learning through play

Early Years Foundation Stage

As from September 2008, a new Government framework for learning, development and care will be introduced to our nurseries - The Early Years Foundation Stage. The changes to our current methods will be minimal. After all, encouraging children to learn through play is what we have always done and it's a system that works well. The new framework is not about introducing a curriculum or pushing children to read or write before they are ready. The aim is to ensure that every child is given the opportunity to learn through high quality play to the best of their ability.

Play is vital for children. It helps them to understand the world around them and to develop socially and emotionally. It's through play that our children learn, develop at their own pace and have fun. All children should be able to play and learn in a fun environment with adults who understand, support and care about them. We want the children we care for to feel secure, not pushed or pressured, and to have the confidence to deal with whatever life brings them. They will be more prepared for their first day at school and ready to reach their potential.

Use the links below to find out more about the Asquith approach to learning through play

play-based curriculum

Children learn individually and with others through play. We offer our children a play-based curriculum, which meets all the requirements of the Early Years Foundation Stage and supports all aspects of their learning and development. It supports their inbuilt curiosity and desire to make sense of the world around them and helps them to discover that learning is interesting and fun. This is vitally important if children are going to remain keen learners for the rest of their lives.

Play in a secure environment with effective adult support allows the children to explore, investigate and enjoy the learning experience. We help them to practice and develop ideas, concepts and skills in a unique and non-threatening way, without fear of failure.

We deliver the early year's curriculum in a number of ways, through:

  • Construction and small world play
  • Heuristic play - independent exploration and investigation of real, found and natural resources and materials
  • Large & fine motor skills and experiences
  • Literacy and numeracy skills
  • Role play and imaginative opportunities
  • Water sand and malleable experiences
  • Stories and mark making - the marks that children make through a range of media, such as paint, water, sand pencils and the meanings that they give to them
  • Creative workshops
  • Outdoor opportunities
  • Exploring and investigating science and nature
  • Dance, music and sensory experiences

the nursery environment

Children must be offered and allowed to engage in exciting and challenging activities, which support and extend their learning and development. They must have a rich stimulating environment full of contexts for play, exploration and talk where they can choose, create, investigate, explore, initiate and persist with activities.

We believe that children are active learners from birth and that if we provide them with the right environment, support and experiences, it will help to encourage their curiosity, imagination and creativity. We also need to ensure that we stimulate each child emotionally and intellectually by providing the best circumstances to promote active learning.

To this end, we have invested heavily in resources, reequipping our nurseries with brand new resources and furniture to support wide and varied opportunities for creativity. We have designed our nursery environments to be cosy and exciting and they are structured in such a way as to promote a child's independence, decision-making and problem solving.

The environment is organised into clearly defined areas to accommodate different activities appropriate to the development and competence of the children. Areas are divided by the use of low-level shelving that reduces distraction and allows children to become engrossed in their activities.

Low-level shelving also allows resources to be displayed within reach so that children can make deliberate choices about which items they want to use in their activities. They can experience a range of materials like sand, water and paint which helps their creativity and develops independence. Equal emphasis is placed on calm areas of the nursery where the children can feel cosy and enjoy stories, rhymes and songs. Wooden toys, heuristic materials (those that encourage children to discover solutions for themselves) and mirrors enhance tactile and visual stimulation. Every environment is designed to encourage physical skills such as crawling, sitting, standing and walking which are all important for development.

We use specialist play equipment that has been designed to invite exploration and specially selected for quality and play value. This ensures that whatever your child chooses to play with, their learning and development will be supported and extended. The babies in our care are introduced to discovery play through treasure baskets that contain a mixture of natural materials that vary in feel and texture and offer a sensory experience for heuristic play.

Children benefit from a well designed, well organised and integrated indoor-outdoor environment and we are working with 'Learning through Landscapes' to develop our outdoor provision to offer the same excellent facilities outdoors as well as indoors.

supporting learning with the best staff

We want our nurseries to be the best so attracting and retaining the best staff is paramount. Good staff are crucial in providing a memorable nursery experience and this is why we are dedicated to supporting staff with correct level of training every step of the way. Our aim is to offer the best training opportunities to our staff to support our childcare and education philosophy.

Our friendly, highly-trained staff are focused on providing fun and education, and they will work to ensure your child develops as an individual, whilst helping to nurture and encourage learning through discovery and enjoyment. We expect all our staff to engage in skilful and sensitive interactions to support a child's learning, by ensuring that play opportunities, resources and interactions indoors and outdoors are appropriate to the level of competence and maturity of the child.

Children learn best where adults are keen to continue their own learning and development.

Delivery of the best childcare and education is made possible by ensuring staff have in-depth knowledge and understanding gained through continuing professional development and higher-level qualification training. Staff must have the skills, knowledge and enthusiasm to observe, scaffold and plan for children's learning effectively, identifying and meeting any additional needs.

A dedicated childcare and education team provide advice and support to develop knowledge, skills and practice. The teams undertake coaching, mentoring and modelling good practice as well as direct training sessions to enable Managers and Room Leaders to take ownership for leading the curriculum.

We are working with the Childcare Company to offer NVQ Level 2 and 3 in Children's Care, Learning and Development to staff. Also, we work with the Open University to give all staff the opportunity to study for the Certificate in Early Years Practice and for a Foundation Degree in Early Years. Staff are also encouraged and supported to achieve Early Years Professional Status (EYPS). This provides us with a fantastic opportunity to train our own staff from the beginning of their career and help them to progress to senior job roles.

We are currently working with other organisations including local authority early years departments, local schools and teachers and the National Day Nurseries Association to ensure that we keep up to date with current 'best practice' and are capable of offering the very best to your child.

Already the increasing knowledge, skills and abilities of staff is having a positive impact on Ofsted results with increasing numbers of our nurseries obtaining 'outstanding' outcomes. Internally, Asquith use the Early Childhood Environment Rating Scale to monitor and improve the experiences that we offer to children and are therefore able to see measurable improvements in the quality of practice in the nurseries and look forward to developing this even further.

observation, planning and recording

We believe that careful planning is required if play is to be of a high quality and staff carefully observe children engaging in activities and use that information to help plan experiences and opportunities that will build on their knowledge, skills and abilities and lead to new learning and development.

Staff create interactive displays to stimulate children's interest and curiosity, they initiate and plan activities and support and extend activities initiated by children. Observations of each child are evaluated and linked to the Early Years Foundation Stage which allows for every child's individual development to be monitored and their progress recorded in their individual Learning Journals.

key person

A key person approach is the most effective way of ensuring that children have a strong relationship with an adult in the nursery to support their emotional well being. We recognise every child's individuality, efforts and achievements and believe that relationships between adults and children are crucial for the child's happiness and security. This is why we place particular emphasis on the implementation of a key person approach to facilitate interaction.

The key person will build a special relationship with a small number of children and help to meet their needs while they are in our care. They will offer security, reassurance and continuity (they will usually be the one to feed, change and soothe their key children) and are in the best position to understand their key child's individual needs. They are in the best position to share information with the parents/carers about their child's experiences in nursery.

The key person will help the child to develop relationships with other members of staff. When the child is ready to move into the next room, for instance from the baby to toddler room, their key person will be there to help them and the parents to develop a relationship with, and confidence in, their new key person.

partnership with parents

Information shared between parents and nursery staff about a child's learning and development helps to facilitate a positive partnership. We believe that parents are the primary educators of their children and should be centrally involved in their child's experiences and development. Staff make a child's learning visible to enable parents to understand, contribute to and support their learning. We use Learning Journals to record our observations of and planning for children and encourage parents to read them regularly and to contribute their own experiences of their child's learning and development.

world class childcare

Quite simply, our aim is to provide the best nursery care and education available in the UK. This will happen if our nurseries have the best resources and our staff are confident in their abilities. We want to provide rich, stimulating environments and play experiences for the children in our care which will lead to positive results in their learning and development.

We realise that it is imperative we gain the trust and confidence of you, the parent. We want you to be happy with what we do and how we do it. We also pride ourselves in understanding the importance of instilling confidence and enthusiasm in your child from an early age. After all, our collective aim is for happy and contented children who enjoy living in a culture that nurtures and values the importance of a happy childhood.


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