Welcome to Eagley School House Nursery 1 and 2. The most important aspect of “The Eagley Way” is about us embedding our ethos into each and every child’s journey. Over many years of practice we have found that to work hard on making families and children feel relaxed and welcome, from the start, is the only way to build positive relationships where everyone is seen as important in the child’s journey through their most formative years.
We hope that you will find both nurseries as an extension of your home; a place where your child should be relaxed, as if they are at home. Younger children have access to soft furnishings, couches and cushions which reflect home life.
We exchange information about children with family members regularly and try to support and praise them for their achievements in caring for their children. We are never judgemental or patronising and we hope that parents and carers will treat us in the same way. Home visits are imperative to gathering information regarding the children.
Eagley School House Nurseries place great emphasis on the importance of giving staff time to learn and be reflective. Meetings with staff are held regularly, so that thoughts, ideas and concerns can be shared, and professional dialogue between staff is encouraged. The owners see all staff as important in making the vision of excellence real and hope that each member of staff feels valued, wants to work alongside us and can contribute and bring about change where necessary. We are always evaluating, moving forward and trying new ideas and methods of delivering outstanding childcare.
We believe that children are competent, strong and have a desire to explore and investigate from birth. They are not empty vessels for us to fill with information, but inquisitive human beings who simply need lots of love and security and the right environment, resources, with knowledgeable adults and other children to help them build their knowledge and fulfil their potential.
The aim of Eagley School House Nurseries is to provide rich opportunities for learning and acquiring skills. We set up exciting and stimulating environments which allows children to choose what they want to do. With experienced staff nearby children can direct their own learning. Staff are trained to intervene only when necessary, as too much adult involvement may change the direction in which the child was taking an activity. There are times when the adult can intervene at just the right time to maintain the interest and extend the learning. Offering children a range of possibilities and opportunities that they can draw on rather than organising activities which will help them to reach predetermined objectives requires a different approach to planning. The environment, along with the resources and a good amount of choice are crucial for success. Once the child becomes involved, adults need to be aware of the strategies and methods each child is employing, how they are solving problems, interacting with each other and materials they are using. This needs to be accurately documented, analysed and reflected upon.
We value the impact of black and white for young babies to visualise and focus their eyes. Research shows that High Contrast Colours are STILL the best. Newborns can see from birth, just not as clearly as an older child or adults. Until your child is about six months of age, they will respond best to bold, contrasting colours and graphics. That’s why it’s important to provide your baby with toys that feature the visual extremes of black, white and red. These high-contrast colours will captivate and hold your babies attention, encouraging visual development as well as physical activity – like wiggling, kicking and arm waving. This is an integral part of our Baby Room philosophy.
In the Toddler Room we have to split rooms, one for independent, imaginative play and the other for messy and creative play. This allows for children to have full independence and a continuous provision. The role play and quiet areas allow children to choose their activities and learn through play. The messy area allows children to explore textures, paint, be malleable and learn about their likes and dislikes.
Our pre-school rooms provide endless opportunities for children to explore and develop. With a great focus on promoting independence, the children learn skills such as managing their own health and self-care and having daily responsibilities such as helping to give out food at lunch times. In the different areas, staff create challenges for the children to engage in to extend their learning. With a rigid routine, the pre-school room is the start to preparing children for school and starting their School Readiness journey.
The Reggio Emilia Approach is an innovative and inspiring approach to early childhood education. It values the child as strong, capable, resilient, and rich with wonder. In Reggio, every child brings with them a deep curiosity and potential which drives their interest to understand the world and their place within it. The different projects that our children in the Reggio Room learn about are the Rainforest, Under the Sea, The Arctic and The Rainforest. The Reggio Room is the final room for your child to be in before they leave for school.
Our growth mind-set curriculum focuses on children’s emotional wellbeing through promoting a ‘can do’ attitude. We aim to teach children to build upon their self-efficacy and confidence through embracing challenges, overcoming setbacks, feeling empowered and finding opportunities to embrace self-growth.
We feel that adults who have specific knowledge and a passion for certain areas can enhance the children’s lives and broaden their experiences.
We have experienced staff members and Early Years Teachers within both settings. In addition to this we offer Spanish lessons with our Spanish teacher, dance lessons, forest school sessions, mindfulness sessions and swimming lessons with multi skilled professionals assessing children’s’ outcomes. We teach children sing and sign with children encouraged to learn through music. Children are free to explore a range of instruments andexperiment with sound using an assortment of multi-cultural and home-made instruments. Eagley School House Nurseries view choice and creativity as the most important vehicles for finding out.
Through implementing our ‘Hygge Approach’ we aim to support children's wellbeing and development by using the Hygge ethos of living in the moment and embracing life's simple pleasures. Through this, we incorporate natural resources into our setting and bring the outdoors inside. We promote a calming, warm atmosphere throughout the different rooms and allow the children to feel relaxed whilst at nursery. We feel that providing too many realistic manufactured toys reduces children’s ability to use their imagination and can often cause feelings of being overstimulated.
To link closely with our Growth Mind-Set Curriculum, we also are a part of the Mini Minds Matter programme. Through this, we teach children how to self-regulate their own emotions through providing somewhat coping mechanisms. Each month in nursery, we explore a different dinosaur, some of these include: Activeasaurus, Happyasaurus, Braveasaurus etc. We aim to teach and incorporate mindful moments into our everyday practice such as daily affirmations, meditation sessions and sensory stimulation activities throughout the different rooms. Our reason for undertaking this approach has been greatly influenced by COVID-19 and the resulting impact we believe it has left on children’s and parent’s emotional wellbeing.
Learn more at www.minimindsmatter.org.uk
Once an enabling environment has been created, the staff can spend most of their time facilitating children’s learning, and then documenting some of the processes they are going through in the child’s journal. Written observations are used, which describe these processes along with snippets of conversations. The member of staff will then reflect on this observation and analyse the learning which has taken place and maybe consider if there are any next steps which need to be catered for. Photographs often accompany these observations and are shared in the children’s learning journeys.
We feel that it is extremely important for each room to have access to a continuous outdoor provision so children can engage in experiences that allow them to explore using their senses. Outdoor play provides children with a sense of freedom and through our outdoor areas such as the risky play area, water area, construction area, and texture kitchen it enables children to develop skills of investigation, resilience, confidence and learning how to play both independently and with their peers.
In our sensory garden, children can explore using their imagination and all their senses to touch, see, hear and smell. All plant life is tactile, with natural smells of lavender, lemongrass and mint. The children can use the observation tower to discuss their observations and it also teaches children to take risks in their environment. We also have our nursery pets to allow children to learn about how to take care of others, learning about growth and life.
Overall you will find “The Eagley Way” has been a success for many years. It is embedded in the philosophy and ethos of the nursery. We hope your experience will be a positive one, with your suggestions and support we can continue to improve outcomes for children.