Caterpillar Room 3 months – 1 year
Our baby room is a warm, safe and secure space with a focus on tactile activities that encourage your babies’ development. Our staff ratios in this room are 1 member of staff to 3 children. Every child has their own dedicated key worker throughout their time in the Caterpillar Room.
Our baby room is a bespoke room that is age appropriate for the above age group.
We understand that babies are inquisitive, observing everything around them and learning how to let you know what they’re thinking and feeling through body movement and facial expressions as well as grasping that difficult task of hand eye co-ordination.
As well as a nurturing dedicated baby team on hand to give lots of cuddles and conversation our babies have the right resources for them including lots of different texture play toys, access to photos of family as well as stimulation from mirrors and play books. We have a sleep area and comfy places as well as specially designed areas where babies can explore, roll around and get to grips with becoming mobile.
The children in this group work on the EYFS developing their 3 prime areas of learning and development.
Babies are encouraged to learn by using their senses, exploring the world around them through a range of activities, in a safe and secure environment with familiar, friendly faces. Activities include singing, story time, messy and outdoor play, which allow the children to explore independently and develop their confidence.
Our childcare team will work with you to ensure we follow your child’s routine to help everyone settle into nursery life.
The children in the Caterpillar Room are provided with a diary so staff can record your child’s daily activities and update on their wellbeing throughout the day. Your child’s diary is also a way for parents to communicate with staff. However, there are lots of opportunities to discuss your child’s development at the end of the day.
When any children move rooms, key workers inform & discuss this with parents and an integration period is set. This involves spending time in their new room with the new staff, giving your child the opportunity to adjust to their new environment.
Each child has their own folder of work to enable monitoring of their developing skills, along with observations made by their key person.
When children start nursery we ask parents to provide their child with the following items:
- A change of clothes/weather appropriate clothing and footwear
- Any comforters
- Nappies, baby wipes and nappy cream
Ladybird Room 1 – 2 years
In the Ladybird Room the staff ensure that all children who attend have a variety of activities and equipment to promote all round development focussing on the EYFS with 3 prime areas of learning, with aspects of the specific areas of learning. The children in the Ladybird Room have their own Key Worker who will ensure their individual developmental needs are being met and the child is progressing. All toys are specifically chosen for children within the room, catering for different needs and abilities. The daily routine enables children to join in with all activities and strongly promotes the development of social skills.
The Lady Bird room is a bespoke age appropriate room, which consists of:
- A private outdoor play area that is specifically for the Lady bird room’s use , this is a spacious area where children are free to explore all the resources. The staff provide stimulating activities to promote new skills allowing children to learn through play.
- There is a free flowing routine where all children can access toys at their level and play where they choose to play. We offer access to messy play activities throughout their day and free flow to the outside play area which offers lots of outdoor activities & equipment to explore.
- Own changing area: It is equipped solely for the changing and hygiene needs of your child. We ask parents to provide preferred nappies, wipes and nappy cream.
The Ladybird Room has a ratio of 1 member of staff to 3 children and the staff work together to ensure that the children who attend are cared for in a friendly and relaxed environment.
The children in the Lady bird are provided with a diary so staff can record your child’s daily activities and update on their wellbeing throughout the day. Your child’s diary is also a way for parents to communicate with staff. However, there are lots of opportunities to discuss your child’s development at the end of the day.
When any children move rooms, key workers inform & discuss this with parents and an integration period is set. This involves spending time in their new room with the new staff, giving your child the opportunity to adjust to their new environment.
When children start nursery we ask parents to provide their child with the following items:
- A change of clothes and weather appropriate clothing and footwear
- Any comforters
- Nappies, baby wipes and nappy cream
Sunshine Room 2 – 3 years
In the Sunshine room the staff ensure that all children who attend have a variety of activities and equipment to promote all round development focussing on the EYFS with 3 prime areas of learning and 4 specific areas of learning.
The staff ratio in this area is one adult to four children, the children are aged two rising to three years of age approximately. Each child is valued as an individual as well as part of the group and monitored by a key person. Every child has their own dedicated key worker throughout their time in the Sunshine Room.
During this period of time the children will be exposed to a range of learning opportunities leading to gaining personal independence and social skills including hand washing, toilet training and other self-help skills.
A wide range of fun activities will be provided and careful supervision and encouragement is given at all times to ensure children are well supported throughout this important stage in their development.
Free play is available throughout the sessions including outdoor play thereby encouraging imaginative development, language and fine motor skills within a caring environment. As children begin learning more about themselves and the world around them, they want to explore further, experiment and make their own decisions. There are many opportunities for exploration, balanced by a routine with regular quiet times. Activities are mainly creative, with sand and water always available, plenty of indoor and outdoor physical play, and opportunities for role play and imaginative games.
The children in the Sunshine Room are provided with a diary so staff can record your child’s daily activities and update on their wellbeing throughout the day. Your child’s diary is also a way for parents to communicate with staff. However, there are lots of opportunities to discuss your child’s development at the end of the day.
When any children move rooms, key workers inform & discuss this with parents and an integration period is set. This involves spending time in their new room with the new staff, giving your child the opportunity to adjust to their new environment.
When children start nursery we ask parents to provide their child with the following items;
- A change of clothes and weather appropriate clothing and footwear
- Any comforters
- Nappies, baby wipes and nappy cream Warm clothes,
Each child has their own folder of work to enable monitoring of their developing skills, along with observations made by their key person.
Butterfly Room 3 years
In the Butterfly room the staff ensure that all children who attend have a variety of stimulating activities and equipment to promote all round development focussing on the EYFS with 3 prime areas of learning, and 4 specific areas of learning.
Within this group the staff ratio is one adult to eight children, every child has their own dedicated key worker throughout their time in the Butterfly Room. The children in the group are aged three years. The children in this group work on the foundation stage which is the national curriculum for children from birth to the end of the school reception year.
The room is divided into different areas of learning including a book corner, role play area, messy play area and construction.
The children are offered free play sessions and structured activities are planned for each day, such as cooking and investigation opportunities. These are closely monitored and each child is encouraged to reach their full potential at their own pace. Outdoor play provides opportunities to develop their gross motor skills, spatial awareness and problem solving skills. We like to take the children out through the seasons to experience all types of weather.
When any children move rooms, key workers inform & discuss this with parents and an integration period is set. This involves spending time in their new room with the new staff, giving your child the opportunity to adjust to their new environment.
When children start nursery we ask parents to provide their child with the following items:
- A change of clothes and weather appropriate clothing and footwear
- Any comforters
- Nappies, baby wipes and nappy cream
Each child has their own folder of work to enable monitoring of their developing skills, along with observations made by their key person.
Pre-school Room 3+
The staff ratios for this room are 1 member of staff to 8 children, every child has their own dedicated key worker throughout their time in Pre-school. For this age group we have developed a carefully planned programme working towards the Early Years Foundation Stage, covering the seven areas of learning as we recognise this fast track to preparing for school.
As your child plays and learns our experienced staff observes their progress and respond to their individual needs. Independence is encouraged as their confidence grows and there is a focus on their creative, physical and social development. In the pre-school room we provide as many opportunities to learn as possible with unlimited access to books, maths puzzles, imaginative play areas and computers setting them up for life beyond nursery.
To prepare our children for school we support them in finding their names at the beginning of each session. We encourage name writing, letter recognition and counting activities throughout the day making learning fun and exciting.
We also have visits from each of the children’s new school teachers. This works great as the children will get to see their new teachers in their own familiar surroundings at Hydra Tots, before they go and meet them at their new school.
When children start nursery we ask parents to provide their child with the following items:
- A change of clothes and weather appropriate clothing and footwear
- Any comforters
Each child has their own folder of work to enable monitoring of their developing skills, along with observations made by their key person.