Curriculum
Children start to learn about the world around them from the moment they are born. The care and education offered by our setting helps children to continue to do this by providing them with interesting activities that are appropriate for their age and stage of development. We offer children learning and development opportunities which inspire their creativity and
engage all of their senses.
We believe that our outdoor classroom is an essential part of early learning at Dottie Tots Nursery School and believe that nature is one of our greatest teachers!
Personal, Social Emotional Development
We focus on teaching children how to interact and play with others, be it on a one-to- one basis, in pairs or in a small group. We explore themes such as friendship, conflict resolution, and feelings, all about me, special people and celebrations.
Communication and Language
At Dottie Tots Nursery School we believe that communication and language is the foundation for Literacy. Through our gentle approach, we give children plenty of opportunity to use communication and language. We use visual aids for children, as we understand that they learn visually too. We allow children to express their feelings and needs through communication, along with giving them plenty of opportunities to share special occasions, events or a toy with us through our circle time activities.
Physical Development
We use a large and small scale climbing apparatus, including plenty of outdoor activities. Our children learn from musical movement, sports games and dance to promote their gross motor control, co-ordination and spatial awareness. We use a range of tools as part of our table top activities to encourage fine motor skills.
These include sorting activities, using large tweezers, threading and using spanners to fix nuts and bolts together.
Literacy
We aim to provide the children with opportunities to communicate competently and have a wide range of early writing and mark making materials available to them, along with a very welcoming reading area where they can take themselves off to relax and look at a range of story books. Our self registration system, word prompts on our displays and our literacy specific
activities all play an important role in supporting early literacy development.
Mathematics
Our mathematical activities focus on numbers and shape, space and measure. We use various sorting activities to support children with mathematical concepts and introduce mathematical ideas across the curriculum; applying these to everyday life and real experiences. Our teaching methods, coupled with purposeful resources ensure that our children can visualise
patterns and structures of numeration and gradually, step by step, they begin to understand and apply this knowledge.
Expressive Arts and Design
We provide children with a range of opportunities to express themselves. They may choose to experiment with different instruments during a music session or through movement as we dance. Children are always given the opportunity to take on a role in their play, through make-believe and imagination. Adults will always plan for future activities when children show particular interests, to engage children to further with their ideas. Messy play and exploration is encouraged, part of our day and an essential part of children expressing themselves creatively.
Understanding the World
Our learning environment together with the opportunities that our beautiful village lends to our understanding of the world stimulates natural curiosity, interests and a sense of belonging.
Extra Curricular Activities
We offer regular French lessons with Madame Sylvie and Spanish lessons too. All of our children have the opportunity to join in with our mindfulness yoga class. Our Boppin Dance classes are very popular ; the children are working towards an end of term show, where they will have the chance to perform to parents.