info@corwendaynursery.co.uk
01490 412231
info@corwendaynursery.co.uk
01490 412231
The new curriculum for Wales was rolled out throughout Wales by 2022.
The four purposes of the curriculum will be to support our children and young people to be:
The six areas of learning and experience are: –
Children will be encouraged to develop their imagination and express their creativity in a wide variety of ways through a range of materials including painting, drawings, music, dance and movement, making collages, model making, play dough and role play. Each room has a natural resources area and a messy play area, and their natural curiosity is stimulated by sensory experiences such as painting with spices.
Health and Well-Being is at the heart of the curriculum and children will learn about themselves and relationships with others. Children will be able to express their needs confidently and will experience a warm and caring relationship with staff. As they progress with us the children will gradually learn to become more independent by serving their own water and snacks. Children are taught good table manners and etiquette from a young age. Through social play the children come to appreciate the importance of taking others needs and feelings into account and how to form positive relationships with others. They will learn to care for both the immediate environment and the wider world around them. We celebrate different cultures and help children recognise and gain a positive awareness of their own and other cultures as well as appreciating the value of the diversity that exists in multi-cultural Wales. The children are supported to become confident, competent, and independent thinkers.
Corwen Day Nursery has invested in the “Busy Feet” toolkit which aims to educate children on the importance of being active and healthy. The children sing along to the CD whilst being active at least once a day. Opportunities for energetic activity will be provided daily and the outdoor area allows children to develop skills in jumping, climbing, balancing, riding bicycles and ball games as well as running. We also go for regular walks in the community and to the local forest and mountains. We dance to fast music and teach children about spatial awareness and co-ordination. We are a member of “The Daily Mile” which aims to get children outside and fit for learning. Our children who are aged 2 or above jog or run outdoors for 15 minutes each day. The children also enjoy practicing “Pili Pala yoga” which is proven to have a positive impact on both the child’s physical and mental wellbeing as well as developing skills for life such as strengthening the mind and enhancing physical flexibility.
Children will experience the familiar world by using their senses through exploring, asking questions, investigation and experimenting in both the outdoor and indoor environment. They also develop an understanding of the wider eenvironment, the changing seasons, and the natural world through outings in the local community and walks. Whilst working in the nursery garden they are learning to care for living things by planting, weeding, and tending to seeds, this also allows for the observation of plants and mini beasts. Our own mud kitchen has been a big hit giving children an opportunity for creative messy play and other scientific experiments. Children are taught about places, events, and people from the past as well as the present and how diverse the world is. We embrace the forest school ethos, and we spend a great deal of time in the local forest especially during the holidays. The children thrive whilst learning outdoors and the local woodland is resource rich. Spending time in the forest allows the children to develop an interest in their natural surroundings and a respect for the environment. We encourage children to develop their digital skills through using iPads, digital cameras, bee bots, electronic clipboards, and a giant iPad.
Children are immersed in language experiences and activities and will be encouraged to communicate their needs, feelings, and thoughts. Members of staff encourage children to listen to both adults and other children in conversation, to talk confidently in a variety of situations, to develop an enthusiasm for books of all kinds and to develop early literacy skills. Children will be read to daily in both individual and group situations. There are a variety of mark making materials both indoors and outdoors and circle time which takes place daily along with show and tell provides the ideal opportunity to both speak and listen. Being a bilingual nursery, children are exposed to both Welsh and English daily.
Children will appreciate the different languages, images, objects, sounds and tastes that are integral in Wales today and gain a sense of belonging to Wales, and understand the Welsh heritage, literature, and arts as well as the language. Makaton has been introduced at nursery and the children learn a new sign each week and visual signs have been placed around the nursery as well as learning songs.
Children will learn to use and communicate in Welsh to the best of their ability and will listen to Welsh being spoken and be encouraged to communicate their needs in Welsh. The children’s oral experiences will be used to develop their reading skills and they will be encouraged to choose and use Welsh reading materials. The nursery is a member of Mudiad Meithrin and attends many of their events. The nursery works closely with the two local Welsh schools and transport the older children to and from these schools.
Maths is not just about number; children are taught about shape, size, capacity, space, money, time, and measuring. Activities involving sorting, matching, comparing, making patterns and sequences, baking, planting, board games, number songs and rhymes are featured regularly in the nursery curriculum along with role play and the development of early mathematical and scientific thoughts. We work with the numicon in the preschool room which is a multisensory approach to arithmetic teaching for children. The numicon uses patterns to represent each numeral; these patterns are structured so that number relationships can be seen in a way not provided by written numerals. We also teach children to count with real life objects and we play a lot of guessing games. Children are taught about spatial awareness and introduced to maps, and they play with building blocks so that there is an opportunity to learn about shapes and sizes. Maths has been introduced to dancing via dancing with flappers.
The curriculum is a holistic approach that allows children to learn through play and experience the World around them. It encourages children to be creative and imaginative and makes learning more enjoyable and more effective. The six areas of learning will support the development of children and their skills and is not approached in isolation but complement each other and work together to provide a cross-curricular approach to form a practical relevant curriculum.
To be effective children should be able to exercise choice, participate, be involved, initiate, and direct their own leaning over a period of time. Children will learn from first-hand, exploratory, and practical hands-on activities and will be appropriately challenged and supported by the staff and learning environment. Children will be able to choose resources that they wish to play with and develop independence in their learning. Staff will plan developmentally, appropriate engaging learning opportunities informed by regular observation and assessment of children’s abilities.
Enabling Pathways
The following three elements are fundamental to children’s development at the beginning of the learning continuum:
Enabling pathways also focuses on the following aspects which are fundamental to successful pedagogy:
Developmental Pathways
Children’s development will be enhanced through the following developmental pathways:
Corwen nursery is fantastic in so many ways. The space and resources are brilliant. The children are outdoors all of the time, which is a huge plus for us. The staff are always enthusiastic and seem to really enjoy what they do! Our two children absolutely love going here, they are stimulated and cared for to a really high standard. We couldn’t recommend it highly enough.
Members of
Regulated by
