Educational aims

Personal, social and emotional development

• to encourage independence and self-help skills and to interact with peers and adults and take turns as part of a group
• to help children solve problems for themselves and understand the difference between right and wrong
• to teach children to understand the importance of manners and personal skills such as washing, cleaning teeth, flushing the toilet, and so on
• to consider the feelings of others and be aware of others and to take care of the environment, the equipment and the toys they use.

 Communication, language and literacy

• to encourage children to talk freely to both their peers and adults about past, current, and forthcoming events, activities, wishes and so on
• to help them progress with confidence in larger groups and to develop their language and literacy through song, rhymes, role play, and emergent writing
• to encourage the free use of story books and work books

Problem solving, reasoning and numeracy

• to develop an understanding and recognition of numbers, and their addition and subtraction
• to create an awareness of activities such as weighing, measuring, balancing, floating and sinking and of mathematical language such as circle, square etc.
• to relate numeracy to everyday life

Knowledge and Understanding of The World  

• to learn the shape of our world and to know of the seasons, weather, months, days, time, how things grow, land and oceans, the moon and stars
• to develop appreciation that there are other countries, languages, races, religions, climates, foods, forms of dress, and that many people have disabilities which affect their lives
• to promote learning about and caring for insects and animals, both in the wild and at home, and plants and trees
• to appreciate technology and learn to benefit from it.

Physical Development

• to allow children into the fresh air with exercise daily and to encourage both free play and organised activities within groups
• to promote movement and balance and to enjoy indoor activities such as music and movement and the use of constructional toys and equipment to develop dexterity.

Creative Development

• to encourage children through the materials and ideas available in the nursery to understand and explore colour and texture and develop their own creativity both indoors and out
• to allow them the freedom of choice to develop their own individual ideas and to investigate and act out their emotional feelings
• to experience musical instruments, music itself, and to develop creativity in movement, dancing, singing and so on.