The Nursery’s Activities

Within the daily routine of the Nursery, the staff plan a varied and structured programme suitable to the needs of each child. We base our activities and programmes on themes, which the staff team consider and decide on together, taking into consideration everything that goes into the child’s learning and development. We are also working in conjunction with Argyll & Bute’s guidelines, “Parents in Learning” and “Birth – 3”, “3 – 5 Curriculum” and the “Curriculum For Excellence”.

What is curriculum?

It could be said that the whole of the young children’s experiences, everything they say, do feel, touch, hear or taste make up a curriculum for them. Learning goes on everywhere, even while eating meals, helping Mum & Dad, going for a walk or playing. Within Clyde Cottage Nursery we follow the national guidelines for the curriculum – A Curriculum Framework for children 3-18 which was issued by the Scottish Office in 2008.

A Curriculum for Excellence that facilitates the development of the four capabilities:

• Successful learners
• Confident individuals
• Responsible citizens
• Effective contributors

The children will learn through active play within meaningful context and interdisciplinary planning based on the following principles:

• Enjoyment and challenge
• Personalisation and choice
• Progression
• Coherence
• Relevance
• Breadth
• Depth
 

Early level curricular areas are:

Language

• Listening and talking        Offering the children the opportunity to
• Reading                           discuss, listen and extend their vocabulary
• Writing                          through books, stories, rhymes and news
                                       time, enabling the children to express their needs and thoughts, and to recognise the link between the written and spoken word.

Children will be given experiences to help them understand the purpose of writing and to help them develop mark making skills.

Science

• Planet earth                       Offering the children the opportunity to
• Forces and motion              develop an interest in nature through the
• Life and cells                    care of animal and plant life, through
• Communication                   discussing seasons and weather.
• Materials
 

Offering the children opportunities to investigate materials and sort for re-cycling.

Social Subjects

• People in the past              Offering the children the opportunity for
• People and place                 social and personal development.
• People in society                Encouraging the children to form positive
                                         relationships, make decisions and to respect the needs and feelings of others.

Offering opportunities to explore places of local interest and discover how people lived in the past.

Maths

• Number, money, measure    Offering the children opportunity to learn
• Information handling        about sorting, matching, ordering, size,
• Shape and movement          weight, shape, time, money and measure.

Religious and Moral Education

• Christianity               Offering the children opportunities to develop
• Other world religions   an understanding of what is fair and unfair.
                                   Offering opportunities to be aware of important celebrations, festivals and religious customs in people’s lives.

Technologies

• Design technology          Offering the children opportunities to solve
• Technology with ICT      problems and present ideas, thoughts and
                                     information.

Offering opportunities to explore and learn about ICT.

Health and Well-being

• Physical health                  Offering the children opportunities to be
• Food health and hygiene       physically active and to be aware of the
• Health and safety              importance of health and hygiene.
• Emotional and social skills

Offering the children opportunities to explore Emotions, feelings and keeping themselves safe.

Expressive Arts

• Art and design                 Offering the children the opportunity to
• Dance                             investigate a variety of media and
• Drama                            techniques through craft activities, design
• Music                             and model making.

Offering children the opportunity to express themselves through music, drama and dance

For further information please look at the following web sites:

What is Curriculum for Excellence?

The partners working to deliver Curriculum for Excellence are:

Scottish Government http://www.scotland.gov.uk

The Government has responsibility for the national education system

Learning and Teaching Scotland http://www.LTScotland.org.uk

Develops the curriculum, provides information and guidance on learning and teaching, assessment and ICT in education

Scottish Qualifications Authority http://www.sqa.org.uk

Develops and manages the qualification process, including marking exams

Education Scotland https://education.gov.scot/education-scotland/

The inspectors who monitor the quality of education