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Environment and Practice
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Influenced by ‘A Curiosity Approach’ The Learning Tree Pre-school
focus is very much on delivering ‘awe and wonder’ learning and it
starts in our environments!
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Specifically designed for small people with big curiosities and enhanced by our practice, our dedicated and motivated staff team, play areas, activities and resources provide the best possible creative, inspiring and challenging opportunities, promoting magical learning.
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Creative Curiosity in early years…
Children have a natural curiosity to explore experiences. Non-verbal and verbal creative expression must be valued and noticed. Repetition allows children to explore and make sense of their experiences and to respond in their own unique way.
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Children learn most deeply when they are following their natural curiosity – as it places them at the centre of their learning. Initial interest and curiosity lead to inquiry, their intellectual curiosity developing the cognitive state in which they are open to exploring ideas.
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What is The Curiosity Approach?....
Natural Learning - The Curiosity approach* is a modern-day approach to Early Childhood inspired by Reggio Emilia, Steiner and Montessori creating natural play and imagination using authentic, open-ended resources, and recyclable curiosities.
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A completely play-based and child-led approach, children become the centre of their own development – or the pilots of their own play. Children are encouraged to explore, experiment, and create, using engaging resources modelled by passionate facilitators. Their innate curiosity is awakened and sparked. Within the day, there will still be distinct rhythms and routines, such as welcome time, story time, and quiet time, and children will learn during each and every part of their day, whether it be a table-top activity or lunch time. The approach moves away from technology and focuses on the wonder found all around us, here and now. The co-founders believe that modern-day toys are geared towards entertainment, rather than natural play and imagination. Bennett argues that “the more a toy does, the less opportunity a child has to think and communicate”. Curiosity Approach settings instead favour authentic, open-ended resources, and recyclable curiosities, rather than bright, primary colours, or plastic toys. The Curiosity Approach developed by Lyndsey Hellyn and Stephanie Bennett.
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Child centred play and in the moment learning
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The Learning Tree classroom areas, resources and activities have been carefully planned to allow our small children to be at the centre of their learning!
Natural furniture defines classroom areas with resources purposely arranged to ignite curiosity!
In their own time, children can self- select resources and equipment placed in small baskets and containers that they are able to carry, alongside available planned ‘wow’ activities, promoting individual choice and engaging with favourite things.
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In practice this means our experienced staff team can facilitate children’s learning and are at hand to support and expertly promote their natural play by scaffolding with additional resources further extending the learning and providing a rich experience.
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Outdoor classroom
We recognise the importance and benefits of outdoor learning and support this by ensuring our detail to the importance of design and planning continues in our outdoor classroom!
Accessible all year-round, our children can participate in maintaining our recycling water system and growing area. Using natural and recycled resources, activities are available to support environmental sustainability, in our effort to develop our shared responsibility to global sustainability goals.
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Our Curriculum and planning
Delivering The Early Years Foundation Stage (EYFS) Cultural Capital, The Characteristics of Effective Learning and The 7 areas of Learning and Development.
The EYFS refers to Cultural Capital…Essentially, the knowledge that children need to prepare them for their future success. It is about giving the best possible start to their early education.
We know that some children arrive at our pre-school with different experiences from others in their learning and play and understand the importance of the opportunity we have, to help children experience the awe and wonder of the world in which we live.
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We as a team are very confident with the curriculum planning system that we have developed for use across both The Learning Tree Pre-school and Little Scarecrows Nursery in the knowledge that we are delivering the best possible teaching and learning experience to our small children.
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Our planning involving the whole team, has been purposely written with an understanding to the importance of the intent, the implantation and the impact. Our planning has been developed to support the enhancement of the learning environment, children’s unique individual learning experiences, participation to team practice whilst wholly encompassing the EYFS 7 areas of learning and development with the aim to provide rich experiences to our children.
Characteristics of effective learning and 7 areas of learning and development.
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Nestled within our curiosity approach lay The Characteristics of effective learning, being the behaviours children use to be able to learn.
The methodology provides us with the understanding that children will learn well if they are able to approach opportunities with curiosity, energy and enthusiasm ensuring effective learning becomes meaningful, to be able to use what they have learned and apply it in new situations.
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The 7 areas of learning and development split across 3 prime areas: personal, social and emotional, communication and language and physical development, all equally crucial areas of development particularly in the first three years of life due to biological time sensitive changes and 4 specific areas: literacy, mathematics, understanding the world and expressive arts and design to support the knowledge and skills in social development.
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Your child’s individual learning experience
Your child’s learning experience begins with us from the first, Hello….
Information is gathered about your child before they start, providing details that can support a smoother transition, together with observations within the first few weeks of starting a tailored plan is developed to start your child’s individual learning experience.
Considered as starting points, your child’s tracking and assessment for their learning and development journey begins.
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A Key Person assigned to you child is responsible for observation, assessment and planning your child next development steps.
Systems are in place (including the role of the key person) for you to be able to keep updated on your child’s development progress and to share any achievement or concerns you may have. More information is available in our parent pack.
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The EYFS 2 Year Check is a 2-year progress check is designed to help us identify how EYFS children are developing in the prime areas, and is a statutory written development check for children before they start school and if not completed before they start with us can be completed while they are here. More information is available within our parent pack.
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Our team are very aware of the ‘Child’s Voice.’ Actively listening and meeting requests where possible or providing an explanation and involving them in writing wishes on our child’s voice planning, confirming we are interested and listening, and will be met. Opportunities are also made available throughout the day, when during discussions children are encouraged to express their thoughts and wishes together with sharing information about their favourite things.
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Schematic play… Forever fascinated and interested in the way small children develop some members of the team have received training on Schematic Play.
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Schematic play happens when young children are involved in repeated actions or certain behaviours as they explore the world around them and try to find out how things work. There are 9 different schemas that a child can display (some children can have multiple others none) and if observed can further support the individual planning put in place for them. More information is available in our parent pack)
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Come and join our exciting journey - Embracing the magic of……play and learning!!
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