Puddleduck Pre-Schools aims are:

· To create a safe and happy Pre-School environment

· To teach the children courtesy, good manners and consideration for others

· To help the children to develop personal and social skills which will allow them to co-operate and interact with their peers in a harmonious fashion

· To allow the children to express their feelings through free play and craft activities

· To help each individual child to achieve their best

For the children to learn a variety of skills for each area of The Early Learning Goals as set out in The Foundation Stage Curriculum for children three to five years.

Children’s development and learning

The provision for children’s development and learning is guided by two frameworks issued by the Sure Start Unit of the Department for Education and Skills. Birth to Three Matters and the Foundation stage.

Birth to Three Matters

For children from birth to three years Puddleduck supports and promotes the right of every baby and toddler to be and become:

A strong child.

A strong child is confident, capable and self-assured. To become this they need to be secure within loving relationships at home and at Puddleduck. Young children are getting to know themselves and what they can do. The respect, care, love and emotional support they receive helps them develop trust and a positive self image. The way we acknowledge and affirm young children leads them to gain confidence and inner strength. Having close relationships with them promotes self assurance and a sense of belonging at Puddleduck as a secure base to learn and try new experiences.

A skilful communicator.

Through being with people who love them at home and at Puddleduck young children will become skilful communicators. They will make friendships where they will learn about other people, communicating and sharing their feelings and experiences. They will learn to have a voice, that they are listened to and responded to in a way that supports their understanding and search for meaning, helping them to learn the skills they will need for communicating with others. Through opportunities for talk with adults and peers, through sustained interactions, through stories, songs, mime and gesture children will learn to become skilful communicators.

A competent learner.

Children are learners from birth. They are actively involved in exploring their environment using their senses to build up their knowledge about the world. Puddleduck offers young children the opportunity to take part in planned and unplanned activities that will help them to make connections with what they already know and build new understandings to help them form more complex ideas about the world. They will have the opportunity to be imaginative and creative, to express their ideas and represent them.

A healthy child

A healthy child is emotionally secure and knows that he or she can depend on carers to meet his or her needs. We aim to provide young children with secure relationships as a firm foundation for them to gradually learn to become independent at heir own pace.

Young children will have their needs for good nutrition, play and rest met so that their growth and development are assured. We provide an environment that protects children from harm and abuse. We minimise risk to children, but at the same time provide a safe structure in which they can learn to take their own risks, such as climbing or riding a bike. We provide boundaries within which they learn about being with others in a social group.