Baby Room (0-2years) The Baby Room welcomes children from the age of 0 months up until they are 24 months. We open the nursery at 7.30am and close at 6.30pm, during this time we make sure that the children enjoy a range of suitable activities that are interesting, varied, and appropriate for their different abilities.
We have a ratio of 1:3 for children under 24 months. All of the children are assigned a key carer which will be one of the permanent members of staff from the room. This member of staff will help them to settle into the nursery routine and work with the child and parents/carers to ensure that they are settling well. They will also co-ordinate information on the child's needs and development and share this with the other members of staff and the parents. It will also help to plan activities for the children and help to build up a picture of their interests.
We offer breakfast from 8am until 8.30am. Between 8.30 until 9.30 the activities are set up and the children have the chance to explore the environment through free play. At 9.30 a bell is rung to signal tidy up time. All of the boxes are labelled and have visual pictures on the front. The children are actively encouraged to help put the toys away in the correct boxes. The children will then sit for a short circle time, we keep this very short and other activities are on offer if they choose not to participate. We concentrate on extending listening skills at circle time by entertaining as well as educating the children.
At 10am we have snack time. The children are encouraged to wash their hands before they have their mid-morning snack. The tables are situated so that a member of staff will sit in the middle and other children will sit around them. Snack time is a very sociable time and good eating habits and manners are encouraged. Children are encouraged to say 'please' and 'thank you' and we also use basic makaton signs. The children all have their own cups with their names on that they can have any time during the day and they are refreshed throughout. After the children have finished their snack the children at his time will either go into the gym to have time to work on their physical development or they will have a focused activity in the room where we can focus on other areas of their development. Meeting the individual needs of our children lies at the heart of our practice and observations are incorporated into daily routines.
In the yellow room it is set up in different areas to support the children learning and development, they have a role play area where the children can express themselves in various way's, the role play area get's changed every few weeks depending on there topic. They also have a creative area, which offers a range of activities, such as sand, water, play dough, clay, drawing and colouring, painting and printing, and malleable materials. Our children also have access to the outdoor area. Many of the activities that are offered in the nursery can be taken outside and also it gives the opportunity for more space and the use of other pieces of equipment such as bikes and trikes. It is a good chance to learn about the natural world and the children can help us to tend to our vegetable patch. At 11.20 is lunch time.
After lunch, all of the children tend to have an afternoon sleep, we set up beds in the room on the floor, which we have under floor heating. The children all get up around the same time, around 2.15pm. They then have another snack with the offer of water or milk. In the afternoon we offer similar activities as the morning but making sure they are varied so that the children are still stimulated. A tea is provided for all children at 4pm.
|