Curriculum Policy

At Activeplay Nursery & Preschool we provide a safe, caring and happy setting for all of the children in our care, providing varied and high quality developmental and educational experiences for children and encouraging good relationships with parents and carers. We also pride ourselves on having an inclusive practice and supporting children with SEN. This is reflected in our SEN policy and our equal opportunities policy.

We cover the Early Years Foundation Stage from when children come in as babies to when they leave to go to school. This covers the 7 areas of development which are Personal, Social and Emotional Development, Communication and Language Development, Physical Development, Mathematics Development, Literacy, Understanding the World and Expressive Arts and Design.

This framework will continue until the end of your child’s reception year at school. All staff have been trained in the EYFS and during staff meetings we regularly update knowledge and cascade training that staff have undertaken through outside agencies.

We use the child’s like and dislikes to inform each child’s individual planning. We ask the parents to complete a likes and dislikes form at the end of each term or add it to the child’s tapestry account. The planning is carried out by each child’s key person. We complete reports at the end of each term that we share with the parents. We then compare to the previous term’s report to see if the children need extra support anywhere. If we find that they are not working at their expected levels we then plan for this during the next term, this helps keep the child challenged and interested throughout their day at nursery. The summative assessments are completed 3 times a year for all the children.

We also look at the Characteristics of Effective learning that are laid out in the EYFS, this is to ensure we are helping each child as an individual in how they learn.

We record the children’s ideas and interests and use these to make activities interesting and relevant for the children. Each room record these so each child’s interest can be covered throughout the term.

The settings indoor and outdoor learning environments change if we feel that the children are not reaching their full potential in them how they are. The rooms observe their areas and make changes accordingly. All staff look at the outdoor environment and make suggestions as to how this can be enhanced.

When a child turns two we speak to their parents about when their two year check is with their health visitor and then we will complete our two year progress check near to this time along with the parents. We ask the parents to come in for a meeting to complete the document together. We then copy it so parents can share our check with the health visitor and get the best outcomes for their child.  We value the input of our parents/carers here at Activeplay, we encourage them to attend our stay and play sessions, we regularly send out questionnaires, every month we send out a newsletter, we ask if parents/carers have anything ‘special talents’ they would like to share with us – for instance we have had a mum come in and show how she does henna tattoos, and bought in Indian sweets for the children.

Parents can request a meeting with their child’s key person at any time. We do not run set parents evenings.

At Activeplay we have a key person policy which lays out the important role that they have in each of their key children’s lives. We feel this is a very important relationship for the child and parent alike. Each key person knows their key children well so this helps when they plan for each child so they can reach their full potential whilst they are with us. Each key person also hands over to the child’s next key person when they move room.

Revised January 2023
By: Michelle Sharp
Adopted as the policy of the nursery
By: Jacquelin Curtis Director,
Activeplay Nurseries Ltd