Holistic Education

˜ Every child is an individual ˜

Curriculum

The EYFS Curriculum

The Early Years Foundation Stage (EYFS) sets the standards for the learning, development and care of children from birth to 5 years old. All Ofsted regulated early years’ providers must follow the EYFS including child-minders, preschools, nurseries and school reception classes. The EYFS framework supports an integrated approach to early learning and care and sets out the legislation for the delivery of early years’ education in the UK.

Introduction

Our Approach

We have recently embarked on a new and exciting journey. Our philosophy has always been about encouraging children to unlock their inner potential and to flourish, with this in mind we have reflected on the environment (resources) we have at the nursery. We wanted to create a calm, natural and loving environment that allows children to grow and learn through their curiosity, awe and wonder.

What is curiosity?

Curiosity is key because it is the very foundation of learning. It is what drives children in the early years to explore, do, and think for themselves. Curiosity is innate within every single one of us and to be a learner in anything, you need to be curious.

The start of our journey...

The first step of our journey was about creating a positive environment around us by replacing our plastic, manufactured toys with open-ended, natural resources that stimulate creativity and challenge the children’s minds. This also gives them opportunity to work things out for themselves by trial and error, encourages independent learning and problem solving.

Multilingualism

The Gift of More Than One Language

Research has shown that bilingualism is beneficial for children’s development and their future. Children exposed to different languages become more aware of different cultures, other people and other points of view. But they also tend to be better than monolinguals at ‘multitasking’ and focusing attention. They often are more precocious readers, and generally find it easier to learn other languages. Multilingualism gives children much more than just languages!

We operate under the system of one person, one language (OPOL) as portrayed by Colin Baker. Therefore, our Spanish teachers only speak Spanish to the children, our English teachers only speak English to the children and our Mandarin Teachers only speak Mandarin to the children.

The only exception to this rule applies when it is in the interest of the child/children to ensure that their needs are being met.

We strive to recruit native Mandarin and Spanish Teachers, this is so the children reap the benefits not only from the language but also the culture in a natural and organic way.

Our aim at Peques is to identify, assess and meet the challenges of a child who has English as an additional language. Being a multilingual setting we have children with many different nationalities and we identify children with EAL as a child that does not have at least one parent/carer that does not speak English to the child at home.

Nutrition

Nutrition is Key

Diet is central to health and therefore children’s diet is an important influence on their health now and in the future. It is important that we promote health and demonstrate a positive approach with regards to food and healthy eating patterns. This is a key part of our work to support “Every Child Matters” and to prepare the children for their lives ahead.

Our aim is to foster and develop a positive “whole” nursery approach to healthy eating and to enable and encourage the nutritional health and wellbeing of the early year’s community.

Our objective is to ensure the process of a robust management of change to guarantee that our nurseries provide and continue to provide healthy delicious multicultural fresh food and a nutritionally balanced diet.

We acknowledge the importance of children understanding what they eat and why they eat the food that they do. After all, the children’s opinion on what they eat has to be the primary consideration as no matter how healthy the food is, if the children do not eat it then we are missing the point.

The children’s primary educators are their parents and working in collaboration with them we can together educate them to achieve great things and lead the way.

Independent eating is encouraged and we use meal times as a social development opportunity. Children and teachers sit and eat lunch together and discuss daily topics, this encourages children to eat well and will often inspire them to eat items that they have perhaps refused in a different environment.

Special dietary requirements including allergy, intolerance, religious beliefs, pescatarian, vegan and vegetarian are fully respected and an alternative meal resembling the meal of the day will be provided for the child to ensure inclusion.

Birthday Cakes can be made by our chefs, where parents can order a homemade cake in a choice of flavours and can make a contribution, which we put towards a team-building fund for the staff.

A Healthy Way To Grow

You can check now our NUTRITIONAL BOOK with our sample menu

See our e-book

Our aim is to foster and develop a positive “whole” nursery approach to healthy eating and to enable and encourage the nutritional health and wellbeing of the early year’s community.

We acknowledge the importance of children understanding what they eat and why they eat the food that they do, also the partnership the chefs, staff and the children have. After all, the children’s opinion on what they eat has to be the primary consideration as no matter how healthy the food is, if the children do not eat it then we are missing the point. Asking them what they like, how they found the food and creating weekly cooking activities for them with the chefs and garden activities with their teachers where they can grow herbs and vegetables is all equally paramount to this project.

The children’s primary educators are their parents and working in collaboration with them we can together educate them to achieve great things and lead the way for when it is their turn to become parents and have children of their own.

Physical activity is incorporated into everyday life at Peques, however, for those families who wish to take part in more specialised activities we have The Everybody Yoga Company and The Small Sports Club come in once a week.

Everybody Yoga Company
The Small Sports Club

More About Sarah Our Yoga Teacher

‘I found my yoga practice more than 10 years ago, this has helped me to grow stronger, more flexible, and peaceful both on and off the mat. Yoga enables me to live a mindful and connected life. I completed my 200 hour Power Vinyasa teacher training with Dylan Ayaloo Training Academy, which is accredited by Yoga Alliance USA. I completed my Yoga for Kids and Families Teacher Training with Rainbow Kids Yoga, and Kidding Around Yoga. Everybody Yoga classes are themed adventures of yoga poses around the world, into children’s stories, or other age relevant topics. Each class contains physical movement which encourages correct alignment and posture, music, breath work, and age appropriate introductions to mindfulness and meditation. We teach children to use their breath in self-grounding exercises and that they can help themselves find calm whenever they might need it. We all know that young children need early exposure to create lifelong skills, whether it be to music, healthy eating, sport, reading etc. Children are sponges and it is an honour to witness them putting techniques learned in class into action. We are passionate about helping children have fun whilst exercising, build strong bodies, be equipped to find their own calm, and create foundations for lifelong mental wellness.’

Yoga classes are available to all children over 18 months and is charged at £25 alongside the monthly fees and can be booked directly through the Nursery.

More About Freddie Our Sports Teacher & What He Does

Freddie’s background has always been a combination of sports and education. His mother a head teacher and his father a keen sportsman; leading Freddie to pursue a career in professional rugby after completing his A levels. After a stint playing at London Wasps, Freddie turned his focus to education, completing a degree in Sports Science and Nutrition at St Marys University.

Upon graduating Freddie worked with a number of coaching organisations but grew disillusioned with the coaching methods being used. Freddie soon established his own style of coaching, incorporating different sports as well as placing a new emphasis on education during the sessions. This unique style of coaching eventually lead to him founding TSSC, a vehicle for him and like-minded coaches to deliver sessions to children in settings all over London.

Our unique blend of multi-sport coaching allows children to experience a wide variety of sports (Rugby, Football, Basketball), allowing them to try each one before pursuing one particular sport. It was the opportunity for children to try lots of different sports was one of the main reasons behind the founding of TSSC.

We plan all sessions in accordance with the EYFS statutory frame work (The Early Years Foundation Stage) and the National Curriculum means we are always moving forwards. Keeping the sessions fresh and the children developing physically as well as socially is always in the forefront when planning sessions.

The Sport Sessions are available to all children over two years and are booked directly through Freddie’s website