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OUR ROOMS
At Fig Tree Day Nursery children are placed in the room that meets their developmental level. We use the ‘Development Matters in the Early Years Foundation Stage’ for guidance on children’s development. Each child has an online private journal which tracks all your child’s observations and assessments. It will feature some pictures of your child whilst they are at nursery. If you would like more information on how to support your child’s learning further click through to the ‘parents guide to the EYFS’.
BABY ROOM
Our baby room features a variety of high and low surfaces to support those who are exploring the world of standing! We chose a neutral theme for your baby room with features of colour as we have found that it is more relaxing and calming for the babies.
From a young age, we encourage tummy time as this helps develop their neck muscles, coordination and balance needed for later milestones such as crawling and walking. At any one time, we have a maximum of 6 babies in the room and will have at least two members of staff as the room operates on a minimum 1:3 ratio.
Each child in our baby room will have a communication book which will inform you of any periods of sleep, nappy changes, milk feeds, what they have eaten today, how much they have eaten and any activities they have done. They may also have any notes in e.g. if they require more nappies.
We will support you through the exciting time of weaning your child whether you choose baby-led or spoon-fed and can share any weaning ideas or recipes we have. We offer blended versions of our meals or will offer blended alternatives for those who are weaning.
Our babies have lots of sensory play to help build and stimulate their senses; doing anything from yoghurt play, jelly play, painting and lots of other fun activities!
Throughout the year we take the babies out in our pushchairs for walks in the local area as well as in the drier/warmer months we set up our front garden with mats and lots of sensory toys!
Our baby room sees your child through their journey up until they are 18months when we evaluate to see if your child is ready to transition into our Tweenies room, we decide upon the readiness of the child, children may move sooner if we feel they will be better stimulated in our Tweenies room. If we feel that your little one is ready to move to our Tweenies group, we will invite you in for a meeting to go through their development and discuss the transition.
TWEENIES ROOM
Our tweenies room offers a spacious stimulating environment, complete with a variety of set up areas. From a home corner for the children to pretend to make and cook food, to a small world area complete with lots of different animals and much more.
Our tweenies room takes children up to 3 years old on their learning journey when they progress to our Preschool room.
Our tweenies room has a connecting messy playroom for the children to explore messy sensory experiences. From making playdough to support their fine motor skills, to nature sensory trays and much more.
We begin to introduce structure and routines starting with circle time in the morning and encouraging the children to wash their hands before meals time, as well as positively engaging the children’s behaviour.
Our children in the tweenies group get involved in lots of activities to support their learning and independence. They are encouraged to become involved in things like planting vegetables, cutting up their snacks and getting involved in weekly baking activities.
We often go out to our local areas such as the forest, the park or to the feed the ducks often collecting sticks and leaves to use for nature activities.
PRESCHOOL ROOM
Our preschool room has a more independent set up, providing lots of opportunities for the children to make decisions and choices and take a lead on their independence.
We support your child up until they go to school, where we support the transition from nursery to school. Starting to prepare the children for school from the term before. In the morning the children take part in a circle time involving self-registration so the children can begin to recognise their name and then are given job roles for the day.
Job roles include:
Peace officer, Leader, Safety inspector, Teacher assistant, Circle time helper, Waitress/Waiter, Decider, Eco star, Gate controller, Head gnome, Supervisor and Cleaner.
Our pre-schoolers also get involved in messy activities from making potions, to learning about people who help us e.g. police officers. As well as going out for local walks to the forest or park where the children often hunt for insects, collect sticks and leaves for activities and explore trees.
When the time comes for your child to go to school, we celebrate their time at Fig Tree with a graduation event where parents come in to make a graduation hat with their child and have a ceremony to celebrate your child’s time at Fig Tree.
There are opportunities to explore literacy and maths through age appropriate activities and invitations to play with numbers and letters. Often these will be incorporated into physical activities and games to suit the developmental level of the children. We encourage writing for a purpose rather than sitting children down to practice letters so that they are motivated to explore early writing, e.g. by writing prescriptions in the doctor’s role play area.
OUR GARDENS
We love using our outdoor spaces and we take the children out every day regardless of the weather (dressed appropriately). We use our gated front garden for the children in the babies room and our back garden is perfect for tweenies and preschoolers.
We also go on walks to the very local wooded area where we use imaginative play to engage the children focusing on their interests, such as reenacting The Gruffalo story. Babies are taken for walks in their prams and pushchairs, often with the tweenies.
OUR DINING ROOM
Our lovely dining room is in the middle of a refurb with the addition of our wooden handcrafted tables and cosy tea room feel.
We decide what we are creating in the kitchen on an ad hoc basis and are freshly prepared onsite. We use the food that we grow on the nursery grounds. We are part of the Startwell Birmingham programme and we put a lot of thought in providing the children at our nursery with healthy and nutritious meals as well as supporting their physical wellbeing.
At Fig Tree, we aim for our meals to be well balanced and nutritious whilst still being delicious. Children are encouraged to help prepare the food they eat and we regularly make bread, soup and smoothies as part of our weekly activities. Often you will be asked to bring in a choice of vegetable or fruit for your child to add into a planned meal.
Breakfast 7:30-8:15am – will consist of a variety of cereal or toast along with a cup of milk or water. *Children must arrive no later than 8:10am to receive breakfast*
Snack 9:30/10am -this is usually a fruit snack.
Dinner & Pudding 12pm- this is a hot cooked meal and a pudding
Tea 3:15pm – this is a light snack such as crackers, spaghetti on toast etc.
Snack 5:15pm – toast or fruit is offered for our children who are here late.
Allergies
At Fig Tree we will try to cater to your child’s needs as best we can so if your child does have any allergies or intolerances please inform us and keep us updated of any changes in diet as we will always offer an alternative as close to the planned dish as possible to suit your child’s needs. Where allergies are particularly challenging, parents may be asked to support alternatives.
Birthdays
At Fig Tree we believe birthdays are an important celebration for children and we allow children to bring in a healthy treat for us to sing happy birthday and take photos (if consented).
