A love of stories is nurtured from an early age. The focus is on exploring the world through physical, sensory and practical play. The girls also have lessons in Spanish, music, gymnastics and dance. Teachers look for creative and inventive ways to help the girls learn about the world around them in a meaningful way.

Children are supported, challenged or extended on an individual basis. We know our girls very well and ensure that they are always working to their full potential. We provide 1:1 and small group inputs in order to ensure that each child’s needs are met.

PLAYING AND EXPLORING

Having planned to create a florist shop, the girls began to show a lot of interest in firefighters. During independent play they were making hoses and fighting fires, so we changed direction and turned our role play area into a fire station. We researched what we would need, spoke to a firefighter in Australia via Skype, and created our own props (from recycled materials) such as a fire engine, hoses, hats and a ladder.

CRITICAL THINKING

When a child’s hair clip fell through the decking during outdoor play, the girls were encouraged to think of ways they might be able to retrieve it. One child suggested a magnet to get it out. Unfortunately the magnet wasn’t long enough so after some discussion the girls decided to tape the magnet to a craft stick to make it longer. By sharing ideas and working as a team (alongside some targeted open ended questions from the adults), the girls retrieved the lost hair clip. Hurray!

ACTIVE LEARNING

The girls LOVE Dr Suess, so we spent a week writing like him, using nonsense words and tongue twisters, and printed pictures from their favourite books as a writing stimulus/prompt. The girls were engaged and motivated because they were already interested in the topic.