Killin & Crianlarich Nursery
“Learning Together; Learning for Life”
Our Curriculum Rationale
“What do we want for our children and how will we achieve it?”
Killin & Crianlarich is one nursery on two sites which are 13 miles apart. The Nurseries are an integral part of two very small village communities; and are very much part of the community.
In August 2008, the whole staff team came together to discuss ‘Our principles’. We reflected on our personal values and beliefs that we have about children, families and ourselves. Following a process of consultation we created 6 Principles that guide our practice.
In February 2012, we reviewed ‘Our vision and values’. We consulted with staff, children and families to create 10 values. Staff and children took part in community builder games, which are designed to be fun, however they focus on developing attitudes, skills and knowledge. They helped us get to know each other, co-operate with and trust one another and even pushed us out of our comfort zone.
Our Principles
The Nursery team recently revisited Our Principles. Staff were surveyed by interacting with Survey Monkey which had aspects of the content from the original ‘Our Principles’ document. Individuals listed words in order of importance to them thus we were able to create a Wordle or Wordcloud. This gives the reader instant information in a visual form. These can be found displayed in both settings.
Our Vision
Having a clear Vision means being clear about our common purpose and this allows us to work independently, but we still work towards the same goal. We aim to create and sustain a fun, nurturing, stimulating and challenging environment which will support every child to reach their full potential, develop skills and be confident individuals. Our nurseries are learning communities where everyone is welcome, feel happy and safe and are respected. It is a place where we all learn together, we accept differences and we are listened to and valued.
Our Values
As individuals, we all have a set of values that will vary according to who we are, where we are from, how we were brought up and so on. It is important that as a nursery community we have a set of values that everyone can agree to and adhere to in order to provide consistency for all.
Our values are: Learning, Belonging, Kindness, Respect, Safety, Listening, Uniqueness, Commitment, Honesty/Truthfulness and Communication.
The Ethos and the Life of our Nursery
Our curriculum provides a high-quality education; the needs and interests of the children are valued and listened to. Using The Pre-birth to Three and The Curriculum for Excellence documents, staff are able to support all learners to be actively engaged in their own learning.
From a very early age the children are encourage to contribute to the Life of the Setting, our Nursery Community and the wider community.
The Educators support the children to organise and run events such as craft sales and coffee mornings to raise money for a charity or a local cause.
The children are encouraged at every opportunity to plan their own learning, take the lead in learning and events and have their own enterprise group. To help the children understand the value of money and business, the enterprise group make items to sell and the profit is used to buy resources of the children’s’ choosing.
Learning and Achievement
The children are at the centre of our planned learning experiences. Their voice and interests form the basis of what activities are offered and how they are delivered, taking into account each child as an individual, their age and stage of development. Educators also continue to learn through self-reflection, peer mentoring and study. Achievements in learning new skills or qualifications is celebrated across all the age groups through the Nursery newsletter and the children’s personal learning journal.
We provide a stimulating and inspiring curriculum, which has breadth and depth, and where all children are valued, nurtured, cared for and supported. This is extended to the whole family and relationships with parents/carers are formed from the beginning.
GIRFEC – Getting It Right For Every Child – is Scotland’s National approach to improving outcomes and supporting the wellbeing of the children, providing ‘the right help, at the right time, by the right people’. This approach is at the centre of all that we do, supporting the child and their parents to work in partnership with the setting and the services that can help.
Transitions
Killin & Crianlarich have an excellent transition programme which starts with a home visit, where the key worker meets the child for the first time in their home. The transition from home to nursery consists of a few settling in visits before each child officially starts. Likewise, when children move between rooms, timetabled sessions are agreed between the key workers and the parents are kept informed and involved with the whole process.
When the children are in their pre-school year, a detailed programme of events is created between the Nursery and the Primary School. The teacher will come to nursery to see the children in a familiar environment and then visits will be reciprocal across the two sites.
The children from nursery will join the class 1 children for specialist lessons such as ICT, PE and music when available.
A Leavers’ Party and ‘Jumping the Sunflowers’ ceremony in June, signifies the end of nursery life and the start of school life. Usually, the children will attend a school assembly/presentation and they will be supported by their family and School Buddies. Once the children have started school in August, the key worker will visit the children in their first term to see how they are settling in and speak to the teacher.
Community Links
Killin Nursery has formed a link with The Retirement Home. The nursery children and staff make weekly visits to the Home to meet the residents and take part in crafts, reading and singing and the residents have been to the nursery to join in with events and fund raisers. The impact on the residents’ health and wellbeing, as a result of the nursery visits, is evident to the Manager and her staff. Likewise, the learning that the children gain from older members of their community is being documented by the nursery staff.
Crianlarich Nursery is part of the village community and they support local events and send out invitations for the community to come to the nursery setting. A monthly Cuppa Chat, on a Tuesday, is an open door event from 10am – 12 noon. Nursery families and the community come along for a chat and refreshments with the staff and children. A wider link is being forged with Mary’s Meals. This is a charity, based in Dalmally, which supports children across the world by providing a single meal to a child to improve their school attendance, gain an education and ultimately escape poverty. They also have a backpack project, which the staff are keen to explore further and involve the children and families of the setting. This will encourage recycling here in the UK and support the children in Malawi to gain an education.
