All children are encouraged to take part in cooking and planting activities from which they learn basic science, food safety, and health and hygiene.

At Smiles we introduce these activities on your child’s first day at nursery. We find that this approach makes the transition from Pre-school to Primary School smoother for the child.

These activities stimulate the child’s perception of basic scientific and mathematical concepts such as capacity, volume and mass.

Practical life activities are tasks that we as adults take for granted such as pouring a drink from a jug to a cup or tying our shoe laces. We assist the children to develop these skills and control and co-ordinate their movements. We believe this encourages independence.

Role-play is very important during the formative years; it is a well known fact that it assists the children in conveying their freedom of expression. We have a variety of dressing-up clothes and moveable props for this purpose, we ensure that all areas of learning are embedded within their play. For example, being designated characters and re-enacting Fairy Tales, the children are developing their language and listening skills, whilst also being encouraged to converse and interact with others.

We introduce the children to a variety of easy to use musical instruments, which develops the children’s expressive communication skills, whilst also allowing them to relax and enjoy listening to and participating in creating their own music.

These activities develop physical and manipulative skills allowing the child to show their understanding of the world in terms that demonstrate their newly acquired developed skills.

At Smiles we introduce the children to extra curricular activities such as French, Dance, Physical Education and Computer Skills. We outsource this to professional companies that attend the setting on alternate weeks for all children.

The physical activities are designed to promote and instil a fun and positive attitude towards sport, health, fitness and self-discipline

The activities centre on developing the children’s basic co-ordination, agility and self-expression. Social interaction is also a key concept as children learn valuable life skills such as listening, sharing, turn taking and team work.

The computer club is designed to educate children in basic ICT skills as well as learning how to keep themselves safe in a technology based world.

French is taught to the children in Pre School. The children perform both oral and written exercises in these classes.

We believe that children learn best when out in the natural environment. We provide lots of opportunities for the children to visit the local community, so they can have hands on experiences to develop their learning.

Class outings are limited to local areas where the children can develop their understanding of subjects such as growth and change in nature and the environment.

Outdoor play is an essential feature of learning for young children. If we want our children to grow up with respect for their outdoor environment, we need to get them out to experience how to care for living things and explore the natural world in a meaningful way.

We make sure children spend time outside every session they attend, regardless of the weather.

Our outdoor environment gives the children the space they need to take risks and face new challenges as well as allowing them time to let off steam.

Practitioners plan for structured and free play during the outdoor session taking account of all areas of learning within their play.