Vision, Aims & Principles

VISION

Our vision is to:
1/ Have high expectations and aspirations for all children.
2/ Develop self-motivated, happy, considerate and confident learners.
3/ Provide an inspirational and dynamic learning environment.

AIMS

We aim to achieve our vision by:

• Providing a welcoming, happy and safe place where there is time for laughter and joy in learning together.

• Providing high quality education and care based on our professional knowledge of how young children learn.

• Offering a safe, well planned, imaginative, stimulating and challenging environment both indoors and outside where it is accepted that powerful learning often involves making mistakes.

• Encouraging and supporting children to develop a positive self-image and attitude to learning so that they can achieve their best socially, creatively, intellectually and physically.

• Forming a close partnership with parents and carers, who we value as the children’s first and most enduring educators.

• Valuing each child and respecting their family and background, thus creating mutual respect and understanding.

• Building a strong partnership with the community, including future schools.

• Providing opportunities for children to learn through self-chosen, independent supported play, taken at their own pace.

• Encouraging children to solve problems and become independent thinkers.

• Being articulate advocates for Nursery Schools and promoting the importance of high quality foundation stage education.

• Celebrating and supporting and providing ongoing professional development for the high quality, positive and enthusiastic staff team.

PRINCIPLES
We believe that;

1. Early Years education is of value in itself. It offers children unique opportunities that are appropriate to this stage of their life.

2. Young children learn best through first hand experiences, exploration, play and talk

3. Parents are children’s primary educators and partnership work is essential.

4. Effective education requires knowledgeable and skilled practitioners who understand children’s developmental needs.

5. The experiences offered at Lydalls Nursery School provide a solid foundation that will enable children to take advantage of future educational opportunities.

6. Children’s ethnic, faith and cultural heritage should be valued and respected. No child should be excluded or disadvantaged.

7. Each child is unique and special, with individual strengths and ways of learning, which should be valued and respected.

8. Young children learn from everything that happens to them, they do not compartmentalise their learning.

9. The process of learning is as important as the end result.

10. The relationships that children develop with each other and the adults in the school environment directly affect their access to all areas of the curriculum.

11. Observation and assessment are fundamental to the provision of interesting, relevant and effective planning for children’s learning.

12. Effective teaching builds on and develops children’s interests, knowledge, understanding and skills.

 

British Values Statement

British Values are defined as the following:

Democracy: making decisions together

Rule of Law: understanding rules matter

Individual liberty: freedom for all

Mutual respect and tolerance: treat others as you want to be treated

 

At Lydalls Nursery School and Chameleon Club our curriculum is based on ‘Development Matters in the Early Years Foundation Stage’ (2014, DFE)

The young children who we work with are starting to develop their understanding of these values through a wide range of different teaching and learning experiences across the curriculum at Nursery, particularly in the following areas of learning; Personal Social and Emotional Development, Communication and Language and Understanding of the World.

As we observe children’s learning we also note the dispositions and attitudes that they are developing as they start to negotiate, problem solve and make connections in their learning and experiences. These are described as the ‘Characteristics of Effective Learning’.

The following school policies are relevant to how these values are taught in our school: Behaviour Policy, Teaching and Learning and Curriculum Policy, EAL Policy, Inclusion Policy.

 

We aim to develop happy, considerate and self-confident children and to inspire them to discover that learning is fascinating, meaningful and fun.