Our Nature Curriculum
At Barons Court we implement “The Wanderlust Nature Study” curriculum. Children are encouraged to be outside in all weathers and explore the world around them fully. Through providing enabling, cosy and calm environments and exciting stimulus for curiosity the children are encouraged to explore, talk about, investigate and admire the world around them. The Wanderlust curriculum offers a stimulus for learning that children may take in different directions. The staff are highly skilled in adapting learning to follow the ideas of the children and recognise the benefits of having a child-led curriculum in ensuring learning is embedded into long term memory.
We take the children outside into the environment as much as possible. We love to promote curiosity and learning through exploring the environment on our weekly nature walks and investigating the coast on beach days.
Beach Days
As an extension to all the other learning opportunities that we offer the children within Phase 1 and Phase 2 we have Beach School. Through going to the beach children will gain a sense of value for the natural world as well as a sense of responsibility for their environment. Through these important learning experiences, children will develop confidence, physical and emotional strength and self esteem, as well as use the natural environment to learn about the world around them.
Mrs Williams and her team will take a small group of children to the local beach to experience a range of carefully planned activities. During these visits a wide range of stimulating activities take place which enrich children’s learning. Initially children are given time to explore the surrounding environment, priority is given to group discussions regarding boundaries, dangers and safety which are paramount to learning safely. Staff carefully observe how children are learning through their individual interests and will scaffold and plan for their future development, stretching and stimulating curiosity.
We want our children to:
‘This is the best kind of classroom,
Where the seasons don’t happen in books,
Where the learning is watching and thinking and talking,
And everyone notices, everyone looks.’ Ian MacMillan
Learning and Development
Children are born ready, able and eager to learn. They actively reach out to interact with other people and in the world around them. Development, however, is not an automatic process. It depends on each unique child having opportunities to interact in positive relationships and enabling environments.
At Barons Court we acknowledge that children learn and develop in different ways. We value all areas of learning and development equally and understand that they are inter-connected. Our Early Years team aim to meet individual children’s needs by:
• Ensuring challenging, playful opportunities across the prime and specific areas of learning and development.
• Fostering the Characteristics of Effective Learning; Playing and Exploring, Active Learning and Creating and Thinking critically.
The ways in which each child engages with other people and their environment – playing and exploring, active learning, and creating and thinking critically – underpin learning and development across all areas of early child development and support each child to remain an effective and motivated learner.
The Characteristics of Effective Learning are:
The Early Years Foundation Stage Areas of Learning
The Prime Areas
The Prime Areas are fundamental, work together, and move through to support development in all other areas. The Prime Areas are:
The prime areas begin to develop quickly in response to relationships and experiences, and interconnect and support learning in all other areas. The prime areas continue to be fundamental throughout the EYFS.
The Specific Areas
The Specific Areas include essential skills and knowledge for children to participate successfully in society. The specific areas are:
The specific areas include essential skills and knowledge. They grow out of the prime areas, and provide important contexts for learning. Children develop in the context of relationships and the environment around them. This is unique to each family, and reflects individual communities and cultures.
'Play is the highest expression of human development in childhood for it alone is the free expression of what is in a child's soul.' Friedrich Froebel
Play is an important aspect of our provision within Phase 1 and Phase 2. It provides opportunities for children to develop speech and language abilities as well as practice listening skills. Play promotes social interaction and competence. Imaginative play and role playing are particularly powerful kinds of play that help the brain develop in more functional and positive ways. As well as unstructured free play and structured play, we deliver adult led activities to develop specific skills.