Welcome to

Little Barn Owls Day Nursery in Horsham

A typical day at Little Barn Owls Day Nursery

This is an example of how your child may spend his or her day with us. Our themes and activities change regularly depending on the children's own interest, often to coincide with world-wide celebrations and seasonal events.

8am: The children are dropped off and breakfast is served. The children choose free play activities once they have finished eating and have washed their hands and faces.
9am: Free flow inside and out play
9.45am: Registration – children find their name leaf and self-register, practise phonics ryhmes and sing their welcome song. Children share home experiences and choose activities.
10am: Snack bar opens and drink time.
11am: All children are encouraged to participate in the morning's first planned activity e.g this could be painting, junk modelling, messy play, arts & crafts, construction or cooking based around their relevant play journeys of the time.
11.45am: All children come together for a short story and discussion of what we enjoyed that morning and our learning themes, a song and learning the letter and number of the day.
12pm: Lunch – children help to set the table and wash their hands before a delicious home cooked meal is served with staff. Children serve their own meals to themselves and their friends to encourage independent healthy choices.
12.30pm: Children use hand held mirrors to check if they need to wash their face, blow their noses, and all wash their hands.
12.45pm: Time to choose/change books from the library to take home and read with you.
1pm: Afternoon Session - Sleepy children get cosy for a nap in the sleep area with soft music and cuddles. Registration for awake children followed by free-flow and activities:
1.15pm: Free flow indoor-outdoor play
1.45pm: Jolly Phonics – sound sense work learning the foundations of writing and reading for 3+
2pm: Extended Learning sessions for 3+. This session is designed to build on Literacy, Numeracy and Problem Solving skills ready for school.
3pm: Activity time based around our their play journeys (e.g paper mache, cooking, pottery, arts and crafts, toddler and pre-school disco time, music and movement fun with the alphabet and numbers time) followed by free choice indoor-outdoor play.
4pm: A hot delicious supper is served with staff
5.15pm: Active group games / parachute games / group sports followed by theme discussion time of what we have enjoyed doing that afternoon, learning the letter and number of the day, songs and stories.
5.45 - 6pm: Home time

Child-led play

We would always encourage every child to join in all adult assisted activities, however if a child is busy doing something else they are enjoying at the time we would ask them later if they wanted to join in then. We commit fully to children taking the lead on when they want adult involvement in their play and when they do not. Our workshop areas are planned out according to the current interests of the children with resources changed regularly. It isn't left to chance but the product of staff collaboration at weekly planning meetings and careful observations made throughout the week, to ensure the children are engaged and having fun while they learn – whether they want to play with us or just each other!