Little Barn Owls Day Nursery Holbrook Tythe Barn
Pondtail Road, Horsham
RH12 5EZ
01403 257778
email: hayley@littlebarnowls.co.uk
Learning and Personal Development
The children learn best through play, guided by our team of dedicated caring staff. It is our goal to enhance and build on what the children are learning at home, so that when the time arises to go up to school, they are reaching their full potential to continue their learning.
Music and dance
we encourage the children to gather round and experiment with musical instruments. We teach the basics of rythme and movement through our dance sessions too, and have regular discos where the children get to let loose and dance to their favourite pop tunes and nursery rhymes!
Discussion time
our fortnightly themes are designed to be built into all areas of the children’s play by our staff. The Tawny Owls (3-5 years) have discussion times where we encourage questions and answers about the theme, assisted with posters, show and tell time and books to explore the world around us.
Mark Making and writing
the marks children make with chalk, paint brushes, crayons and in sand are their first explorations of writing. We encourage them to develop these marks into letters and numbers and record their progress in their ‘Me Books’. wide world’.
Alphabet, letter bonding and reading
the children learn the alphabet through singing songs, dance, playdoh, painting, books, discussions and every area of their play with us. Our staff are incorporating letter and sounds recognition in all the children’s guided activities. For the older children, there is more structured letter and number work tailored to their specific rate of learning.
Numbers, counting and maths
in addition to our range of maths resources, the children begin to learn to count and add/subtract through all their play. This is guided by our staff, for example, when playing shops in the role play area and counting the shopping in the basket, looking at books, counting the number of leaves in the nature box or drawing faces in the sand and adding them up.
Yoga, French and Spanish
These classes are taught by professional teachers experienced in tailoring their classes for ‘little people’.
Yoga
the children find this class incredibly relaxing and enjoy making animal shapes with their body, learning how to meditate and do simple breathing exercises.
French and Spanish classes
the children learn how to count in French and Spanish and say words and phrases. They also enjoy songs and actions in these languages. They also learn about the traditions and cultures of France and Spain here too.
Our Special Relationship with Parents
We encourage a great deal of participation by parents in nursery life. We are always keen to discuss the development of your child, to respond to your concerns or simply to share the details of your child’s day. We issue a monthly newsletter with regular announcements over nursery activities. We also aim to arrange a number of trips away from the nursery each year, and parental help is always appreciated!
Your child’s natural curiosity and desire to learn can be stimulated through thoughtful guidance.
We encourage sharing of toys, enthusiasm, good manners, independence and consideration for others.
The children eat together and we encourage and reward excellent table manners.
The older children take it in turns to serve the hot lunch to the other children on the table by being the ‘lunch monitor’ for the day and helping to clear plates and cups afterwards.