Welcome to Squirrels

The Squirrels room is for children aged 2 to 3 years old. We start each session by coming together as a group and welcome everyone. During this time, we sing our ‘hello’ song, discuss our days of the week and sing a few songs chosen by the children. We also practice our Makaton sign of the week and observe what the weather is like.

The Squirrels room follows a ‘free flow’ approach, which enables the children to select their own choice of resources and explore them however they wish to. Throughout the sessions children have the opportunity to take part in social interaction groups where they learn to share and turn take with their peers. This is a great way for them to play cooperatively as well as having fun! The routine
is child-led and we follow the learning styles of each individual child. This way we get to see what motivates, encourages and captivates them.

We have continuous provision areas within the room, for example, a construction area, small world area and role play. These areas are changed and altered on interests of the children. Both indoors and outdoors offered throughout the day. Every week we build in different themes into the room which enables children to discover new activities and resources, whilst still having the option to play freely.

In the Squirrels room we focus on supporting our little ones to be the best version of themselves. We do this by focusing on developing our ability to express our emotions and finding alternative holistic ways to communicate. This is through the use of continuous Makaton Signs, discussing feelings and different emotions and small interaction groups. Our little ones in particular have a lot of emotions and we find these in particular helps them to express how they feel, what they are trying to communicate and how we can support
them.

We work from the Early Years Foundation Stage Development Matters, where we emphasise that “all children develop at their own rates, and in their own ways”. The prime areas of learning are Personal, Social and Emotional Development, Communication and Language, and Physical Development. The specific areas of learning are Literacy, Mathematics, Understanding the World, and Expressive Arts and Design. In order to enable the children to develop in these areas, we complete and undertake regular observations and plan next steps using Tapestry. Tapestry is an online observation tool that allows you to see what your child is doing whilst at nursery, and you are able to contribute to your child’s learning journey by uploading pictures and comments. Your child will have a key person while at nursery, who you can speak to regarding your child’s learning and developing and current interests at home or if you may have any concerns.

We can’t wait to meet you!