Learning at Willowdown Nursery

Children at Willowdown Nursery will gain competence in basic skills, and understand the wider world and they will be helped to develop their own set of personal skills.

Our children will be encouraged to learn to share, work and play with others to become independent by encouraging them to think for themselves. They will learn to express their feelings and feel good about themselves to boost self-esteem, confidence and well-being.

There are seven areas of learning and development that shape the educational programme at Willowdown Nursery. All areas of learning and development are important and inter-connected. Three areas are particularly crucial for igniting children’s curiosity and enthusiasm for learning, and for building their capacity to learn, form relationships and thrive.

These three areas, the prime areas, are:

• communication and language;
• physical development; 
• personal, social and emotional development

We will also support children in four specific areas, through which the three prime areas are strengthened and applied. The specific areas are:

• literacy
• mathematics
• understanding the world: and
• expressive arts and design