Our Approach

Our approach focuses on providing an inclusive and rich learning environment to prepare children for life in the twenty-first century. Moreover, it aspires to give children the best start in life and to help them grow and develop into emotionally healthy individuals.

Our approach is influenced by an array of early years theorists and philosophical perspectives, which underpins our provision and practice to support the development of our children, including:

John Dewey

The importance of experiential learning, where knowledge is constructed and based on actual experiences within a social environment. Real-life experiences that provide a context for learning and support children in their decision making.

Piaget

Children are independent, active participants in building up their knowledge, by processing information and problem-solving. Through practical experiences, observing others and using their senses, children begin to develop ideas about their world, able to begin to solve simple problems to increasingly more complex ones.

Vygotsky

Learning occurs through scaffolding knowledge through more knowledgeable others and being influenced by culture and society. Through social interactions with practitioners and playing with their peer’s children build on their knowledge and language development.

Bruner

Children develop through experiences and when they interact with something, they learn something new. Children learn by doing, a physical action and by discovering it for themselves. The Educator role is to facilitate the learning, providing a variety of mediums.

Forest School

A Scandinavian educational concept that promotes outdoor play, learning about the natural environment and having contact with nature. The approach uses a woodland setting to allow a child-led learning environment, where many skills are introduced and honed over a period. It encourages exploration and curiosity, empowers children in the natural environment and encourages discovery, spatial awareness, and motor development.

Beach School

A new concept that tends to follow the same principles as forest school, whereby children are encouraged to explore the natural environment with its constantly changing appearance, offerings, and potential learning experiences and opportunities. This approach follows the children’s curiosity in their findings of the natural world and meets their learning and developmental needs through the invaluable opportunities the natural world has to offer.