Nursery facilities
The single storey nursery is purpose built and provides outstanding facilities for children aged from 3 months through to 5 years.
The Nursery is split into four age ranges with dedicated base rooms, sleep rooms and sensory rooms:
Babies
The Baby Room is where our youngest children enjoy their day. The room is a large, bright, open plan day-room with a large carpeted area for little ones to crawl, roll, shuffle, toddle and explore. There is a dedicated sensory area equipped with the latest equipment to stimulate the babies’ senses along with a range of toys encouraging the children’s further development in all areas.
There is also a soft play area with mirrored mats, tunnels, a ball pond and textured cushions to provide a safe and secure play experience along with a range of toys encouraging the children’s further development in all areas.
The vinyl floor area gives the children opportunities to get very messy with a number of sensory activities such as water, sand, shaving foam and jelly.
A beautiful large separate sleep room awaits our tired children with the temperature constantly monitored to ensure the babies are comfortable at all times.
There are never more than three babies to any one member of staff in the baby room, with each baby having their own named key person. There is an enclosed sensory garden especially for babies.
Tweenies
The next room up is for “Tweenies” designed for the children’s changing interests. The room is very well appointed with outstanding equipment and is where the children are encouraged to learn through play.
There are various dedicated areas offering different activities. A carpeted area is used for planned and child-initiated activities such as construction, role play and small world. Cushions, soft chairs and sofas provide a quiet area for children to relax and look at picture books with friends and carers. A vinyl floor area is used for sand and water play to develop coordination and a messy play area for painting and generally getting messy.
Staff plan activities according to the children’s individual interests and needs, allowing children to learn through their play opportunities, their peers and their carers.
Tweenies also benefit from a staffing ratio of one member of staff looking after no more than three children. The Tweenie Room has free-flow access to the garden.
Toddlers
The Toddler room is designed for children to start learning how to be independent. The Toddlers’ room is fully equipped to encourage the children to learn through play.
The Toddler room consists of a large room housing a range of different toys and learning opportunities. From construction to role play, from the book corner to messy play the children learn from their play opportunities, the interaction from their peers and the support from their carers. The vinyl floor area is busy with children exploring a range of media with all of their senses. Tasting jelly, hearing the crunch of cornflakes, seeing the marks they make with paint, smelling scented play-doh and touching soft textured materials.
Staff plan activities according the children’s individual interests and needs, allowing children to learn through their play opportunities, their peers and their carers.
Toddlers benefit from a staffing ratio of one member of staff looking after no more than four children. The Toddler Room has free-flow access to the garden.
Pre-School
The Pre-School is home to our oldest children. Here they learn to become increasingly independent in the run-up to starting ‘big’ school. This is a more settling down routine, with children working in groups. The children are observed learning through play, based on the six areas of learning: physical development; personal, social and emotional development; communication, language and literacy; creative development; knowledge and understanding of the world and problem solving, reasoning and numeracy.
Activities are more structured and furniture is more appropriate to help with the transition to reception class. You may see Pre-Schoolers bringing books to life by ‘Going on a bear hunt’, celebrating Fireworks Night by ‘junk’ modelling a rocket or beginning to write their name using different mark making materials.
The Pre-School has defined areas in which they can explore their world using different toys and resources. They also have access to child sized toilets and sinks with brightly coloured partitions which make the whole area child friendly.
The Pre-School room is fully equipped with child focused IT systems, designed to familiarise the children with the essential IT skills before moving onto school.
Circle time happens every day where children sing, read stories and share their thoughts, ideas and feelings.
Staff plan activities according the children’s individual interests and needs, allowing children to learn through their play opportunities, their peers and their carers.
Pre-Schoolers benefit from a staffing ratio of one member of staff looking after no more than eight children. There is free-flow access to the garden.
Sleep Room
This area is used after lunch for children’s naps (other than Babies who have their own dedicated sleep room). Each child has their own special bed which is laid out with laundered sheets and blankets and the children are soothed to sleep by soft music and familiar staff.
Common Play Area
This area has child-sized tables and chairs where the children eat their meals together. In this room, children begin to learn how to feed themselves using utensils with support and encouragement from staff. Children and staff sit together at this time learning the social skills surrounding a family meal time. Meal times are a wonderful opportunity for the whole nursery to come together.
Gardens
The nursery boasts one of the largest nursery gardens in Milton Keynes with a separate enclosed sensory garden for babies. The gardens are well equipped and stimulating, designed to stimulate and promote exploration, social skills and positive self-esteem. Both gardens feature the latest impact resistant soft surfacing to ensure peace of mind when any tumbles occur whilst still retaining large natural lawn areas. All rooms open onto the garden encouraging full use of the outside space.
We feel strongly that children have the opportunity to be outside all day if they wish and have waterproofs and a canopy should the rain come.
Car Park
The nursery has ample and exclusive parking facilities at the front of the nursery for easy drop off and collection. No fighting for spaces with office workers or dashing across roads!
Monkey Puzzle is open from 7.30am – 6.30pm.