Curriculum

Our Approach to Learning and Development

At Little Learners Day Nursery, we are committed to providing a rich, child-centred curriculum that supports every child’s learning, development, and wellbeing. To strengthen our practice and ensure we are meeting the needs of each individual child, we have recently introduced several key enhancements across the nursery.

Development Tracking Booklets

Each room now uses a Development Tracking Booklet, based on the Development Matters framework. This booklet is used as a guiding tool by staff to track developmental progress and identify opportunities to extend learning through meaningful, age-appropriate activities. It helps us to plan and implement engaging experiences that promote growth across all areas of development.

Baseline Meetings

We have also introduced Baseline Meetings, which take place approximately eight weeks after a child starts with us. These meetings help us gain a clear picture of each child’s current developmental milestones, enabling us to plan targeted learning opportunities that reflect their individual needs, interests, and strengths. This approach ensures we are recognising and supporting each child as a unique individual.

Working in Partnership with the Local Authority

We continue to work closely with our local authority to ensure we are delivering a curriculum that is inclusive, supportive, and aligned with current guidance. This partnership supports us in reflecting best practice and continually improving the quality of our provision.

Birth to 5 Matters

Our curriculum is also underpinned by the Birth to 5 Matters guidance, which builds on the foundations of the Early Years Foundation Stage (EYFS) while integrating up-to-date research and a strong focus on inclusion and sustainability.

This guidance reaffirms the core principles of early childhood education, including:

• Placing the child at the centre of practice
• Recognising each child’s connections to family, community, culture, and the natural world
• Supporting the whole child, including their physical, emotional, social, and cognitive development
• Upholding children’s rights as set out in the United Nations Convention on the Rights of the Child (UNCRC)
• Responding to the sector’s responsibilities under the UN Sustainable Development Goals and UNESCO’s Education for Sustainable Development
• Meeting the statutory duties outlined in the SEND Code of Practice

Through these frameworks, we aim to offer a curriculum that not only prepares children for school, but also lays the foundation for a happy, healthy, and confident future.