Category: Forest Schools

Supporting learning at home: How to boost your child’s reading comprehension

Post author By Alphablocks Nursery School
Post date February 1, 2023

In early years education, reading comprehension refers to a child’s ability to understand and interpret what is being read to them. It involves a specific set of skills, such as vocabulary understanding, word recognition, decoding (the ability to read some individual words), and question answering (the ability to ask or answer questions about what has been read to them).

The importance of early reading comprehension cannot be underestimated, as numerous studies over the past decades show that it lays the foundation for future outcomes at school, and has been linked to better self-regulation and social-cognitive abilities. In turn, these are known to support overall well-being, are conducive to learning and act as a protective factor for a range of early mental health challenges.

Tags Cockfosters Nursery School, early learning, early years, early years education, Hadley Wood Montessori Nursery School, nursery school, pre-school education, reading, reading comprehension

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Forest School Sessions – methods & benefits

Post author By Alphablocks Nursery School
Post date January 27, 2021

Written by Laura Rodemeyer, EYTS, Qualified Forest School Practitioner

We want our children to feel a sense of belonging and responsibility towards their environment, have a sound knowledge of the flora and fauna that surrounds them and to be able to recognise the beauty and importance of the natural world. The Forest School approach is a useful tool to achieve these goals, giving children opportunities to learn about and explore the world they live in.

Tags early learning, early years, early years STEM, Forest School, Outdoor Play

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Intent, Implementation, Impact – the key to every early years curriculum

Post author By Alphablocks Nursery School
Post date October 2, 2020

It is crucially important that an early learning curriculum is responsive to the changing needs of children so that opportunities for growth and development are not missed.

Tags Barnet Nursery, curriculum, Early Mathematics, early years, early years learning, Enfield Nursery

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Measures taken for a safe reopening of our nursery following the Covid-19 lockdown

Post author By Alphablocks Nursery School
Post date June 22, 2020

On the 1st June we reopened our outstanding nursery and were extremely happy to be back in our natural environment so we can maximise on the face-to-face interactions with the children. We supported our children during the closure period through our online learning that involved a weekly pack of activities supported by recorded and live teaching sessions. It was great seeing our children make progress through these methods. Following our reopening, we implemented a “blended learning approach” where both remote and on-premises learning takes place. However, the physical environment itself and our processes had to change to accommodate the highest standards of infection control and risk assessment.

Tags Cockfosters Nursery School, Early Mathematics, early years learning, early years phonics, Hadley Wood Montessori Nursery School, nursery school

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Our blended-learning approach for early years education

Post author By Alphablocks Nursery School
Post date June 8, 2020

We were so happy to return to our home as a nursery school last Monday, 1st of June. During the weeks of lockdown due to Covid-19 we found many innovative ways of staying connected with our children and their families, and continuing their learning journeys remotely. Unfortunately it has not been possible for all of our children to come back to the classroom in our Hadley Wood site in this half-term. We saw this as a challenge to overcome, so we have opted for a “blended learning” model, which allows us to expand on and complement our nursery-based offering with a remote learning curriculum.