About Little Acorns Nursery
At Little Acorns Nursery we use the terms day nursery and nursery school to describe the childcare we provide to the parents and children of Clayton-le-Woods, Chorley, Lancashire.
At Little Acorns day nursery we aim to create a foundation for learning for preschool children by providing a caring and secure environment for all physical and educational needs, in which they can learn and develop through contrasting combinations of structured and free play.
Their day is interspersed with activities such as creative, physical, imaginative and intellectual play. This is balanced with free play where they can choose their own play activity, moving around freely, making choices and building and developing their own friendships. As each child progresses through nursery they gain confidence in preparation for that all-important first day at school.
We divide the nursery into three areas to focus on the special needs of each group:
Babies
Catering for 3 months to 2 years old and providing one member of staff for every three children.
Our Baby staff offer your child a relaxed, caring homely environment with the peace of mind needed when making the decision to return to work and decide to introduce your child to nursery.
A wide range of activities is always available for fun and learning of their initial life skills. Even at this early stage, children really enjoy messy painting, water and sand, imaginary play, books with big bright pictures and song and rhyme time.
You will feel safe and confident that your most treasured is being cared for by trained qualified staff in excellent surroundings.
Toddlers
Catering for 2 – 3 year olds and providing one member of staff for every four children.
Joining the Toddlers from the Babies is the start of a more structured day, which will involve messy time activities such as oil, bubble and brush painting, collage, playdough and sand.
Topic time involves number, colour and shape recognition, and pencil and scissor control. These aim to develop concentration, social skills as well as listening skills.
By the time they leave this group we aim to have provided each child with the basic knowledge of colour, shape and number as a basis for the more in depth preschool work covered by the Preschool group.
Free play is a time when your child is able to make its own choice of activity. These may be table toys, storybooks, climbing frames or role play.
The majority of toilet training also takes place within this group, expanding each child’s independence.
Pre-school
Catering for 3 to ‘school’ year olds and providing one member of staff for every eight children.
The preschool staff aim to promote all aspects of child development to help prepare your child for school. All the preschool work carried out is carefully monitored to ensure we meet and maintain standards set down by the OFFICE OF STANDARDS IN EDUCATION (OFSTED).
The children also have regular music and movement sessions with staff. This encourages self-confidence and develops social skills.
When preparing the Preschoolers for school we plan each activity to be fun as well as a learning experience. This experience may be gained from both inside and outside the nursery environment. It may be visiting the local library or a trip to the local park.
All children have an individual work file comprising of all they have achieved over the years they have spent in our care. It also shows how they have developed from Little Learners to Little Innovators. It is a record for parents/carers and children to look back on and remember the nursery days.
