Entries by Mark

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Our EYFS Nursery Curriculum

Our EYFS Nursery Curriculum

The curriculum at our Clayton-le-Woods nursery adheres to what’s known as the Early Years Foundation Stage (‘EYFS’) framework. This educational framework is specified by the UK Government and its implementation is overseen and appraised by Ofsted. It’s down to individual nurseries like Little Acorns to implement the framework and we strive to do so in the optimum way. This is all achieved in a stress-free, relaxed way, almost entirely through active play. This approach makes learning natural — and immense fun!

“Children learn by leading their own play, and by taking part in play which is guided by adults.” (Department for Education).

The EYFS curriculum covers all the critically important areas of learning and development for babies (from birth) up to children aged 5. As such, it’s a perfect fit for children at Little Acorns Nursery.

The 3 Prime Areas of the Curriculum

There are 7 key areas within the early years curriculum. These include 3 ‘prime’ areas which, in turn, interconnect and enhance the remaining four — each helping to improve the other.

  • Communication & Language is the first of the three prime areas of our EYFS-based curriculumCommunication & Language is the first of the three prime areas of our EYFS-based curriculum. Without good communication and language skills, all other areas of learning could suffer, so these are critically important skills for children to master in their early years. Staff at the nursery therefore encourage rich communications between staff and children — and from peer to peer — from the very first day they join the nursery. Language and communication skills grow naturally to children through engaging, fun activities like role-play, story-telling and question-and-answer games. High quality books and other rich reading materials are also employed by staff to read with children in an interactive way. Using these kind of approaches helps children to learn new vocabulary and grammar, to improve reading and comprehension and to almost effortlessly broaden their language and communication skills as they grow.
  • Physical Development is the second of the prime areas of the nursery’s EYFS-based curriculum. At this formative age, the …
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Why *Every Parent* Should Be Involved in Their Child’s Education

Why *Every Parent* Should Be Involved in Their Child's Education
Compelling evidence shows that there are enormous benefits for children when parents are closely and proactively involved in their education. Research shows that parents are the key to children's successIndeed, parents can be thought of as key to their children’s success, if they support children’s education in the right ways. We’ll go through exactly what that means, along with some of the many benefits, in this article.

During the earliest years of schooling … students with active parents are almost twice as likely to succeed. (Pinantoan)

Additional research also concluded that children are statistically far more successful in school when their parents “invest time and place value on their children’s education.”

So, How Can Parents Help?

Children will benefit in a multitude of ways when parents involve themselves in the child’s education. That involvement can take many forms …

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Ultimate Guide To Forest School

The Ultimate Guide To Forest School

Little Acorns Nursery runs Forest School sessions in Clayton-le-Woods, Chorley, LancashireLittle Acorns Nursery offers Forest School sessions and, indeed, was the first childcare setting in the Chorley area to offer them. Many parents understand that ‘Forest School’ offers children outdoor discovery sessions where they can explore nature and all that the Great Outdoors has to offer. However, what’s it really about? What is the ethos behind it? How did it come about and what is its history? Perhaps most importantly, what are its benefits to children? Here we’ll answer all those questions and more, in our Ultimate Guide to Forest School.

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Ofsted Report: “Outstanding Childcare Provision” from Little Acorns Nursery

Ofsted Report: “Outstanding Childcare Provision” from Little Acorns Nursery

An outstanding childcare provider in Clayton-le-Woods, Chorley, Central Lancashire

Last month we reported on Little Acorns Nursery winning best ‘Individual Nursery’ award at the National NMT Nursery Awards. When you consider that the nursery was selected from all the other possible nurseries from across the entire UK, that’s an incredible feat! It should now come as no surprise, then, to learn that Ofsted’s most recent report also scored the nursery as ‘Outstanding‘ — in every category.

In this post, we’ll go through Ofsted’s report to see what they said about the nursery and why they were so impressed during their inspection.

Ofsted Report for Little Acorns Nursery, ChorleyThe Ofsted Report Concludes that Little Acorns Nursery Provides …

So, “Outstanding” — right across the board! Click the report image to download/view it in full (Acrobat PDF format) or read the highlights below.

We’ll cover each of those areas in more detail below. First, though, we’ll highlight some general comments received in the Ofsted Report. Every one of them is extremely positive; indeed Ofsted had literally nothing negative to say about this outstanding Chorley nursery anywhere in their report …

Continuous Improvement “to the Highest Possible Levels”

In the Ofsted Report, the inspector recognised the culture of continuous improvement at the nursery, saying …

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Little Acorns Wins the UK’s Best Individual Nursery Award

Little Acorns are winners of the Individual Nursery Award 2020

Little Acorns Nursery is delighted to confirm that we WON the Best Individual Nursery Award at the 18th National NMT Nursery Awards towards the end of 2020. To win this unique award is an incredible achievement, particularly in the face of such strong competition from many other high quality nurseries from around the entire UK. We are extremely pleased and incredibly proud to have won this award.

The Little Acorns Nursery team celebrate their award winExcellent Feedback from the Judges

The NMT Nursery Awards are run by Nursery Management Today (‘NMT’) magazine. They are designed to “discover, reward and celebrate the very best people in the nursery sector,” from across the whole of the UK. The judges were really impressed by Little Acorns’ entry, particularly liking the Little Acorns Forest School, the high level of staff qualifications and the nursery’s strong involvement with the local community. They also thought the fundraiser for a nursery defibrillator was excellent. The judges felt that it was a close competition, however Little Acorns truly “deserved this award”.

Little Acorns truly “deserved this award”.

Thank you to everyone who made this award possible. At the nursery, we are so happy that everyone’s hard work, professionalism and dedication to our children, families and community has been recognised.

Why we won …

Below is a transcript of the video that supported Little Acorns Nursery’s winning entry into the 18th National NMT Nursery Awards for 2020. Presented to the judging panel by Sarah Smith, our nursery manager, it will also give parents and carers a real insight into why the nursery won the award and what makes Little Acorns so special. As you’ll see from the transcript below, Little Acorns really does go the extra mile for their children under their care — and for the families of those children. Sarah explains …