Babycare
“Don’t limit children to your own learning, for they were born in another time.”, Rabindranath TAGORE.
During the first 12 months of its life, your infant is experiencing the most intense learning period of its entire existence.
Our pre-infant “Little Butterflies” and infant class ”Little Stars” are especially designed totally and from the beginning to offer a safe environment, full of stimuli.
Our specialised teachers respect and follow your everyday family routines, while you know we care for you infant and attend to its needs.
As P (10 months old) begins to explore, she tries to reach her favorite stuffed animal and hold it in her fist. These skills will help your baby develop its mobility, starting from crawling and finally managing to stand on its two feet.
Activities
“If you want your children to be intelligent, read them fairy tales. If you want them to be more intelligent, read them more fairy tales.”, Albert EINSTEIN
Our educational programme is designed to support all the exciting development milestones of your infant.
The daily programme includes:
- Reading fairy tales
Age-appropriate books are selected that support audio concentration and vocabulary, while they develop their love for reading. - Art activities
Includes finger painting, music and role-playing games to promote creativity. - Treasure baskets
Natural and everyday objects are used that encourage infants to use all of their senses.
The “treasure baskets” introduce complex concepts that hold the key to the world and its functions. It offers babies and small children a sensory experience and meaning that will be later expressed into words.
- Monitoring of all the primary areas of the EYFS system*
Communication and language, physical, personal, social and emotional development are achieved. - Messy play and sensory exploration
We use water play, sand, as well as objects that help the infant discover its senses. - Physical education games
They contribute in the development of muscle tissue.
* Early Years Foundation Stage: EYFS includes a set of requirements for the wellbeing, learning and growth, which must be met by the care providers for children under the age of five – the age of obligatory education in the United Kingdom.
The exploration of the sensory box provides much more than entertainment to the girls of the post-infant class (17 months old). Can you find a better way to learn about the flora and fauna than to recreate it inside the classroom?
Classes
Important information
Weekly programme
Every Friday, parents receive an email with next week’s programme that shows us the activities based on the children’s needs, their interests and talents, as well as the week’s subject. Under every activity, you can see the development stage targeted by the activity, separately for every child. We recommend that you check the programme, so that you can use it as a tool to achieve the same goals at home.
Book in time
Parents can visit during the morning hours, so that you can see our nursery school during its working hours. Therefore, parents must book an appointment in advance, since we can make only one viewing a day.
Personal support / “Open Door policy”
Our nursery has an “Open door policy” and the parents are encouraged to come for a visit if they wish, any time of the day, in order to talk about problems or issues the might be facing or to express their opinions and comments regarding the policy and procedures of our nursery. A parent questionnaire is available, which can be filled out with comments or impressions, with complete privacy and anonymity.
What parents should know
The parent-teacher children’s progress evaluation meetings are held every four months. During the meeting, the teacher talks about the child’s progress and the goals they will be working on during the following months.
It is extremely important that both the parents and the teachers exchange information on the needs of every child and collaborate with mutual respect, in order to help the child achieve the best possible educational outcome.
Every child has its own online “learning journey” that includes assessments of the children’s activities, evaluated according to the EYFS standards.
The evaluation is in written form and is based on the EYFS development matters (Communication and language, personal, social and emotional development, mathematics and expressive arts and design), showing exactly what the child has learnt and its development stage. If requested, we can provide a copy of the evaluation.
Recording observations
Recording observations during the early years of development is an important tool that helps write down and assess the development of children inside the classroom. We are proud to be the first school that is implementing this educational approach. Through the application called “First Steps”, the teacher can record a child’s day in the nursery, combined with a relevant photo and/or recording of observations, in order to capture their day or present a thrilling moment in the nursery.
Adjustment period
When new parents/caregivers and their children come to our nursery for the first time, our goal is that both the parents and the children feel comfortable and welcome. One of the most important processes is the child’s adjustment period to its new surroundings. It is a very important and sentimental period both for the parents, and for the child. We follow a bespoke approach based on every child’s needs, we believe it is really important to talk and schedule the child’s daily life together with the parents, in order to achieve the best possible results and make the child feel safe and stress-free.
Video recording
We realise that there is enough stress and anxiety regarding whether a child has eaten all its food or whether it is participating in social activities. Upon the parent’s request, we record these activities and present all the available material if requested.
Allergies
In case a child is allergic to an ingredient, as school we can provide an alternative meal and a member of the staff will watch the child in order to eliminate the risk of cross-contamination..
Food sampling
We take great pride in our healthy menu (see department), so we invite the parents to try our food whenever they wish! They are welcome to join us and taste a sample of our menu without prior warning! This attests to our certainty that our food is delicious and of the highest quality constantly.
