Aims of the Nursery

The Nursery aims to:

Provide a friendly, happy and stimulating environment for children from 2 to 5 years old in the attractive grounds of Highden Farm on the South Downs;
Create and develop a caring, welcoming community for pre-school children which will enable them to feel happy, secure and special;
Work closely with parents and provide a broad and balanced curriculum which fosters the intellectual, emotional, physical, moral, social and cultural development of children;
Enable children to make an effective transition from home to school;
Help the children become familiar with classroom routines;
Develop independence and decision-making skills;
Prepare children for a smooth and easy transition to mainstream education.

All this will be achieved by providing child-centred activities which:

Stimulate children's creativity;
Enrich their language and literacy development;
Form the basis for mathematical understanding;
Encourage the children to observe and fine out about the world around them, thus developing their curiosity to ask questions;
Encourage development of manipulative skills;
Enable children to come to terms with their own lives and express their feelings.

Children learn about themselves and their world through concrete first hand experiences which include carefully directed play and the purposeful use of language as a tool for thinking about, exploring and expressing ideas.