Our Rooms
Baby Suite – we call it Explorers
Explorers is separated from the main building and has its own garden. This means that it is extremely tranquil. There is a separate and beautifully decorated sleep area. This is comfortable and warm. We have a separate milk kitchen for bottle preparation. We operate a no-shoes policy on carpeted area of the baby suite so that we minimise the chances of grubby stuff getting into the building.
The baby garden is accessed from the baby suite through double doors. The grass is artificial and so there’s no chance of the babies getting muddy whilst they explore. The room will take a maximum of nine babies. We operate a 3 baby:1 staff ratio.
The steam trains puff past on a daily basis and so the babies get the chance to get really close to the magic of the train. We encourage them to wave to the drivers who always respond enthusiastically – sometimes with an extra toot of the horn!
More important than all of this is the quality of care that we bring. Even before your baby starts we will visit your home in order to get to know you and to find out more about your baby’s individual needs. This makes the transition to the nursery less daunting for both baby and parents! Whilst at nursery our staff (and particularly the ‘key person’) will offer your baby love and attachment. You will feel confident that as a parent you have a partnership with us to ensure we focus on every aspect of your baby’s care and development.
If you require a particular milk variety, then we will get it in. If you’d like us to follow your regime for recycling nappies, then we will be happy to do so. If you’d like us to follow a particular sleep routine, then again that’s fine. We’ll follow what you’d do at home.
The Adventurers Room
This is above our Explorers Room and has its own sleep room. We use this for children who have just started to walk. The room has its own adventure platform with a climbing slope and a slide. Its cosy, nurturing and good fun.
The Creators Room
We will discuss moving your baby to Creators once your baby becomes a toddler. Before the move, your toddler will have a handful of play-dates in the new room. A new key person will be allocated and they will also get the chance to get to know your loved one as part of these play-dates. This ensures that the child and parent feel settled when it’s time to transition to the new room.
The room is in the main building directly opposite the baby suite. At the toddler stage, we develop more and more activities for the children to enjoy. If they are interested in something, we’ll use this to extend their learning.
Meal times are taken together in the room and children will increasingly be used to the social life that this engenders. This means that they will try new foods because every one else seems to be doing so.
Activities in the room are age-appropriate and we’ll try lots of new and exciting things from making , building , rolling , bouncing, dressing up and so on. There’s lots of fun!
Inventors
Your child’s development is further extended in our Inventors. Children continue to gain their independence and with ongoing support and reinforcement will try new activities and apply themselves to new challenges whether it’s dressing up, making mud pies or balancing on boards. If it’s fun, then there’s a potential for a new learning experience. Our staff are trained to respond to interests and to create learning opportunities around them.
Inventors has access to its own garden area. This has Teletubby mounds complete with tunnels. These are located right next to the railway line (albeit behind the fence!) and children are encouraged to climb onto these mounds as the steam trains rattle by. Its all good fun.
Pre School
We focus on giving children all they need to ensure that they make the smooth transition to school.
The room is spacious, light and colourful. It has its own climbing forest den on two floors that the children love!
It also has access to the fourth and largest garden area. This also has a Teletubby mound so that the children can get a great view of the steam trains. Resources in the garden are designed to allow the children to create their own games. This could be making a castle from the rubber bricks in the construction zone, or moving the large black pipe onto the Teletubby mound so that they can slide down it (assuming the crocodiles are not there!}
We follow the Early Years Foundation Stage (EYFS) principles. This covers a broad range of knowledge and skills. However, learning is still child-led and our staff will allow children to learn through play.
The EYFS is also used in the first year of primary school and so we believe that nursery will give your child a head-start when going to school because they will be used to the principles applied at school. Your child will be ready and able to learn. We have over the years developed great links with the local primary schools and can advise you on this when the time comes.
The EYFS covers three Prime areas and four Specific areas of learning that are all interconnected: Personal, social and emotional development, Communication and language, Physical Development, Literacy, Mathematics, Understanding the world and Expressive Art and Design. These areas support and develop the Three Characteristics of Effective Learning: playing and exploring, active learning and creating and thinking critically. We ensure that these are incorporated into your child’s routines through a variety of activities – both indoor and outdoor.
My daughter is loving coming to her new pre school nursery. She is always excited when its a little Smarties day! She has so much fun and has already made some lovely friends. The staff are always friendly and informative and happy to chat to me about her day. The outside space is wonderful with the added bonus of the steam train going by.
We are very impressed. Great job guys xH Whitters 26th September via Facebook
Our pre-schooler attends this setting and absolutely loves it! From a parent’s point of view we feel that we are placing our child in the care of people with a wealth of experience, knowledge and enthusiasm for childcare. Each member of staff knows my child and us. We always feel welcomed, well informed and included in nursery life. The setting itself is brilliant – fully resourced, clean and bright with lovely outdoor space. Our baby is already booked in to start in a years time! We would highly recommend Little Smarties, Bishops Cleeve
K Dale on childcare.co.uk on 24.10.17
Enchanted Reading Carriage
This is a special place. The carriage hosts a couple of trees and the children use this tranquil setting for reading and for being read to. We encourage parents and authors to come along and read. For example, local author Phillippa Bailey read from her book “Noah, can I have a kiss?” just after we opened.
The trees have a number of birds and nests (with eggs) on the branches and the base of trees have been formed from a carving of an old man’s face – and he loves listening to the children during circle times.
It’s very different and very magical!
