Support for their first steps
Nurseries provide fun, creative and sensory experiences a child can build on for the future, finds Sarah Devine
Nurseries ensure that children are provided with a well-rounded learning experience from the very start of their education. They are the first step in a child’s schooling and ensure that a child develops the key skills required for the next stage of their learning, while offering a solution for working parents.
“Early learning is very much sensory and the young babies and children under two learn through their senses and by exploring their world, so we develop opportunities for that,” says Maureen Crandles, director of Early Days Nurseries in Edinburgh.
“If you go into the nurseries you will hear classical music and you’ll smell lavender and lemon.
“The young ones have their own special knives so they can cut soft fruits such as melon and they’ll eat it as they go along.
“There are opportunities for them to explore their world throughout the room.”
Many schools include nurseries to develop learning in young children in preparation of primary school.
“The learning is based on play,” says Liam Harvey, headmaster at St Mary’s School in Melrose.
The school’s kindergarten provides a fun and creative educational process for young children.
“We have qualified nursery assistants and a very capable team of five ladies who really make the experience for our two to four-yearolds enjoyable.
“They are taught through music and drama and they can come across to the school’s art studio.”
A fundamental aspect of early stage education is outdoor learning.
“A big part of our philosophy at Early Years is taking children outdoors at all ages,” says Crandles.
“We do yoga outdoors and we have the forest schools, so they are a major part of the child’s learning.
“The children are outside all the time as all our nurseries have gardens where there are exploration opportunities.
“We have the climbing wall which also offers balance opportunities.”
Similarly, at St Mary’s School in Melrose, the children enjoy developing their skills through exploration, and outdoor learning is a big part of the younger years’ curriculum.
“The children are often out on farm expeditions and they go to visit Wooplaw Community Woodland, Gunsgreen House in Eyemouth or Bowhill House and Country Estate near Selkirk,” says Harvey.
“They go on various field trips throughout the year and they make good use of the great surroundings here in the Scottish Borders.”
At the Compass School in Haddington outdoor learning is also at its heart.
“We have the fantastic region of East Lothian with its hills, beaches, rivers and woods,” says headmaster Mark Becher.
Starting an independent education early also helps prepare a child academically.
“There is a framework for mathematics and literacy from the early interest in books and the majority of our children have a good awareness of the reading process,” says Crandles.
“At Early Years, we have music, we have yoga, the children go swimming and a very high percentage can swim by the time they go on to school.”
Developing a child’s learning experience at as young an age as possible also aids the transition process from one stage of their education to another. And many parents are choosing an all-through option to ease those transitions.
“The children become very comfortable with the environment and they understand what the school is about,” says Rod Grant, headmaster of Clifton Hall School.
The school’s nursery cares for 40 children aged between three and
The transition point can be difficult but they are handled extremely well
five. Many stay on for their junior and senior schooling.
“Children who are nervous and unsettled don’t learn very well because they are focused on fitting in and making friends.”
At Loretto School in Musselburgh, staff at the nursery provide a stimulating learning experience for children aged from birth to five years through the Curriculum for Excellence.
“We have recently appointed a junior school headmaster, Andrew Dickson who is coming over from Kelvinside Academy,” says Graham Hawley, the school’s headmaster.
Children who stay for an allthrough education at the school benefit further from the breadth of opportunities available throughout the school.
“The reason that the families will come to the school is for that allround education and for that to work, we have to give children those opportunities,” says Hawley.
At St Margaret’s School for Girls in Aberdeen, children arrive as young as three and many will stay right through to their last year of secondary school.
“Transitions from one stage of education to the next are made much easier for pupils,” says headmistress Anna Tomlinson.
“They benefit from specially planned events and experiences which help them to become more familiar with different parts of the school.
“Pupils in our junior school benefit from specialist teaching in a range of subjects which means that they get to know members of staff who will be hugely supportive in their move to senior school.
“From their earliest days in nursery, pupils have specialist teaching in PE and music,” says Tomlinson, adding that through the junior school specialist teaching in a range of subjects is introduced.
“Then in 7 Junior, the girls benefit from specialist teaching in the discrete sciences of biology, chemistry and physics and Latin is introduced.”
Of course, independent nurseries also involve the parents.
“We engage the parents in whatever we are doing through pupils’ journals and through workshops to help them understand what the mathematics programme is in the city of Edinburgh, for example,” says Crandles.
“I do workshops on helping parents teach their child how to read and on toilet training.
“In that way, we have a consistent approach to the individual child’s development because essentially, we are all singing from the same hymn sheet.”