Our Vision and Ethos
Vision
Our vision is to enable children to become resilient, independent and confident learners and to provide them the best possible start to their early years education. We believe children have an innate sense of wonder, awe and natural curiosity and that they are natural explorers and investigators. We strive to operate a premium nursery business that consistently provides exceptional standards of care and education for each child within our setting. Furthermore, to ensure a sustained capacity for continuous improvement and development through a committed, enthusiastic and highly qualified management and staff team with a goal to constantly improving the outcomes for all of the children in our care.
Ethos
Shardlow Hall Day Nursery is an independent nursery dedicated to providing individual care and education for children. We pride ourselves on our family orientated environment in which our parents are also invited to be involved every step of the way. We aim to provide a warm and nurturing environment in which each child can flourish and reach their full potential. We endeavour to support every child in our care in order to ensure they achieve their utmost, develop confidence in their own abilities and a lifetime love of learning.
We recognise the importance of good manners and respect for others and believe that this in itself enables our children to be well prepared for life outside the nursery environment. We are dedicated to providing the children in our care with a strong foundation for life, and believe that a quality Early Years education provides children with the best opportunity to achieve their full potential both while at nursery and in their futures.
During the Early Years, children grow, develop and learn more rapidly than at any other time of their lives. We firmly believe that, by paying close attention to what the children tell us and show us, we are able to gain important insights into the minds and to the development of each child. It is clear that by focusing on the child’s strengths, passions and interests, as they emerge, our staff can develop an insight into that child’s potential and ensure that appropriate activities are planned in order to promote and celebrate these abilities.
Shardlow Hall Day Nursery focuses on nurturing and developing the individual talents inherent in each child which in turn allows them to develop their own self-confidence. We encourage and reward children’s willingness to try new things, to question their knowledge and abilities and more importantly to feel pride in their attempts and to develop an ability to learn from their failures. This approach allows children to develop an analytical mind and build the confidence needed in order to be able to make their own decisions and judgements.
Our Nursery environment is calm and nurturing and the children’s happiness is always our number one priority. Our home-from-home atmosphere enables the children to develop a sense of security and allows them to excel in all areas of their development.
Outdoor Experiences
At Shardlow Hall Day Nursery, we believe that the opportunities are endless for children when exploring outdoors, so we always ensure that we enrich their experiences. We believe that there’s no such thing as ‘bad weather’ so we always go outdoors and we create learning based around this so weather appropriate clothes are a must! Whilst outdoors the children go on bear hunts, visit our nursery animals, hunt for bugs, take part in sports races, observe activities on the farm next door, discuss different weathers/seasonal changes to the environment and much more.
British Values
The promotion of British Values is reflected in the Early Years Foundation Stage guidance and exemplified in an age-appropriate way through activities such as:
Democracy
Children are encouraged to listen to each other in small group games, waiting for another person to finish before speaking. They experience group decision making and expressing their own opinions in relation to choosing activities and discussing likes/dislikes. The child’s voice is always valued and respected at nursery.
Individual Liberty
The free-flow activities during sessions enable children to choose which area of nursery they would like to play in, and the wide range of activities promotes their ability to self-select according to their individual preferences and interests.
Mutual Respect
The staff team role model appropriate behaviour according to our behaviour policy which helps children to understand the feelings of others, be polite to each other and learn right from wrong. Stories, role-play games and small group activities are used to help explain this. Respectful behaviour is always rewarded.
The Rule of Law
We have age-appropriate rules which are explained to children along with the reasons why, such as no running inside in case they slip over and hurt themselves on the hard floor. It is explained to the children that whilst they can enjoy playing with toys at nursery, it is also their responsibility to help put them away during tidy up time, so they do not become broken or lost.
Tolerance of those of Different Faiths and Beliefs
Activities that celebrate British traditions such as Mothering Sunday, Father’s Day, Bonfire night and Easter, along with the learning of mutual respect and kind behaviour, help children develop a sense of national identity and British values. We also observe traditions such as Diwali and Chinese New Year, which help children respect other cultures and faiths.
Striving for Diversity
The beliefs and values of the world’s religions and cultures are expressed in many ways, including through festivals and celebrations. Whether they relate to rites of passage, the seasons, living things or revered objects, they play a highly significant role in the lives of many children worldwide, as part of their developing life in the family, community and wider society, nurturing their sense of identity, values and beliefs.
The EYFS (Early Years Foundation Stage) values the role that festivals and celebrations play in supporting children’s learning and development in every area of learning, and through them parents and practitioners can support children in beginning to understand the commonalities of human values that are shared by all cultures and religions. The EYFS encourages families and providers to help children understand one another’s cultures and beliefs in a world that’s diverse and vibrant.
Celebrations are ideal for encouraging children to look for, and to talk about, kindness in others, and to celebrate one another’s achievements. An imaginative approach to helping children experience festivals and celebrations can support their learning in many areas. By explaining to others how they celebrate a festival or take part in a celebration, a child’s self-confidence and self-esteem is developed, and children’s awareness of, and respect for, others’ beliefs is nurtured. They can also express their ideas and feelings about festivals and celebrations in a variety of creative ways, including music, dance and role-play. By offering children the opportunity of sharing the joy of others’ festivals and celebrations we can give them a gateway into a world of mutual understanding and shared human values.
In order to ensure we are creating a diverse environment where all children's religions are celebrated and explored, we ask parents to send in celebrations that their family celebrates at home so we can celebrate and learn about them at nursery too. Even the simplest of activities can open children's minds up to the acceptance and understanding of a multicultural world so we want to make sure we are providing as many opportunities for this as possible.
Mindfulness
Mindfulness is about being in the present moment, and not thinking/living in the past or future. That's it. People misinterpret mindfulness all the time and think that you have to be religious, meditate for hours each day or join a cult! It’s nothing like that. The benefits can be felt by anyone at any stage of their life and it has been introduced to nurseries, schools and workplaces across the world with the aim of improving self-awareness, focus and empathy, whilst at the same time reducing anxiety.
Our children take part in simple yet effective daily activities including yoga, breathing techniques, sensory play, mindful walks and much more!
We find mindfulness to be very effective across our nursery and it’s something which we are constantly developing to ensure our children, staff and families wellbeing is our main priority.