Our pre-school room is separated into two areas - Caterpillars and Butterflies. Here we cover the Early Learning Goals required by OFSTED. The staff plan topics and themes which are incorporated into their daily activities with the children. These start from experiences the children have had but also include some exploration of the lives and feelings of others. It is an environment where they can feel valued and respected and where their self-esteem can grow.
The Caterpillar Room is the first room of pre-school. We cater for children aged 2-3 years old which means we run on a mixed ratio of 1 adult to every 4 children if the children are aged under 3 years old and 1 adult to every 8 children if the children are aged over 3 years old.
In Caterpillars we focus heavily on the personal and social skills while also encouraging independence. We hope that when the children move on to the Butterfly Room our children will be able to:
- Sit appropriately
- Have good listening skills
- Have the independence to carry out tasks by themselves
- Be able to understand and follow the boundaries that are set within the room
- Be able to manage their own personal hygiene.
Each child is designated a key worker who has responsibility for managing the children's learning journeys and observations. By completing these, the key workers are able to work in partnership with parents regarding their child's development. The Nursery also holds an annual parents' evening, where parents are invited to come and discuss their child's development on a one to one basis. This supports both the key worker and the parent as they are able to communicate any concerns or issues without being interrupted by the nursery's busy lifestyle. All parents however are welcome to speak to their child's keyworker or team leader at any time during the nursery working hours should they have any issues they would like to address.
I'M A STAR
Caterpillars also have a very special "I'm a Star" board in which staff and parents can add small observations or achievements to each child's individual pocket, this is identified by the child's photo. These are all then transferred to the children's learning journeys to celebrate the achievements throughout the home life and nursery life. Parents are encouraged to add observations or achievements the child has performed at home celebrating all of the child's development whether their key worker has witnessed it or not.
Self Registration
The Caterpillar Room has a registration board. On arrival, each child will be encouraged to identify their own card which contains their name, the children are then asked to stick it up onto the signing-in board. This helps the child to become more familiar with recognising the shapes and letters of their own name as well as being a good aid for settling a child into the Caterpillar Room. For example this will help a child who is a new starter to settle into a daily routine, putting their coat onto the peg, to identify their name card and put it up. By having a set routine children understand what is coming next and this builds the children's confidence to be able to independently and happily say goodbye to their parents.
Extra Curricular Opportunities
Every year we have the opportunity to go on a trip to Moses Gate Country Park. We have a great time and a Ranger takes us around the park and shows us all kinds of different exciting things, such as signs of spring and finding creepy crawlies.
Children in this room also have opportunities to come and join in the "Kids Rock" sessions down in the Tweenies Room (please see individual page for more details).
The Caterpillar children love to bake both savoury and sweet dishes and we also like to create and try new things.
We have made in the past: pizzas, samosas, bhajis, bread, blueberry muffins, anzac biscuits, ice cream and soup ..... and much, much more!!! We especially enjoy making our own snack as it gives us a sense of pride and achievement in our own work as well as being very tasty!!!
As we are caterpillars it would be rude not to hatch and look after our own little caterpillars which we order in. We observe them eating and growing bigger and bigger until they turn into cocoons. It's a magical experience when we watch them hatch and turn into beautiful butterflies and then we get to set them free into the big wide world! This teaches us about care and concern for living things as well as growth and the changes. This links really well to the Caterpillar children as they are individually growing and turning into magical butterflies.
