EDUCATION
IN ASSOCIATION WITH
THE IMPORTANCE OF STARTING YOUR CHILD ’ S EDUCATION WITHIN AN ENGAGING , OUTDOOR LEARNING ENVIRONMENT
BY MRS CARLY FROGGATT , HEAD OF PRE-PREP , SUTTON VALENCE PREPARATORY SCHOOL
WE TRULY BELIEVE THAT EVERY CHILD IS UNIQUE . WE GET TO KNOW EVERY FAMILY AND ENSURE THERE IS A TAILORED APPROACH TO YOUR CHILD ’ S EDUCATIONAL JOURNEY . WE STRIVE TO OPTIMISE EVERY OPPORTUNITY FOR EACH , AND EVERY CHILD TO BECOME THE BEST VERSION OF THEMSELVES . THE CHILDREN IN OUR PRE-PREP DEPARTMENT , FROM RECEPTION TO YEAR 2 , FOLLOW A CREATIVE AND INSPIRING CURRICULUM . WE BALANCE THE INTEREST OF THE CHILDREN WITH THE KEY AREAS OF LEARNING AND TEACH THE CHILDREN SKILLS THAT CAN BE USED TO SUPPORT THEIR LEARNING AS THEY MOVE THROUGH THE SCHOOL AND BEYOND .
The children begin their journey at SVPS in Little Lambs Nursery . They can join us from the age of two . Our early years staff plan activities that are engaging for the children whilst adopting the early learning goals into their practice . We understand the importance of communication and how our daily interactions with the children help to develop confidence and their depth of language . We offer challenge and support in these early stages before your child continues to our Young Climbers room , from age three . We recognise that your child will seek more directed challenge and routine in their daily activities and they benefit from our specialist lessons with dedicated teachers in dance , French , music , PE and yoga .
We teach every child to approach challenges as an opportunity to grow – that effort and perseverance is the key to success and we follow the ethos of a growth mindset . The power of ‘ yet !’ means every child can follow the process of learning positively , even if they cannot do it yet . It allows children to take risks and feel safe to do so without fear of failure . We have a dedicated owl mascot called Super Hoot , who allows us to focus on different pairs of learning powers throughout the year . This could be tenacity and bravery , independence and initiative , empathy and reflection , flexibility and collaboration or curiosity and originality . We believe these learning powers give your children the skills they need to achieve their full potential as they continue through life .
All children take part in a weekly Forest School learning programme . Through the outdoor curriculum , opportunities for the children ’ s confidence to grow , develop their self-esteem and have a positive impact on their emotional wellbeing are always being optimised . The children become actively engaged in assessing the risk in the woodland environment . They are supported and encouraged to make their own decisions and explore their own ideas alongside the natural environment which can present its own natural challenges . The outdoor experience allows children time to work individually and collaboratively , developing teamwork skills whilst becoming independent with increasing confidence . They can be creative and get excited by their ideas , follow an interest and embrace their natural curiosity promoting exploration and independence .
When the children are in their classrooms , they follow a creative curriculum . This is topic based and we start with a question harvest ; finding out what the children know and what they want to find out . We begin our topics with a super starter , an engaging marvellous middle and an awesome end ! The children demonstrate their learning through art , drama , music , creative writing , practical problem solving and science .
Our priority for every child is to have a sense of wellbeing , achievement and to be happy . There is a buzz that whirls around the classrooms throughout each school day . The children are engaged and excited by their learning and , through our creative curriculum , we ensure that we do not place a ceiling on how much a child can learn or be challenged . The children are at the very heart of everything we do and we believe we have the balance of preparing our young learners for the digital world whilst enabling children to have their childhood .
To book a visit or find out more , visit our website : www . svs . org . uk .
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