Kids Co children’s nursery has been established since April 2004 and has been part of the Government’s initiative to develop 'children's centres', this status was achieved in March 2006. 

 

Kids Co is a 47 place childcare nursery, located in Batchley, Redditch and is open to all children from 3 months to 8 years. The children’s nursery is divided into 3 different age units with a dedicated ‘take out’ outside playing area and a high quality curriculum with regular training for all staff. We aim to be recognised as a leading provider of high quality childcare at all times. 

 

You are more than welcome to come and have a look around, spend some time with us and see our facilities. No appointment is necessary, we just ask you to avoid lunch times if possible which are between 11.30 - 13.30. 

 

We work closely with all external agencies for Special Educational Needs and within the children’s nursery we have a dedicated SENCO, Behaviour Officer and Designated Safeguarding Lead, who are available to discuss any worries or concerns you have about your child. 

 

Safety and security are paramount at Kids Co nursery. There is a key code lock on the main door which is known only to staff. We have regular fire drills, which are recorded and there is a full internal fire system fitted throughout. 

We at Kids Co believe that all children deserve to have an equal chance of success. We aim to provide high quality, nurturing early education to ensure that when our children are school ready, they have been given the best start and opportunities regardless of background and abilities. 

 

Key people will provide warm, consistent and loving care and be responsive and enthusiastic to enable the emotional well-being and development of all the children in our care. 

 

A clear and consistent daily routine for each room, as well as staff that do not move around between rooms (apart from lunch cover etc), means that the children understand what will be happening and who will be there to look after and support their learning. 

 

We will provide a language-rich environment to help every child to develop the vital language skills needed at each stage of growth and development. Practitioners will identify the areas where more back and forth interactions happen, so that they can model and scaffold the conversations children have with both each other and with them, as we believe this is at the core of good language development and a way to strengthen bonds, share ideas, and introduce new vocabulary. These “talking hotspots” are labelled with clear signage and include the book corner, the nappy room, construction, role-play and small world areas to name a few. 

 

We will be flexible in our approach and use a mixture of invitations to play, adult led group time, direct teaching and child initiated activities. We recognise that that all children have the right to learn and progress with the right guidance and teaching input. Activities are often driven by the children's own interests, whilst also guiding them in the learning of specific teaching points as set out by the statutory framework (the EYFS seven areas of learning) and to develop the everyday functional skills that they would require throughout their lives. 

 

A set of clear, sensible and consistent boundaries from staff will aid our children in regulating their behaviour, and children being introduced to the concept of good and bad choices as a way of thinking about their actions. We pride ourselves on the high standard of manners that we expect of the children. Staff will model the use of good table manners at mealtimes and of good listening rules at adult led group times. 

 

Practitioners recognise the importance of developing the characteristics of effective teaching and learning and executive function skills. We strongly believe that babies and children do not develop in a fixed way, and aim to ensure that our curriculum is suited to every child. 

 

With Language development placed at the centre of everything we do, we also aim to provide the children with the tools to manage their emotions and feelings. Labelling emotions and talking about how others might be feeling, as well as using puppets and stories all help to support emotional wellbeing and self-regulation which we believe are also vital skills. 

 

We consider the health of our children to be of great importance and do our best to ensure that whilst at nursery a balanced diet is encouraged and provided. The nursery will make snack and meal times a social occasion, at which children and adults eat together. The snack and Tea menu provide the children with healthy and nutritious food. In addition to this, the children are also given at least one serving of milk to drink per day to benefit their teeth and bone development. Dietary needs and allergies are recorded and displayed for all staff in food preparation areas, so that everyone is aware, and these can be met. For children under one years of age, we ask parents to provide their food and formula milk until they are ready to take nursery meals and parents have become aware of all such allergies. We ask that parents send in a healthy lunch box if children are not having a hot lunch, and staff encourage children to eat their healthier options first (sandwich and fruit) before moving onto more snack type foods. Hot lunches can be ordered in advance by parents and are provided by Cupcakes Catering, as we do not have the facilities to cook a large quantity of lunchtime meals. 

 

We promote good dental hygiene and both registration (all about me) pack and two year checks ask parents if their child is registered with a dentist. Staff regularly discuss the benefits of brushing twice a day and having regular checks at the dentist, and use puppets, songs, real brushes and role-play to demonstrate this. We are also part of Worcestershire's supervised toothbrushing programme. 

 

Accurate assessment has to be in place to ensure that children are developing and highlight those that may need extra support or enhancement from our teaching. 

 

A 'starting points' assessment is completed by practitioners within the children's first few weeks based on good child development knowledge so they can be clear about what their children know and are able to do. 

 

Practitioners use a "focus child" approach where they select a set number of children per week and record the interactions between themselves and those children, noting down how their input has enhanced the learning that took place. 

 

Staff regularly use the 3 I's approach (Intent, Implement, Impact) to monitor and review the children's learning/progression. They discuss the children and decide how best to impact their learning. 

 

Parents are sent learning intentions via Tapestry, setting out our plans for the week/month, so that they can teach skills alongside nursery. This gives them the opportunity to discuss their progress in a variety of areas and provides practical ideas of how to develop those skills and knowledge at home. 

 

A report is produced for parents, providing feedback on their child's progress, with an opportunity for them to discuss their child's learning during parents’ consultations. 

 

As well as gaining qualifications in Early years care and education, and the statutory requirements of first aid, food hygiene, health and safety and safeguarding/child protection, staff regularly take part in further training across a variety of platforms (Noodle now and NDNA) to help keep their knowledge up to date on the latest topics and issues. We take part in ‘learning walks’ around the Nursery, into each other’s rooms to ensure best practice and so that they can share their knowledge and expertise with each other in a supportive way. 

 

Kids Co is an extremely inclusive setting and we work to requirements of the Children & families Act 2014, Equality Act 2010, EYFS 2021, Working together to safeguard children 2018 and the Special Educational Needs & Disability Code of Practice 2015. 

 

Practitioners are quickly able to identify children who have a SEND, based on years of experience of dealing with a range of children with additional needs, and through working closely with parents and input from other professionals. 

 

We have our own Nursery compiled Communication and Language toolkit which details a comprehensive list of activities and resources that we use to support children within the areas of play and interaction, speech sounds, listening and attention, understanding and expressive language. These form the basis of our normal provision of activities to support the speech and language development of all children, as well as those who are having difficulties. 

 

Children are recorded on a whole nursery/room provision map based on their area of need and their progress is tracked using the early support documents provided by Worcestershire children first. 

 

Our inclusive attitude to children of all abilities has not gone unnoticed by health visitors and speech and language therapists, who regularly recommend us to parents that they meet. 

 

At Kids Co we will endeavour to know and understand all the children and their families at our setting. We recognise that like our children, all families are not the same and may require extra help and guidance/signposting to the relevant agencies and this is detailed in our Early Help Offer. 

 

Our comprehensive registration forms/all about me booklets, parental communication diaries and progress check at aged 2 all value parents as a source of rich and essential information about their child's development and well-being. Our Newsletter will also keep parents up to date with any planned events and special occasions, with each room sharing what they have been learning and celebrating the new skills and vocabulary learnt by the children. Learning stories give the parents of the caterpillar room (babies) an insight into their child's learning as well as providing a keepsake of their first years at Nursery. 

 

This parental engagement is very important to us and we interact with them in a variety of ways such as sharing photos and messages through Nursery in a box (online learning journey) and our Facebook page, giving them the opportunity to like and comment on photos and send us direct messages. 

 

We have always welcomed families into Nursery for Summer Fetes, Christmas Fairs/carol concerts preschool’s graduation ceremony and although Covid has made that more challenging, having to make use of videos and our outside space, we aim to get back to normal and offer these again for everyone to enjoy again soon. 

 

 

We at Kids co believe that all children deserve to have an equal chance of success. We aim to provide high quality, nurturing early education to ensure that when our children are school ready, they have been given the best start and opportunities, regardless of background and abilities. 

 

To provide a warm, welcoming and homely Nursery that everyone contributes to and feels part of, whether they are children, staff, parents, volunteers or those who train with us. 

 

To help children develop shared common values of kindness, understanding and respect for each other, through using good manners and by embracing the huge variety of families and backgrounds that come through our door. 

 

For children to gradually develop an understanding of their own, and each other’s feelings and views, with adults supporting and helping them to develop self-regulation of their behaviour. 

 

To help children to develop independence and confidence during their time at Kids co, a key factor if they are to become resilient adults in the future. 

 

To follow the Early Years Foundation Stage (EYFS) curriculum to provide a broad and exciting education across all seven areas of the curriculum which are: Personal Social and Emotional Development, Communication and Language, Physical Development, Literacy, Maths, Understanding the World and Expressive Arts and Design. 

 

For staff and children to focus not only on what they learn, but also on how they learn. We use the EYFS ‘Characteristics of Effective Teaching and Learning’, to support and encourage children as they play and explore, actively engage in their learning, and develop the skills of concentration and perseverance. Our aim is that they become independent critical thinkers, who are able to plan how best to execute their ideas, whilst problem solving along the way. 

 

To have a creative, fun and playful approach to activities, fostering children’s curiosity about the world around them, and a love of life and learning. 

 

By following the children's interests, we make each Nursery year bespoke and unique to them, we also find children are more engaged and inspired, allowing us to meet their learning needs and enabling all children to achieve their full potential. 

 

For staff to give sensitive, appropriate and well-timed support through their attention and experience which helps to build secure attachments, which in turn supports brain development. 

 

To provide a language rich environment, with staff who are good conversational partners, modelling and developing back and forth interactions, quality talk and new vocabulary. 

 

To offer a play-based curriculum as it is through play children make sense of their world and engage in deep level learning. Young children have an enormous capacity for intellectual development, they learn by exploring and investigating, watching and listening, talking and discussing, creating and communicating. It is key for children to ‘have a go’, to be able to learn from their mistakes and try again. Our Nursery lays firm foundations for future learning and provides a rich variety of learning situations to enable the all-round development of each child. We are flexible and adapt our interactions for individual children’s maturities, abilities and needs. 

 

When following the children’s interests, it is inevitable that some interests take off and could lead the children’s learning for a longer period, where some lose momentum and may last for only a short spell. Every year we deliver some predicted interests and content appropriate to the seasons or time of year; for instance, Autumn or religious festivals and British traditions. Though the majority of content (what we teach) may change each year depending on the children’s interests how we deliver the curriculum is consistent. The areas of effective learning are embedded into everything we do and staff are skilled in teaching and modelling these characteristics to the children. 

 

Kids co adopts a ‘continuous provision’ approach where children can access various resources that are always available and base their play around these. The environment is resourced and organised to develop and support active, varied, independent, play-based learning. Staff model and scaffold the children's play according to the different levels of need based on age or development stage. 

 

A mixture of child-led and adult-led experiences are provided. Staff follow the children’s lead and actively join in with play, only stepping in when there is an opportunity to enhance the moment. Adults set up invitations to play which are enhancements to the environment based on observations of children’s interests and developmental requirements, designed to support emotional well-being, learning across the curriculum and engagement. 

 

Planning is child centred and is based on children’s interests. It is flexible and responsive to children’s needs, informed by ongoing assessment, grounded in the EYFS framework and adapted to the different ages and stages of each individual child. It is strengthened by input from staff at all levels, regular evaluation and involving and engaging parents in the whole process. 

 

All aspects of children’s growth and development are woven together, but they can be separated into 7 different areas of learning. These areas are consistent with the Early Learning Goals within the Early Years Foundation Stage for 0 to 5 year olds. 

 

• Interactions 

• Exploring language 

• Listening, attention and understanding 

 

We strongly believe that it is crucial that children develop in a language rich environment and take part in quality back-and-forth interactions with adults who are excellent conversational partners. The adults at Kids Co spend a lot of the day engaging in conversation with children, extending and developing both their ideas and vocabulary and just enjoying a chat together. We also love sharing core daily stories and enjoying rhymes and songs with the children. Our ordinarily available provision is delivered at an enhanced level using a variety of speech and language resources collated with the help of our close partnership with the Worcestershire Speech and language therapy team (SaLT). Activities help to support the wide-ranging levels of need of our children. Kids Co welcomes children with a variety of different home languages and this is supported by a variety of strategies including but not limited to, the use of photos and pictures of familiar objects and routines; the use of simple language; using repeated phrases in stories and songs and experiences that are challenging and give language opportunities but not dependent on English language level. 

 

• Self regulation (emotions) 

• Managing self 

• Building relationships 

 

As language development is central to everything we do, this will in turn aid our children to regulate their behaviour with clear, sensible and consistent boundaries and manage and regulate their emotions and feelings. Adults acknowledge and allow all emotions, but not all behaviours e.g., aggression and shouting. We believe that this is a really important area for children as it focuses on understanding their own feelings and the feelings of others. Emotions are regularly discussed throughout the Nursery Day e.g., through circle times and in stories, and in general conversation to share how we are feeling, with adults helping children to label their feelings as well as sharing strategies to self-regulate them. Kids Co children feel settled, happy and secure, through experiencing warm, nurturing and loving relationships with the adults that care for them. This in turn helps them to feel confident to become independent in managing their personal needs, develop their friendships, and enjoy their time with us and the other children. Adults spend a lot of time supporting and encouraging children to take turns, develop good manners, and learn skills such as tidying up after themselves. 

 

• Gross motor skills 

• Fine motor skills 

 

Enjoying physical activity is vital to children's all-round development enabling them to pursue happy, healthy and active lives. At Kids Co we focus on Gross motor skills as a way of developing healthy bodies and in turn helping to improve social and emotional wellbeing. Adults work towards this by providing support, adequate space and resources both indoors and outdoors. Activities encourage children to have a go, and to move in a variety of ways such as running, jumping and climbing, whilst learning what physical risks are and developing a sense of what can be done safely. Music and movement is a big part of the Nursery day and adults and children take part together in lots of different activities such as yoga, Zumba, Busy Feet, Bounce patrol, Koo Koo Kangaroo, and relaxation. We believe that taking part in things together aids social interactions and provides a way for all children, regardless of language level with a way to express themselves and have fun. Good fine motor control helps with hand-eye coordination, manipulating toys and tools, and later with early writing skills. Adults provide activities and opportunities including small world play, building with bricks and blocks, puzzles, painting, drawing and using tools such as jugs, scissors and construction play tools. With the growing ability to use large and small motor skills our children will show an increasing desire to be independent in wanting to feed and dress themselves. 

 

• Number 

• Numerical patterns 

 

We believe that is essential that children have a good understanding of number and be able to count confidently in a variety of contexts. Adults support children, regardless of their language ability to learn about numbers through meaningful experiences in the Nursery Day, we count at mealtimes to know how many cups or spoons we need, or at outdoor play time to know how many children there are. The children take part in finger number rhymes right from the Caterpillar room (Babies), and this continues throughout their time in Nursery as we use songs, stories and rhymes with puppets and masks to help them to stay focused and interested. Inset puzzles, shape sorters, stacking cups and later building with blocks encourage children to develop their spatial awareness and knowledge of shape. Adults model and encourage the children to use the correct vocabulary to label shapes, the position of objects and make comparisons. 

 

• Comprehension 

• Exploring words (word reading) 

• Writing 

 

At Kids Co, adults help children develop a real love of story and story-telling. This is done through adults sharing stories daily as a whole room or together with smaller groups or individuals in our cosy book corners. We get to know some particular core stories really well and the children really enjoy joining in by acting them out or repeating words and phrases from them together, "We're going on a Bear hunt", "The three little pigs" story rhyme, "shark in the park", "The hairy toe" and books from the "Dinosaur who pooped a.." series are some of these. Singing songs together is a great way of tuning in, paying attention, copying sounds and learning new vocabulary. Right from the start in the Caterpillar room, children are taught the traditional Nursery rhymes such as “Row, Row your boat”, “Incy Wincy spider” and “Twinkle Twinkle little star” as well as some of our Kids Co favourites including "Tiny turtle", "3 blind jelly fish", "dingle dangle scarecrow" and "sleeping bunnies". Phonological awareness is taught through the read/write system of phonics and through our enhanced language provision which provides activities such as syllable clapping, Silly soup (rhyming awareness), Bertha the Boat and feed the Snake (initial sound matching). Adults support children to be aware of the print in their environment and to recognise their own names, labelling water bottles and having a registration board in Pre-school both help with this. All children are provided with a wide range of age appropriate, stimulating equipment to encourage mark-making, these would include things such as messy play, sand, flour, and rice using large muscle movement such as using fingers. Chalk, brushes, pencils and pens are used to develop the coordination of smaller muscles and as they progress, children give meaning to the marks they have made. Adults at Kids Co motivate our children's early writing confidence by giving opportunities and encouragement to write in a variety of pretend play situations such as taking orders in a cafe, writing prescriptions at the vets, writing a shopping list or making a building plan in the construction area. 

 

• past and present 

• people, cultures and communities 

• the natural world 

 

At Kids Co we encourage children to learn not only about their own world but the varied and different worlds of their friends and people in their community. Adults teach children about a variety of festivals and celebrations such as Christmas, Easter, Bonfire night, Diwali and Remembrance Day, encouraging children to try food, creative activities and tell stories from different cultures. Children are shown videos on the tablet and photographs in books in order to bring experiences from the wider world into Nursery. We also encourage parents to share photos of children celebrating and taking part in special events at home via Tapestry and our Facebook page. Topics such as "people who help us" and "when I grow up" fosters an understanding of different occupations and roles in society. Nursery displays positive images of disability and a variety of races and religions in posters on the walls, in books, role-play food, dressing up clothes and dolls in figures. Adults are open with children in talking about differences, enabling acceptance of diversity in others. Babies explore a variety of natural materials in treasure baskets or within messy/sensory play. Kids Co responds to natural phenomena by providing children with experiences of them such as splashing in puddles, looking for worms after the rain has fallen and throwing leaves in the wind. Adults express interest and excitement in the found objects that children bring into Nursery such as conkers, leaves and sticks and also collect and bring them in for the children to play with. Our oldest children sit down every morning and take part in a weatherboard discussion which adults use as an opportunity to develop an understanding of different weather, the seasons and the names and order of the days of the week and the months of the year. Children are taught to care for and respect living creatures and plants, Pre-school learn about the life cycles of sunflowers, caterpillars and frogs and through our living eggs scheme, we incubate, hatch and care for ducklings from their eggs. 

 

• Creating with materials 

• Being imaginative and expressive 

 

Children at Kids Co have lots of opportunity to be creative and express themselves through painting and drawing, sticking and model making. Adults share their enthusiasm and willingness to have a go (and make mistakes) in the process of creating things with the children in their room. They provide a wide range of resources such as junk modelling materials, fabrics, different textured materials, tubes, natural found objects, along with the tools and some ideas of how to join them together. Adults give lots of input and encouragement to children so that they can explore these resources/materials, find out what they are, what they can do and decide how they want to use them. They talk together with children, offer suggestions and model techniques for them to try in their own play. All rooms have well defined role-play areas with familiar settings such as a kitchen, doctors, and shops. Adults play with children in these areas, and dependent on age range or developmental level, sensitively elaborate on their play, building vocabulary or sharing their experiences. 

Characteristics of Effective Teaching and Learning 

We focus not only on what children are learning but how they are learning and developing. This involves a focus on what are known as ‘The Characteristics of Effective Teaching and Learning’(COETL). These characteristics focus on how children learn through playing and exploring as they investigate, have fun and enjoy different experiences, developing a ‘have a go’ attitude. They are encouraged to become active learners by following their own interests and making their own choices, developing their concentration skills and being encouraged to persist when encountering difficulties. In their own time children become great creative and critical thinkers, developing their own ideas, making links between these ideas, and developing and drawing on strategies for solving different challenges.