Learning Through Play

Your child may tell you that they just ‘play’ at school. We believe that children learn best, and concentrate for much longer periods, when they are doing something they enjoy.

Through ‘play’ children learn to count, recognise colour, use a pencil, work

co-operatively with others, talk, listen, solve problems and most of all they learn a love of learning…

‘How do I do this?’

‘How does this work?’

‘I’ve only got three left…’

‘I need to write a shopping list…’

All of these comments and questions can be heard while children are thinking about their own learning – what they may tell you is that they are ‘…just playing’.

The Learning Environment

Children in our Early Years classes are able to play indoors and outdoors throughout the day in all different types of weather. We work to ensure that our learning environments are bright, vibrant, stimulating and interactive.

We have a range of equipment & resources and have created different areas for investigating ideas and developing thinking for the six areas of the curriculum. Our outdoor areas include a mud kitchen, our bike park and workshop, a noisy musical house, bark and pebble beds for small world play, areas to dig, planters to use for growing, climbing equipment and different opportunities for imaginative role play.

Research suggests that children play differently outdoors and learn with their whole bodies. They can make a mess, run and jump, hunt for things in the natural environment and develop their understanding and thinking through talking about these shared experiences.