific art skills and many more.
Learning around maths and literacy is built into everything we do from specific planned adult led activities to our everyday routines. For example, children will learn 1:1 correspondence by setting out the correct number of plates to match the number of children present. Initial phonic sounds, rhyme and alliteration are pointed out by adults throughout the day in a range of contexts.
We go to great lengths not to interrupt or disrupt children’s meaningful play and aim that all routines will be flexible. Nonetheless, routines have an important role in creating the family atmosphere at Apple Tree. Children enjoy helping with routines such as setting tables for lunch, tidying up, gathering resources and setting up activities. Our children are extremely friendly towards each-other and older children enjoy helping the little ones.
Everyday at Apple Tree is different but a core of regular activities help children to feel secure. These include our Morning Movers at the start of the day when everyone joins in with fifteen minutes of physical exercise, usually outside. In addition, every day will include stories, songs, rhymes and physical activities.