Aim

To promote and develop self-esteem and self-responsibility alongside interest, understanding and value for the child’s own experiences and those of other people.

Objectives 

To provide the children with opportunities to observe, interact and learn about each others lives through a balanced programme of activities.

Operating Policy

When the child starts nursery, staff will work in partnership with parents in order to find out about the child’s experiences, culture and home background. A profile of each child will be built up, using information supplied by parents as the starting point.

The child will be supported in developing self-esteem, through shared experiences and by being given opportunities to learn about the lives of others around them.

There will be opportunity to participate in local and wider community visits, thus developing individual and communal responsibility.

Awareness of the national and global environment will be developed through the use of visitors to the nursery (parents, grandparents, workers, etc), artefacts, books, photographs and information technology.

The children will be provided with experiences which:

promote the development of independence, confidence and self-respect;

         promote the development of responsibility for their own learning;

enable them to concentrate and persevere in their learning and seek help when necessary;

         support them in making decisions;

         enable them to resolve conflict through negotiation;

help them to form effective social relationships with other children and adults;

        help them to take turns and share;

          help them express their feelings;

provide opportunity to express their opinions, and to consider and respect those  of others;

        help them develop an understanding of right and wrong;

promote the development of equal opportunities and respect for people of other cultures and beliefs;

         enable them to succeed.

In providing such experiences the adults in the nursery will:

be aware of the role models which they themselves provide for the children;

         value the home lifestyle, culture and circumstances pertaining to            the individual child;

         share an agreed view about the nursery ethos;

encourage parents and other community members to share in the life of the    nursery.

Programme of Work

A programme of experiences based upon a mixture of general and topic based activities, will be implemented.

The programme will provide the children with opportunity to work as an individual and as part of small and large groups.

It will be based upon structured play and will provide opportunity for both free-play and adult-led experience.

The programme will include some or all of the following types of activity:-

         Role play and dressing up

         One-to-one discussions

         Group discussions

         Story telling

         Puppets

         Games that involve -taking turns

                                       equal turns for all children

                                       the following of rules

          School trips.

Planning, recording and assessment

Topic planning takes place on a monthly or half-termly basis.  Activity planning occurs on a weekly or daily basis.  The topic planning and activity planning sheets used by the nursery are laid out to identify each of the seven areas of learning.  This ensures that Personal, Social and Emotional Development is considered whenever a topic or activity is planned.

Staff are able to observe the children informally and records of such observations can be made on the children’s personal profile sheets.

Assessment is carried out through a mixture of informal observation, interaction with the child, the use of the information on record sheets and discussion during regular staff meetings.  The information gathered during the assessment process is then used for future planning of activities for each child.

Information gained through recording and assessment will be shared with parents, other school staff and outside agencies as appropriate.