The Nursery Year at Chesterhouse is the start of your child’s journey through the school system. Valuable time is spent developing a strong foundation of knowledge and skills within each and every child. Not all of the time is spent in a rigid classroom environment; plenty of time is spent developing children’s social and emotional skills. The best method we find for stimulating and developing young minds is through the joy of playing. Our children live the saying “learning through play.” The outdoor playground is an extension of our classrooms, supporting and aiding learning to play as an important part of a child’s development. This playground philosophy is an integral part of our Early Years curriculum.
The Reception Year offers a child a more structured environment and provides the primary framework for literacy and mathematics. It covers the areas of speaking and listening,
reading, writing and mathematics. The activities and approaches in Communication, Language and Literacy help to prepare children for starting phonic work, particularly the development of speaking and listening skills. Problem Solving, Reasoning and Numeracy are important skills that are dealt with within the Mathematics framework. Equal importance is placed in the social and emotional development of all children at Chesterhouse. We live the concept of nurturing of the individual child – in this phase of school we truly understand that children learn best when they are healthy, safe and secure, when their individual needs are met and when they have positive relationships with the adults who are caring for them.
Chesterhouse is a school that creates a setting which is welcoming, safe and stimulating, and where children are able to enjoy themselves, to grow in confidence and to fulfil their potential.
