About Little Caterpillars
At Little Caterpillars we are committed to supporting every children develop the knowledge and skills they need for a successful future. We are passionate about nurturing the development of the whole child and work hard to make them an integral part of our amazing school community.
We are passionate about making a difference to the well-being and education of children in our care and have an outstanding team of key workers and an Early Years teacher who work closely together to share knowledge and experience; creating a truly unique Nursery.
We believe learning through play is vital and our Nursery environment is designed to allow our children to become immersed in practical, first-hand learning experiences with the opportunity to develop through exploration and enjoyment. We are extremely lucky to have a beautiful indoor and outdoor environment that we enjoying spending time in everyday. At Little Caterpillar the children will learn through continuous provision and enhanced provision available to them to access independently being leaders in their own learning. We are really lucky to be able to access, use and explore the whole school environment from the school hall to the forest school area.
Our child-centred approach learning allows children to further develop existing interests, discover new curiosities and develop their creativity and imagination. We plan learning opportunities based on our knowledge of their children, their interest and next steps, allowing this to shape what we provide on a daily basis within the Nursery. All of our learning is linked to the 7 areas of learning and development as set out in the Early Years Framework. To find out more information about Little Caterpillar and curriculum please click on the Little Caterpillar picture below to take you to 'Our Learning' page.
One of our key aims to to provide the children with experiences that will develop a secure and memorable foundation for all children as well as instilling a positive attitude towards learning and develop a love of learning.
Our Day
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Little Caterpillars day is run with a balance of adult led learning opportunities and child initiated learning through 'Discovery Time'.
Our adult led activities are based on our knowledge of the children their needs, interests and next steps. We are also able to take advantage of our whole school site and learning environment spending time in the music studio, library and school hall.
We assess each child’s progress continuously, keeping written observations, photos and examples of activities completed which will be shared with parents via the online learning platform 'Tapestry'. We also communicate regularly with parents about their child's on going development through parents evenings and at drop of and pick up to/from Little Caterpillars.
The staff in Little Caterpillars work very closely with the Reception team and as a result, our children are introduced to concepts that they will also come across in Reception for example; sitting on our carpet spots in preparation of a whole group session such as sharing a story and singing a song or beginning to develop our phonic knowledge by listening to sounds within the environment leading up to learning about the pictures and rhymes associated with certain sounds used in our whole school Read Write Inc. programme.
There is continuity across our Early Years environments (Nursery and Reception) which supports the children with their transition from Nursery to Reception.
We strongly believe that young children learn through play as well as through experiences which capture their imaginations.
During the children's time at Little Caterpillars they will:
- Investigate and explore a range of activities that will predominately support the development and knowledge of the prime areas of the EYFS, alongside all other areas of the curriculum.
- Participate in a group based activities which will support them to develop their social, emotional and communication knowledge and skills.
- Have the opportunity to explore the inside and outside environment during child initiated learning time.
- Take part in singing rhymes and songs.
- Share stories with the other children and as a whole group. This is a great time to develop the children language and communication skills skills encouraging them to join in with repeated refrains and begin to answer simple questions about books shared.
- Participate in adult led activities in a small groups or on a one to one basis.
- Have snack time together alongside their peers developing their communication skills and learning about different types of food and a healthy diet.
The timing of our day are:
7:45 - 8:45am - Breakfast Club - Available for 3-4 year olds attending Nursery alongside children from across the school.
8:45 - 11:45 - Morning Session
11:45 - 12:15 - Lunch time
12:15 - 3:15 - Afternoon sessions (if your child is attending an afternoon session they will need to have had lunch prior to arriving at Nursery).
3:15 - 5:30 - Kingfishers (after school club) - Again, available for 3-4 year olds attending Nursery alongside children from across the school.