The Early Years Centre Provision for 0-2 year olds
There can be up to 12 babies in our Acorn Room each day.
This is a lovely space where the environment has been developed to provide a safe, warm, nurturing, homely space in which your child can thrive and develop.
Within the space we have an area for relaxing or sleeping, soft furnishings for those who are rolling and crawling to investigate, spaces which promote interactions and language development, role-play to support imaginative development, space for sensory exploration and discovery and music and movement. Generally, we will always have these key areas, but it does change and adapt according to the children’s needs and interests. We also have access to the outdoor area which is specifically designated space for our youngest children.
The ratio for our youngest children is 1:3 and all staff are fully qualified.
Each baby/family will have a key person; however, there are other staff within the room who all develop strong relationships with every individual. We hope that through these relationships, both you and your child will feel confident and comfortable when in the setting.
We follow the same ethos, as the maintained nursery school. This is predominantly child-led, using our observations of the children at play to inform our planning. Staff at times do lead activities introducing them to new and different experiences.
When you are ready for your child to begin their journey with us, we will, in turn, begin our journey with your family too. This involves initial meetings to complete personal details and also lots of information about your baby. We want to know every detail, from bottle feeds, sleeping times and how they like to go to sleep, their personality traits and even their nappy care routine. This all helps us to have the best possible picture of your child and adapt our routine to your child's needs. The following visits will aim to gradually extend the time that your baby is with us and to see how they are coping. If we feel that more time is needed to ease transition, then this will be organised with your key person and further visits can be arranged. This also applies to times when a child is settling in well, we can increase the time slots or reduce visits. We view each child and family as unique, therefore our approach with each family will be tailored to suit your individual needs.