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Even before your baby joins our nursery, we will prioritise the development of secure, strong relationships with our staff. We work with you to understand your baby’s individual personality, preferences and home routine so that from their very first settling in session, you can carry on with your day, confident that your baby is safe, loved and their individual needs are being met.

The Discoverers room has been purposefully designed to have a calm, warm and nurturing environment where experienced staff provide personalised multi-sensory activities that allow your baby to discover the world around them through music, movement, touch and vision. Being outside is an exciting sensory experience for babies and Discoverers will spend at least part of each day in the fresh air, with space to crawl and roam around.

Our partnership with you as parents is essential, as we aim to create a wider family structure for your child. At the end of each day, you will have the opportunity to hear about your baby's day, the activities they have enjoyed as well as any developmental changes. No problem if you're in a rush to get home, we provide an online learning journal record which contains the observations staff have made, photographs, assessments and development records giving parentx an easy to access understanding of their baby's strengths and progression.

The Explorers room has been designed to be full of exciting zones: a nursery gym, which promotes physical development, social interaction and problem-solving skills, a creative area where the children can express themselves through a variety of media, a wet/messy play zone, construction areas and role play, as well as a wealth of engaging tabletop activities.

Explorers are able to freely choose the activities they would like to engage in, our experienced Nursery staff extend their play to develop their personal, social and emotional skills, their communication and language and their physical confidence. Each Explorer is carefully tracked through their interactions with our Nursery team and these observations and monitoring ensures that each Explorer has the support they need to meet their individually identified next steps.

Every season brings opportunities for learning outside and suited and booted there is no weather that will keep our Explorers indoors! Alongside their dedicated outdoor play area, Explorers have full use of our grounds for a wealth of exploration activities such as bug hunts, sound walks, jumping in muddy puddles and bear hunts. With a spelcailist teacher for Dance and music sessions, PE in our Sports Centre and trips to the Junior Library for storytime, there is no end to the exploration opportunities on offer.

In Adventurers, activities are themed around weekly topics such as 'People who help us', 'Animals' or 'Colours'. Qualified and enthusiastic staff provide Adventurers with a balance of child-led play and adult-initiated learning within these topics, based on each child's current interests and pace of learning.

Learning through the outdoors is encouraged with visits to our Woodland Classroom, where under the guidance of our specialist Forest School Teacher, Adventurers get creative making their own recipes in the mud kitchen, develop their physical skills on our obstacle course and make some fabulous crafting projects with natural materials. If Adventurers aren't to be found in the 35 acres of outdoor classroom our site benefits from, you might find them absorbed by visits from dentists or police officers (People who help us) or even bottle-feeding lambs!

Our children are recognised as individuals, and we spend time getting to know their personality and what engages them as early learners. Specialist Dance and music, PE and Library sessions extend the wide variety of new experiences on offer and that moment when an Adventurer makes a connection and pieces together their life experiences is very special and a joy to behold.

Our Pioneers class is a vibrant, happy space where little ones develop essential skills through play, laughter and exploration.

We love watching children find their voices! Through chatting with friends and our caring staff, they grow in confidence every day. We use Makaton hand signs to aid communication as well as developing vocabulary, sentence formation and pronunciation skills.

Physical development truly flourishes here. Children enjoy running, climbing, balancing, painting and moving in all sorts of wonderful ways! We also develop fine motor skills, introducing scissors and showing children how to hold pencils in a tripod grip for mark making, setting them up beautifully for their writing adventures ahead.

Our Dance and PE sessions are full of energy and smiles! These fun activities help strengthen little bodies, improve coordination and flexibility, whilst teaching children how to work together, share space and be kind teammates.

In Pioneers, every child is treasured. We celebrate each milestone as they blossom into confident, independent learners, make special friendships and discover just how amazing they truly are.

With learning through play still the order of the day, Ark Pre-School provides a more structured, teacher-led routine. Our experienced Nursery Teachers and Learning Support Assistants build upon the natural curiosity evident in each child, guiding them in our enriched Early Years curriculum, through a broad range of engaging activities based around each child’s interests and passions that support individual development and emotional growth.  Our Language department introduces children to French, with weekly lessons. Learning is motivating, engaging and fun, opening up a world of wonder for children where personal interests can flourish. 

Learning opportunities encourage a sound knowledge and understanding of concepts such as phonics, numbers and shapes, along with a constant strengthening of key personal, social and emotional skills, including independence, self-motivation, concentration and sharing. Staff engage fully with the children in both focused and free play activities, providing them with the support and stimulation to ensure they become interested learners, competent communicators and creative thinkers. 

The Ark Pre-School Nursery is situated next to the Reception classrooms so that when the time comes to move up children will have already seen and had some interaction with the ‘bigger’ Reception children around the grounds. The vast majority of Ark Pre-School children transition to Reception at ºìÐÓÊÓƵ and take with them the skills and confidence they have gained under the care of our Nursery staff.