Helping your child
grow and develop
Our approach
to learning and development and assessment...
We develop our planning and curriculum in line with Development Matters, curriculum guidance for the Early Years Foundation Stage EYFS. The guidance provides us with a pathway to follow for children’s development in broad ages and stages. We know that children’s learning and development is not so neat and orderly and is individual to every child. We concentrate on a depth in learning not rushing and pushing children through developmental progress points. We offer many different opportunities for children to develop understanding of what we want them to learn. The depth of learning is more important to us than the level of learning.
Learning through play
Play helps young children to learn and develop through doing and talking, research has shown this is the means by which young children learn to think. Children are naturally inquisitive and love to explore, setting up play opportunities that will engage the children’s inquisitive nature allows them to learn at their own level and pace in a fun and meaningful way. We offer a variety of free play and child-led play as well adult-led and active learning directed by an adult. We arrange activities based on the children’s interests and children will participate in varied ways through in themes and activities we have observed they will enjoy.
Sticky Fingers provide a range of play activities which help children to progress and deepen knowledge in each of the suggested areas of learning and development,
- Communication and language
- Physical
- Personal, social and emotional
- Literacy
- Mathematics
- Understanding the world
- Expressive arts and design
Assessment
We asses our children individually through observation and recording significant moments in development. We aim to identify needs for support and intervention early so we can ensure children are making progress and moving forward at a pace that suits them and their needs. We understand that children’s learning is not linear, and we evidence the learning children through written observations that are shared with parents’ vis our parent zone app in a variety of formats. Observations can be a snapshot to a specific learning journey that will indicate next steps and celebrating achievements. We focus on what children already know and what they need to know reflecting and recording as we go. When children start with us if they are 2, we will carry out a 2-year check that will be shared with the parents and then the health visitor. We get to know our children as individuals so we can plan learning and development experiences around them and their interests and needs. As with children’s learning our planning and assessment methods may not be linear, they may be varied in line with the EYFS to reflect different cohorts and needs of children in the setting at the time.
Sticky Fingers Timetable and Routines
The routines and activities that make up the day in the setting are provided in ways that:
- Help each child to feel that she/he is a valued member of the setting.
- Ensure the safety of each child.
- Help children to gain from the social experience of being part of a group.
- Provide children with opportunities to learn and help them to value learning.
- Are valuable to building independent learners, ready for school.
- Help children feel confident and secure.
- Give children a predictable schedule so they feel in control of their own environment.
- Offer a sense of normality to each day.
- Give consistency and comfort to children and parents alike.
- Develop life skills, feel safe and build healthy habits.
We organise our sessions so that the children can choose from, and work at, a range of activities and, in doing so, build up their ability to select and work through a task to its completion. The children are also helped and encouraged to take part in adult-led small and large group activities which introduce them to new experiences and help them to gain new skills, as well as helping them to learn to work with others.
Outdoor activities contribute to children’s health, their physical development and their knowledge of the world around them. The children have the opportunity, and are encouraged, to take part in outdoor child-chosen and adult-led activities, as well as those provided in the indoor environment. Children may not all be interested in the adult-led activities we provide and encourage every time. We endeavour to encourage all children to take part however if they are not interested, keen or busy with other areas of learning we will ensure the child meets this development experience through various other play experiences that they do enjoy, making learning meaningful.
Snacks and Drinks
We provide water and milk at snack time. Snacks are varied and healthy and include cheese, yoghurt and fruit, crackers, pancakes, toast, crumpets and so on. Seasonal or festive items such as Chinese food at Chinese New Year is provided throughout the year in line with our themes for learning and development. We also encourage children to help with cutting, spreading, peeling, preparing, serving with food and snacks.
