I decided to go to Crosfiled Nursery School twice to observe the children and compare what they were like on one day, to the other. A typical day at the nursery is that they start at 8:45 and they finish at 3:00, with some children only staying till lunchtime which is at 11:15. The staff believe that the children should learn through play, and that is why they focus more on playing rather than teaching.
Inside the nursery, there are certain sections for the children to interact with; e.g. The water area, the sand area and the painting area. This week, the inside role play area had been turned into 'Rama and Sita's Palace' because it is leading up to Diwali. Right next to the 'palace' is the dressing up rail, which had also been changed because the area was set up for Diwali. The outside role play area was dressed as a 'house', with chairs, kitchen and plastic food. There is a small music area which is filled with instruments such as tambourins, drums, shakers and triangles. They have an area called 'small world' which is a wooden castle filled with knights, princesses, horses and dragons, and this is to get the children to imagine up a world for these figures. There are also several computers that the children are able to use. Everyday, twice a day the children have story time, in which the children sit and listen to a story being read by one of the staff members.
Also, the nursery celebrates Carnival in June. This is a day where the children invite their parents to watch them singing and dancing around to carnival music. The school also take part in science week in March where they invite the Science Museum to do workshops with the children. Crosfield also used to take part in Music week, however they stopped this because there wasn't enough time in the year to have a dedicated week to it now. This shows that they took away the performance week because it wasn't as important as science. Having said that, I was told that music is continuous provision and so is available for the children throughout the year whether that be through playing with instruments or singing nursery rhymes.
Also, the nursery celebrates Carnival in June. This is a day where the children invite their parents to watch them singing and dancing around to carnival music. The school also take part in science week in March where they invite the Science Museum to do workshops with the children. Crosfield also used to take part in Music week, however they stopped this because there wasn't enough time in the year to have a dedicated week to it now. This shows that they took away the performance week because it wasn't as important as science. Having said that, I was told that music is continuous provision and so is available for the children throughout the year whether that be through playing with instruments or singing nursery rhymes.
Here is a photo of the outside role play house.
Tuesday 22nd October:
On Tuesday the 22nd of October, I went to the nursery to observe what facilities they have, and how the children interact with them. I took photos of the specific areas, including the SEN room. To view the images, click on them.
When the children first arrived, I was seated on the drawing on sticky notepads table which allowed me to watch over the inside role play area and listen in to what the children were doing, without them being aware that someone was listening and watching them. This meant that all the conversations that the children had weren't affected by me being there. For the first 15 minutes or so, not one child was situated within the role play area. However, soon after, four boys went into this area and were playing out a 'family' scene in which they were cleaning the house. At this point I was informed that the role play areas are often used as anything even though they are dressed for a specific occasion, and so most of the time, the children are often seen cooking and cleaning no matter what the area is set out like. There was a box in the 'palace' which I overheard the boys refer to as treasure. This shows that they were using their imaginations to created a different world for themselves. After a while, one of the boys wouldn't hand over the treasure and so began a sort of play fight, in which the other boys were trying to win back the treasure. This 'fight' was broken up by a member of staff who asked if they knew the story of Rama and Sita, in which they replied no. So the staff member read them the story and two out of the four boys listened well, whereas the other two were talking during the story.
At 9:45 one of the staff members brought in her Diwali sari, and showed it to the children. They were all very interested and it was the first time that they'd been quiet. I thought this was a good way of engaging the children and it encouraged some of them to put on some of the Indian outfits that were hanging on the costume rail.
After this, I decided it was time for me to go and experience the role play area with some of the children. Two boys and two girls were with me. The first boy took the 'treasure' box and took out the treasure, which was some bracelets, which tied in really well because just before this they were looking at the jewelry that went along with the sari. The boy took the treasure and hid it, and the rest of us pretended to be pirates and hunt for the treasure. As it wasn't me who suggested to be pirates, it shows me that the children are encouraged to make up scenarios. Also, by inviting me to play, I was transported into their world, this shows that they trusted me enough to be involved with what they were doing.
I was sitting in the music area seeing what instruments they have and then one boy and a girl came over to me. The boy began playing with drums and I gave the girl a triangle to play. I kept a steady beat going and they were keeping in time with my beat. We also sang some nursery rhymes.
The nursery have an area called 'Small World', in which the children are encouraged to play with miniature figures of people and make up scenarios. Today, the area was set out with a wooden castle and knights, dragons and horses. The children and I played 'rescue the princess' who was in the castle which was graded by the dragons. This gets the children to create another world and work as a team.
During story time, the children were being taught about Diwali, and they learnt a new song called 'The Diwali Song'. Most of the children sang and listened well. They sang some other nursery rhymes to keep them concentrated. Then the teacher read 'My Mothers Sari'. The staff tried to make the story interesting by using different voices for characters and by using intonation.
Wednesday 23rd October:
Today I was in the reading corner and for a lot of the time, I was reading stories to the children. The first one I read was 'The Tiger Who Came To Tea'. I found a tiger toy and used it as a prop to make the story more interesting. After I finished reading it, on of the boys said to me it was the best way he's heard that story. This made me feel very proud and I'm glad that the children enjoyed my version. I also read 'Mr Grumpy's Outing' and 'Angelina and the Princess'.
Here are some other photos that I took:
In this area, the children are able to choose an audio book, sit, and listen to it. They are also encouraged to try and read along with it. They can also sing along with songs on a CD player (see left)
These two photos were taken outside. The nursery have instruments that the children can interact with outside.
The children made african drums for black history month, and a man came in to do a workshop with them about how to play the drums.
Each group (red, blue and green) have their own rhyme book, and book sharing box. The sharing box encourages children to take a book home to read.
The nursery have different objects and toys to help bring stories to life.
These three photos were taken in the SEN sensory room. The room is equipped with lots of items for children to touch, hear and play with.
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