Growing Up Green Curriculum

Birth to Three Matters
Our children's days are organized in accordance with Birth to Three Matters, the government's framework for the care and education of children from birth to three years. The framework provides us with information and guidance whilst being flexible enough to accommodate our own ideas and be receptive to real children in interaction.

The framework is child-centred, and identifies four 'aspects' where growth, learning, development and the child's environment interrelate. These aspects are 'a strong child', 'a healthy child', 'a competent learner' and a 'skillful communicator'. Each aspect is broken down into more components (e.g. skillful communicator consists of 'being together', 'finding a voice', listening and responding' and 'making meaning'). Each component and aspect applies to children at all stages of development from birth to three. For each component there are recommendations for effective practice, ideas for play, planning, resourcing and practical support.

This might seem like a bewildering amount of information! At Growing Up Green we continually work hard to incorporate the Birth to Three Matters framework into the practical ways of structuring our care. At the same time we strive to maintain our own unique emphasis and make room for the input of our staff and children into our approach to care. This encourages dynamism and creativity as well as stability in the environment we provide.

Our commitment to Birth to Three Matters is evident in countless aspects of the day-to-day running of the nursery, such as the flexible daily structures we follow for each age-appropriate room, the familiarity of all staff with the Birth to Three Matters framework, the careful selection of resources, the kinds of activities engaged in, and the value placed on nutrition, meals, and meal-times themselves. There are displays in the nursery emphasizing the role of Birth to Three Matters, as well as copies of the framework itself.

Preschool
Our Preschool room is for children from three to four years. The PreSchool Room is actually made up of two spacious rooms, but as elsewhere we have made major alterations to create ample space for our preschoolers whilst retaining the feel of a welcoming family home. At this stage the children progress from Birth the Three Matters to the topic-based Foundation Stage curriculum. This covers a large range of activities including music, singing, music and movement, cooking, free play, number work, games, stories and malleable play. Letter work is developed following a phonics programme and a variety of games.

The day is carefully structured to ensure the curriculum is covered but play is still the best vehicle for learning at this age. Our staff make sure there is a good balance of focused and more frenetic activity, providing prechoolers with the nurturing and attention they require with the space to grow into and explore their developing capabilities. All this fun can be hard work, so those that need it can have a short sleep after lunch while the others spend a quiet period either looking at books or being involved in quiet table play.

This is an important time to facilitate children’s own fascination and excitement for books. Within the preschool room there is an inviting reading area, with plenty of books of all types and topics, comfortable seating, a display area and an abundance of natural light. As well as story times every day, children can spend time reading here by themselves or with other children. There is also a large home area for role play which is fun and important for the development of imagination.