Our Day
Early Years
The aim within the EYFS Reception class at SmileOn Nursery is to provide a firm foundation on which all aspects of education are built. We aim to provide a curriculum that is broad and balanced in content and wide-ranging in approach, helping to ensure future progress and success. We believe that we should create a learning environment that is motivating, exciting, and caring, in order to contribute to the children’s positive self-esteem and love of learning.
Main Aims
At SmileOn Nursery, we focus on:
- Facilitating the development of our children’s skills, knowledge, and attitudes in the seven areas of development, tailored to their learning needs and levels of understanding.
- Developing foundation skills that help children grow into independent and successful young learners.
- Promoting good health, emotional wellbeing, and mutual respect for others.
- Providing a happy, safe, nurturing, and stimulating learning environment where children can thrive.
- Working closely with parents as partners in their children’s development and learning.
The Learning Environment
At SmileOn Nursery, each area of learning is reflected in the classroom environment, with resources organized to promote independent learning. The girls are responsible for their own learning environment and are encouraged to choose their own resources, fostering awareness and control of their own learning.
We maintain a high standard of display in the EYFS Reception classroom, which reflects current learning and considers the children’s interests. Children’s work is presented and displayed with care to show that their contributions are valued and important.
The Outdoors
Children have free access to the EYFS outdoor area throughout the day and are regularly taken to Wandsworth Park. Our outdoor area serves as a great backdrop for our Learning in Nature programme, promoting exploration and discovery in a natural setting.
EYFS Curriculum
The Early Learning Goals (the knowledge, skills and understanding which young children should have acquired by the end of the Reception year) and the educational programmes (the matters, skills and processes which are required to be taught to young children) are set out in the Statutory Framework for the Early Years Foundation Stage (Department for Children, Families and Schools 2012).
The seven areas of Learning and Development are:
Prime Areas:
Communication and Language development involves giving children opportunities to experience a language rich environment; to develop their confidence and skills in expressing themselves; and to speak and listen in a range of situations.
Physical Development involves providing opportunities for young children to be active and interactive; and to develop their co-ordination, control, and movement. Children must also be helped to understand the importance of physical activity, and to make healthy choices in relation to food.
Personal, Social and Emotional Development involves helping children to develop a positive sense of themselves, and others; to form positive relationships and develop respect for others; to develop social skills and learn how to manage their feelings; to understand appropriate behaviour in groups; and to have confidence in their own abilities.
Specific Areas:
Literacy development involves encouraging children to link sounds and letters and to begin to read and write. Children must be given access to a wide range of reading materials (books, poems, and others written materials) to ignite their interest.
Mathematics involves providing children with opportunities to develop and improve their skills in counting, understanding and using numbers, calculating simple addition and subtraction problems; and to describe shapes, spaces, and measures.
Understanding the World involves guiding children to make sense of their physical world and their community through opportunities to explore, observe and find out about people, places, technology and the environment.
Expressive Arts and Design involves enabling children to explore and play with a wide range of media and materials, as well as providing opportunities and encouragement for sharing their thoughts, ideas and feelings through a variety of activities in art, music, movement, dance, role-play, design and technology.
Our learning experiences provide each child with opportunities to develop a number of competencies, skills and concepts across several areas of learning. It is our aim that this preparation and development across all areas of learning are delivered through planned, purposeful play-based activities, with a balance of adult.