There has been lots of talk and excitement about the new Early Years Foundation Stage Curriculum that the nursery is currently introducing in readiness for September. If you would like to know more about this as a parent or carer, visit http://www.parenta.com/documents/eyfs/EYFS_Parents_Info.pdf for a useful leaflet you can download to your PC.

There are key changes about Communication, Language and Literacy goals. Mathematical Development has been renamed as Problem Solving, Reasoning and Numeracy and a huge emphasis has been placed on the use of outdoor space.

Feel free to send questions to me through the comments field if you have any concerns or would like to know more.

Well done to Emma Vickery and Laura Boultwood for passing a 2 day St John Ambulance course on Early Years First Aid.

Emma is a Key Person with our 1 – 2 year olds, working Tuesday to Thursday and offering cover on other days of the week when required.

Laura is a Key Person with our oldest children, the Rumpleteazers. She is currently acting as Deputy Manager during a period of maternity leave. She is also working towards a Foundation Degree in Early Years.

With the introduction of the new Early Years Foundation Stage Curriculum in September 2008, Ofsted’s inspection criteria will also change. There will be a strong emphasis on the importance of continuous improvement, development planning and target setting.

Jil and I already evaluate the business each year and share our views with parents in an annual Operational Plan. To date, the information has been almost entirely based on our perspective alone and this is something we want to change to include feedback and views from parents/carers, staff and children!

Within the next week, I will be sending home a copy of a simple evaluation form that asks you to grade our care and support, our environment, our staff and our management and leadership on a scale of 1 – 6. Space has been left for comments, feel free to add additional sheets of paper if there is more information or feedback that you would like to share.

We are very grateful for feedback, it helps us to create the setting that you want for your children and an environment that your children truly enjoy.

I was delighted to be joined by so many of the team on Saturday, 5th July for a days training in the application of the new Early Years Foundation Stage Curriculum.

The aim of the day was to take the scheme apart and to demonstrate how much of what we do already complies with the new stratergy and to highlight where any differences exist.

The new scheme centres around four themes, Unique Child, Positive Relationships, Enabling Environments and Learning and Development. In the picture above, Amanda, Rebecca and Emma are exploring the Enabling Environment theme. This theme looks at where learning takes place. The team where asked to consider our setting and decide how well we use our facilities and how we could make better use of them in future.

One commitment within the EYFS is access to Active Learning;hands on experiences. This idea was employed throughout our own training session as staff used a variety of games, role playing and quizzes to explore the EYFS materials.

As a nursery, we value every member of the team as key pracitioners and training is made available to staff irrespective of their role within the setting. In the photo above Sharon and Julie are sharing ideas about the significance of the role of a Key Person for every child and how we can maximise this special relationship.

We have an excellent team at Rum Tum’s and their commitment and enthusiam, even in their own time, makes me extremely proud.