Outdoor Play
We strongly believe that children have a right to play outside as well as inside at all times and throughout every season. We have an extensive outdoor play area with access to climbing equipment, an enormous sand pit and a range of tricycle and bicycles.
In addition, we also have a very large grassed, natural play area where we provide activities that are inspired by the Forest School approach. To find out more about Forest Schools click here.
This grass area includes a mud kitchen, a willow den, 
a hill with a tunnel through it, a fire circle where we cook food together and a rope swing! We have a parents campfire evening at the start of the winter and celebrate ‘International Mud Day’ in the summer, which we also welcome our parents to.
Partnership with Parents/Carers
Fundamentally we think that parents and carers are their child’s first and foremost educators. When a child first starts, we encourage their parents/carers to spend time in Willow to support them with settling in to Nursery life. We also have parent meetings and welcome parent/carers into the Nursery as visitors, volunteers or to help out at special events. Parents and carers are always welcome to come and join in the fun!
Learning through Interests and Schemas
It is very common for children at this age to practice things repeatedly. Many parents ask us if playing the same games over and over again or lining things up in rows is normal, or if they should worry about obsessions over characters such as ‘Thomas the Tank Engine ‘or ‘Peppa Pig’- this is all part of normal development. These small ‘obsessions’ relate to schemas and to how children make sense of the world. It is their way of practicing doing things and eventually, they will move on to new things.
We capture children’s schemas through observations and record them in their Learning Journeys.
Learning Journals
We use an online software application called Learning Journals, as the platform to capture and track the progress of the children.