In our curriculum there is a focus on conceptual development. Young children learn best by doing and by being involved, so the nursery possesses a wide range of manipulative equipment designed to promote effective and enjoyable learning. Social and physical development too, is not over-looked.

We place emphasis on developing an ‘inquiring mind’ and ‘love of learning’ through sustained shared thinking, and set the foundations for the more academic skills in Arithmetic and Language, which will dovetail into the National Curriculum at ‘big school’.

Some of the things we aim for the children to be able to know and do by the time they leave us include:

• Recognise and write their names, know the names and sounds of letters of the alphabet and start to read.

• Familiarity with a range of songs and nursery rhymes, and classic and modern children’s stories.

• Recognise and count numerals up to 20, and beyond, understand that all numerals have a value, carry out simple addition and subtraction operations (by demonstrating this practically).

• Simple scientific concepts (including hot/cold, air, magnetism, seasonal changes, life cycles, growth & change)

• Geographical concepts (including continents and their names, oceans/seas and their names, places such as their neighbourhood, town, country).

The educational work at Elm Park Nursery is guided by a rich blend of educational philosophies, including Montessori, which we find particularly appropriate with the plentiful supply of excellent manipulative equipment.