Clarendon Nursery

Please take a look at our Clarendon Nursery photo tour and our virtual video tour.

The Clarendon nursery is next to the Leeds General Infirmary, opposite the Clarendon wing. The nursery provides high quality care for children aged between 3 months and 5 years. We are a small friendly nursery offering 38 places Monday to Friday from 7.00am until 6.00pm.

Our emphasis is on learning through play and meeting the children’s individual needs and interests. We value the importance of having a strong partnership with families and we work closely with them to ensure we meet the children’s individual and diverse needs.

Explorers

This is our smallest room in the nursery with around 6 children each day aged from 3 months. It offers a quiet, relaxed, homely environment for our youngest children to be able to explore and get used to nursery life, while allowing their individual routines to be followed.  Each family has a Key Carer who will guide you through your introduction to nursery and is available to answer any questions you may have. Your Key Carer will be responsible for your child throughout the day and will provide you with daily feedback when you collect your child and also a daily diary which will let you know what your little one has been up to at nursery as well as sleep times, food and drink consumed and nappy changes. You can also use the diary to pass on any messages from home. If you Key Carer is not available (due to shifts/annual leave etc.) then another member of staff will be able to offer you the same support. Your Key Carer will also start your child’s Learning Journey File where you can find observations and photographs which showcase your child’s learning and development through the guidance of the Early Years Foundation Stage. All of the experiences provided for our young explorers are tailored by their key carers to meet the children’s individual needs. The emphasis in this room is on Exploring and Discovering and the resources provided will allow children to do this in a safe and stimulating environment.

Discoverers

The Discoverers Room cares for around 6 children daily and offers an environment allowing our young children to explore and discover the world around them. Children’s individual needs and routines will continue to be met and we provide plenty of opportunity for sleep and rest. You will find more defined areas in this room such as a home corner, sand area and creative areas, but all our resources are chosen to allow children to discover and lead their own play rather than them being led by toys and equipment. Children are encouraged to explore all the areas and encounter creative and heuristic experiences which offer opportunities for them to learn and develop. The Key Carer will tailor opportunities for learning and development around your child’s interests identified through their observations. They will then assess the progress of their development using the Development Matters Guidance. This Discovers Room will also develop and encourage children’s sense of self and awareness of others around them with opportunities for them to play with or alongside others and develop bonds with other children as well as their key carer. Daily verbal feedback will continue to be given when you pick up your child.

Investigators

The Investigators Room care for around 11 children per day and provides a stimulating environment which offers exciting opportunities and encourages children to investigate. In this room we offer a variety of areas of play such as home corners, small world and construction areas and cosy areas where the children can have quiet time and rest. We also provide lots of opportunities for the children to explore messy play such as sand and water, paints and malleable materials. In our Investigator Room we will encourage your child’s growing independence while offering support when needed such as when feeding themselves at meal times, toileting, washing hands/faces and dressing themselves. The room will also continue to develop the children’s growing awareness of others by encouraging bonds and friendships with others, turn taking and sharing. Like our other rooms your child will have a Key Carer who will observe and plan around the children’s interests and provide activities and resources to support their individual needs and interests. We work with parents closely giving daily feedback and sharing experiences from nursery and home.

Pioneers

Our Pioneers Room cares for around 12 children daily and like our other rooms we tailor our resources, areas and opportunities to the children’s interests and individual needs. At some point of the planning process we may offer the children some kind of provocation, which may be in the form of an interesting object. This allows suggestions of new ideas and models a new approach to learning. There may also be some predictable elements to our planning such as change in weather, seasons or cultural celebrations which our children want to explore and share. All planning is still underpinned by the Early Years Foundation Stage and in the Pioneers room we will continue to encourage independence and developing understanding of themselves and others. We will also offer challenging experiences which encourage children to problem solve, develop limits and boundaries and allow risk taking in a safe environment. The areas of provision in this room will be similar to that from other rooms such as role play areas, creative areas and construction. Partnership with parents is still very important and daily feedback will always be given. We will also encourage you to take part in your child’s learning journey with us by providing photos and observations from home, sharing exciting news and celebrations, taking home activity bags to do with the family and also stay and play sessions where you can come in and experience a nursery session with your child. We will also have parent evenings throughout the year to discuss your child’s progress but we would encourage all our parents to speak to staff as much as possible. Learning journeys can be taken home to look at and as the children get ready to leave us school teachers are very welcome to come and visit. Children in this room normally leave us to go to school or when they turn 5 years old.

Outdoor Play

At Clarendon Nursery we recognise the importance of outdoor play and the benefits that it has towards children’s health and wellbeing. We also believe that the outdoor area should be an extension of the provision we provide inside, so as well as our climbing frame, slide, planting areas and mud kitchen you will also find a cosy book and rest area, small world, construction, creative, sand, water and anything else that has taken the children’s interest. We plan for the outdoor areas the same way we plan our inside activities using the Early Years Foundation Stage and following children’s interests and individual needs. Children will have as much free flow as possible to allow them to choose indoor or outdoor play. The changing seasons and weather provides children with huge opportunities to discover, investigate and explore and as such we will use the outdoor areas in all-weathers so appropriate clothing coats, hats, gloves etc. will need to be provided plus sun cream for the summer months. We also have a smaller outdoor area which offers lots of shade and protection from the weather and allows our younger Explores and Discovers to enjoy outdoor experiences without being overwhelmed.