WELCOME TO PARKLANDS

NURSERY!!!

At Parklands Nursery we believe that children must fundamentally enjoy what they

do and learn through high quality, play based, activities that they can control and

decide where their play goes. We understand that each child is unique and special

and learns in different ways. This is why we place equal importance on both the

inside and outside environments and ensure that each area stimulates the

children’s imagination and supports their development and well-being. We

encourage children to explore and discover things for themselves while supporting

them to make connections in their learning. This is because when children discover

things for themselves it is much more meaningful and memorable. We want children

to develop the confidence to try new experiences and to be self-assured and to

understand and be comfortable with the idea that sometimes we all make mistakes

and get things wrong, but that this is part of how we learn.

While your child is with us they will be taught by a highly qualified team of

dedicated professionals who are extremely skilled at working with very young

children. We want to develop a strong relationship with both your child and you as

their primary carer, as we understand and value the role parents and carers play as

early educators. Working together we believe that we can create a supportive

network which will ensure that all children are able thrive and reach their full

potential.

The Early Years Foundation Stage

The Early Years Foundation Stage covers a child’s life from birth to five and

therefore at Parklands includes the time your child will spend within our Nursery

and will continue for another year in a Reception class. Nursery education at

Parklands can start from the term after a child’s third birthday. Children move to

the Reception class in the September following their 4th birthday.

The curriculum we follow is called ‘The Early Years Foundation Stage’ and is divided

into three prime areas of learning which underpin four specific areas of learning.

The prime areas are fundamental in a child's development and the specific areas

include essential skills and knowledge and grow out of the prime areas.

The seven areas of learning in the Early Years Foundation Stage

Prime areas

Personal, Social and

Emotional Development

Communication and

Language

Physical Development

Literacy

Specific Areas

Mathematics

Expressive Arts and

Design

Understanding the World

Through high quality play opportunities the children will access several areas of

the curriculum at once ensuring that they are developing a range of skills. The

children will practise and revisit these skills many times, in slightly different ways,

until they learn them fully in preparation for entering school.

Personal, Social and Emotional Development

Great importance is placed on the Personal, Social and Emotional development of all

our children for this area of the curriculum helps to develop life skills which the

children will use now, and in the future. Children will learn to develop friendships

with others and to be able to consider their actions and how they affect others.

They will develop self-confidence and independence (ensuring children have a

positive attitude towards new experiences and develop a love of discovering and

learning new things). They will learn how to share resources, take turns and co-

operate with others. Children will develop their ability to concentrate and

persevere on a range of tasks. They will learn to be considerate and caring towards

others and develop their ability to celebrate diversity and understand individuals

needs and cultures.

Communication and Language

Children will learn how to listen to others and respond appropriately to what has

been said without interrupting. They will speak in a wide range of situations.

Children will be encouraged to discuss what they see and do within nursery and at

home, and will practise and develop their vocabulary. Children will be given the

opportunity to speak in front of others through activities such as ‘Show and Tell’

during their focus week where they can discuss items of interest that are special

to them. They will also explore and play with language, hearing and saying the

sounds which make up words and also words that rhyme with one another.

Physical Development

The physical development of young children is extremely important and here at

Parklands we understand how to provide high quality activities and resources to

promote this. Physical development is concerned with developing a child’s gross

motor skills (i.e. running, jumping, skipping, climbing, walking) and their fine motor

skills (i.e. threading beads, holding a pencil, manipulating scissors). These areas are

interconnected to one another. Children will develop their muscles and hand eye co-

ordination during their time with us, as well as developing the confidence to try

new experiences and develop and practise new skills.

Literacy

Children will experience daily story time sessions where they will hear a wide range

of stories from a variety of books. They will discuss and explore them and develop

a lifelong love of books and story telling. They will take books home with them to

share with an adult. Children will take part in daily singing sessions learning a range

of songs/rhymes as well as stories from memory. They will begin to learn letter

sounds and to hear that words are made up from these sounds, which will prepare

them for reading and writing. There will be opportunities to access a wide range of

mark making equipment. Children will be encouraged to hold pens/pencils and tools

correctly in preparation for learning to write.

Mathematics

Children will learn to say and recognise amounts in different ways. They will learn

to recognise shapes and colours and how to sort items and find differences in

them. This area of the curriculum helps develop children’s ability to think about

problems and find solutions to them. They learn to be able to use their knowledge

about numbers, shape and measures and apply them to different situations and to

problem solve.

Children will learn to use and understand mathematical language such as

positional language, words relating to size and shape, and quantities such as more

and less. They will have access to a range of different construction sets with which

they can build, as well as being able to use different games and resources which

develop their skills in a fun and appropriate way.

Expressive Arts and Design

This area of the curriculum is about children developing the ability to think

creatively and enjoy creative activities and experiences. Within our nursery we

have what is known as the ‘Creative Area’. This is where the children can

experiment with paints and malleable, sensory materials. It is here where they can

junk model make, practise using scissors and sellotape, and work with other

children on large and small projects. Creative development also includes working in

the different role play areas which are set up within our nursery where children

learn to take on different roles and characters. All children will also have the

opportunity to access a wide range of different musical instruments and have the

opportunity to explore and playing with sounds.

Understanding the World

This area of learning encourages children to explore and learn about the world

around them. Children will look at both the natural world and the man made one and

start to understand their role in both. They will learn how to operate simple ICT

equipment such as digital cameras and whiteboards and use IT equipment within

their play. They will interact with the natural world through undertaking gardening

activities and will learn about animals and insects. Children will perform and

undertake simple science experiments and have many opportunities to bake and

cook. Children will learn to explore, experiment and investigate using all of their

senses. They will learn about different people and places and the wider world and

also build upon their own first hand experiences.

STARTING AT PARKLANDS

We hope that your child will experience a happy start to their education. We will

make it as exciting and interesting as possible for each and every child.

Here are some suggestions about how to help settle your child into our nursery:

• Talk to your child about the things they see and do at nursery every day.

Please be proud of the work they bring home. Displaying pictures and work

within the home environment is a really good idea.

• If you yourself have any concerns about your child do talk to your child’s

teacher about them. They are always available at the end or beginning of

each session. Try not to pass on any fears that you have to your child as this

can unsettle them.

• Help your child to become increasing independent by encouraging them to

use the toilet by themselves. You should let them find their own coat peg

and self-register name card at the start of each session. Encourage your

child to put on and take of their coat and shoes and socks without help at

home.

• Label all of your child’s clothes so they can be returned if they “go missing”.

• Give your child lots of praise for their achievements. When they try new

things, even if they can not do something straight away, do encourage them.

• Make sure your child knows who is collecting them at the close of nursery. If

you are running later than 10 minutes after the end of the session please

ring the school office so we can reassure your child.

How to help your child learn

At Parklands we understand that parents are the first and foremost

educators of their children and we place great value on the work

done at home.

Here are some ways in which you can continue to support your child’s development:

• Spend at least five minutes a day talking to your child about their day, what

they have done, or seen. Try and make this a quiet time without the

distraction of electronic devices.

• Join the local library and borrow some books to share. Build this into your

weekly routine. Take time to enjoy the books together and encourage your

child to hold them correctly. Talk about the pictures and guess what might

happen next in the story. Encourage your child to retell the story to you at a

later date using the book’s pictures as clues.

• Play simple games together and complete jigsaws. Maybe join your local

‘Children’s Centre’ or find a toddler/ playgroup to attend.

• Provide pens, pencils, chalks, paints, etc. for your child to experiment at

making marks with at home. Saying things such as ’tell me about your

picture/model?’ when your child brings something home and displaying it

helps children to know that what they produce is valued.

• Provide play dough and other malleable materials to play with. This type of

play develops muscles in the hand as they squeeze, press and pat it.

• Encourage children to use things such as beads where they have to thread

them onto a string. Get them to fasten buttons, manipulate jigsaw pieces,

etc as these activities increase the dexterity of fingers and develop hand

eye co-ordination.

• If your child is interested and wants to, practise writing their name with

them. A handwriting sheet is printed at the back of this booklet.

• Sing and learn rhymes and songs together - especially those which involve

numbers.

• Share biscuits and treats at tea time. Ask “Have we got enough forks, etc.

for everyone?”

• Count everyday things/events such as the stairs so that your child becomes

familiar with using number names.

• Share activities together such as baking and cooking. Count out spoonfuls of

ingredients, talk about how ingredients feel and look, and discuss what you

are doing together.

• Encourage your child to learn shape names and colours, by shape spotting

when you go for a walk.

• Talk about things you see on a walk.

Most importantly enjoy your time together! Children enjoy sharing special moments

with you and will be learning at the same time.

Below are the number rhymes that we use in our nursery to help children learn to

recognise and write numerals between 0 and 9. You might like to share these with

your child at home so we have included them for you.

Weekly Nursery Information

Baking money

We ask all nursery parents to help contribute to the baking/cooking activities by

paying a weekly sum of £3 each half term. This helps to cover the cost of

ingredients and ensures that we can do these types of activities regularly. Please

hand the money to the teacher at the start of the week.

Reading book

Your child will take home a book to read when they start in our nursery. These

books will be sharing books at first. Please share the books with your child – get

them to talk about the pictures, turn the pages and retell the story using the

pormpts as a guide.

Maths Sacks

The nursery team has worked very hard over the past few years to develop what

are known as ‘Math’s Sacks’. These bags contain different, fun resources which the

children can access at home to promote early mathematical skills. You can choose

to borrow a maths sack whenever you like but must return it a week later. Please

let the class teacher know which number you are borrowing before you take it.

Show and Tell

We run weekly ‘Show and Tell’ opportunities. Each child is given an allocated week

for their show and tell which will also be the same as their Focus Child week. This

is where your child bring in items/show pictures of family events of interest to

them from home to talk about and share with their friends at “carpet time”. This

activity helps develop the children’s speaking and listening skills, and also helps

them to learn how to formulate questions. We are always pleased to receive items

(cinema tickets, postcards, things the children have grown or made, etc) although

we would rather toys stayed at home.