Key information about The Barn

At The Barn, children can attend morning sessions, afternoon sessions and whole days. A session is 3 hours long, a whole day is 6 hours.

• Morning sessions: 9am to 12pm

• Afternoon sessions: 12pm to 3pm

We also run:

• Early Bird Club from 8.30am to 9am, so that parents can drop-off their children early.

• Lunch Club from 12pm to 1pm for children attending the Morning Session who would like to stay for lunch. The Afternoon Session includes lunch.

The Explorers are rising three-year-olds. Explorers attend a minimum of two sessions per week on different days, to allow us time to get to know them and build up a relationship.

Discoverers are rising four-year-olds. Discoverers attend a minimum of two full days per week (12 hours).

We try to accommodate all session requests, but this may not always be possible due to the popularity of certain days/sessions. There is usually greater flexibility at the beginning of the autumn term when the numbers of children in the Explorers are lower, and less choice of days/sessions in the summer term when we have completed our intake for the year. All sessions are offered subject to availability.

Your child’s sessions are automatically carried forward to the following term. You can request a change of session or additional sessions at any time during the term and we will accommodate your request, if we can.

Requests for a reduction in sessions or notice of leaving the setting must be received in writing before the end of the half term for the following term, ie by end of October for the Spring Term, by the end of February for the Summer Term and by the end of May for the Autumn Term.

For young children, routine is reassuring. At The Barn, our routine is always the same, but the children, staff, activities and themes all change.

As part of our routine, the children enjoy a gathering at the beginning and end of a session in their respective groups. Teachers lead age-appropriate activities that might involve listening to or taking part in a story, singing a rhyme or song, playing a group game or making music with the instruments. Children will often be invited to share experiences and reflect on their day. Snack time happens between 10 am and 11 am and lunch starts at midday. After lunch, all the children have a short quiet time before going to play outside.

At different times during the week, the children take part in our special Barn Activities. These include Rainbow time, small circle activities, Activate, relaxation, music, and movement, Write Dance, gross motor skills, gardening, science investigations, cooking, and foreign language experiences.

Our provision for children's learning and development at The Barn is guided by the Early Years Foundation Stage framework (EYFS). The EYFS, produced by the Department for Education, is the statutory framework for the early education and care of children from birth until 31 August following their fifth birthday.

There are four themes set out in the EYFS and these inform and shape all areas of our practice at The Barn:

• every child is unique, who is constantly learning and can be resilient, capable, confident and self-assured

• children learn to be strong and independent through positive relationships

• children learn and develop well in enabling environments, in which their experiences respond to their individual needs and there is a strong partnership between practitioners and parents and/or carers; and

• children develop and learn in different ways and at different rates.

The EYFS identifies 7 areas of learning, Prime and Specific, and our curriculum is carefully designed to support the children in making best progress in all areas.

The Prime areas begin to develop quickly in response to relationships and experiences, and run through and support learning in all other areas. The prime areas continue to be fundamental throughout the EYFS:

• communication and language

• physical development

• personal, social, and emotional development

The Specific areas include essential skills and knowledge. They grow out of the prime areas, and provide important contexts for learning:

• literacy

• mathematics

• understanding the world

• expressive arts and design

The Barn uses the EYFS practice guidance to plan and provide a play-based curriculum that promotes exciting and fun learning experiences and opportunities that help children to discover themselves and experience the awe and wonder of the world in which they live.

The play activities are designed to help children to make progress in each of the areas of learning and development, and we have a balance between child led and adult guided activities. We know that children learn best through exploration, experimentation, and discovery, building on their experiences.

Our Barn approach draws on a wide range of evidence bases and approaches, including Montessori, Reggio and Forest School, and we are always looking for inspiration and new ideas as we think about different ways to make the curriculum interesting and engaging for all the children.

Our learning activities include 1-1 Rainbow Time, small group activities, Maths champions, Mark making and emergent writing, and Makaton, woodland activities, baking, foreign languages, and Activate physical education.

All children develop and make progress at different rates and at some time during their time at nursery school, many young children will need some extra support so that they can move forward in a particular area, such as separating from their parents; sharing; turn-taking; toileting; eating; play skills and tantrums. This is to be expected and we are well practised in supporting the children and working closely with their parents and local agencies to provide consistency and ensure that every child can thrive in our setting.

Our teachers also have considerable experience and knowledge of working with children who have special needs that require regular support, targeted planning and specialist input, including:

• Medical needs

• Physical needs

• Behaviour management

• Speech and language delays and disorders

• English as an Additional Language

• Learning and developmental delays.

Each child at nursery school has a ‘key person’ – a named member of staff with whom the child and the parents have regular contact.

Each key person has special responsibility for working with a small number of children, giving them the reassurance to help them feel secure and cared for, and building relationships with you, the parents. The key person will also talk to you to make sure that the particular needs of your child are being met appropriately, and that records of development and progress are shared.

All children attend the “Snack Café” between 10am and 11am. Children sit at a table and are offered healthy snacks, such as fruit, vegetables and bread sticks.

Children who are staying all day or arriving for an afternoon session will bring a lunch box to The Barn. The toys are tidied away at the end of the morning session and all the teachers and children all sit down together to have lunch.

We offer children attending a morning session the opportunity to stay and have lunch and a play for an extra hour. Lunch club might be of interest to parents who do not feel that their child is ready for a whole day, but would like to gradually build up time. Alternatively, it might just be convenient to have the extra hour before pick up.

The lunch club facility can be used on a casual ad-hoc basis or can be a regular feature. And if you would like to join your child for lunch and share the experience, you would be most welcome.

We hold a Christmas Concert and Activity Morning on the last day of the Autumn Term for all children and their parents.

We hold a Summer Concert on the Church Meadow for the Explorers. We also hold a Summer Concert and Fayre on the Meadow for the Discoverers on their last day at The Barn. The Fayre includes a merry-go-round and lots of fun activities.

All policies are available on request and are reviewed on an annual basis.