Ethos

Our ethos is to bring awe and wonder to our children.  We believe that all children learn and develop by being given opportunities to develop their independence and imagination. By giving children the opportunity to develop their own curiosity they will be able to learn about their world, how things work and be able to celebrate their achievements.

As a staff we are utterly inspired by the Curiosity Approach and have enrolled on the Accreditation Programme.  We see the incredible value of authentic resources and how these encourage children to ignite their imagination, curiosity, creativity, imagination and language, helping children to become ‘thinkers and doers’ of the future.

Our role as early years educators is to inspire children’s inquisitive minds, with the resources we provide and the questions we ask and the enchanting environments we create. Calm, neutral tones and authentic, intriguing resources, along with creating a feeling of ‘home’ and an extension of family inspire children to they feel that they belong and are welcomed.

We set up invitations to learn and play, following children’s interests, encouraging them to engage for longer, using their minds and imagination and gaining a joy for learning. Children are kinaesthetic learners – they learn by ‘doing’ and using their senses, by touching objects, using resources and experiencing activities for themselves. Authentic resources, natural materials and ‘loose parts’ offer children the opportunity be creative, think, problem solve, as well as supporting language development, mathematical development and social development.

The above can take place indoors and outdoors.  Our outdoor environments are just as important to us and your children. Our seasons and the weather are natural and wonderful learning experiences in themselves. How does it feel to jump in a puddle? Can we make ‘potions’ from grass, flowers and leaves? What makes a rainbow?    Our local communities also provide a wealth of awe and wonder. We take our children on many walks and visits within our community, these sometimes include a picnic, which is so exciting for young children, as we share our food and a different experience of a mealtime.

We believe by providing many different opportunities and activities for all our children. We share our local and extended community with our children, by visiting Hull Museum’s and Art Gallery (Bright Beginnings is the Profile nursery for both of these), we also plan trips to the Marina and follow the Hull Fish Trail.  We visit the local libraries to borrow books, chosen by the children and to share a love of reading together.  We to go the local parks, sometimes with a picnic, as well as travelling further afield to other parks in Hull, travelling by bus, which the children love.

We provide extra curricular activities with visits to a local farm to see the animals and also to The Deep to learn about the animals that live in the sea.  We have music sessions with Culture Tots (run by a classically trained musician) and provide many opportunities for children to learn how to be healthy, as we were only 1 of 10 settings chosen to be involved in the initial Healthy Movers programme, and also attend sessions with a company called Mini Athletics. We also attend some soft play sessions within the local community and well as having our own soft play equipment.

We have taken part in many community initiatives, including Hull Rock & Hide – encouraging children to develop their artistic and mark making skills in decorating rocks and then hiding these within the local community for others to find, at the same time delighting in finding other rocks for us to take back to nursery.  We have also done the same with Hull Look for a Book, where the children have chosen books to hide for others in the local community and also found books which we have read on our travels and taken back to the nursery, again encouraging a love for sharing stories and reading.

We work in partnership with parents’ and encourage our families to share their experiences with us, so that we can talk with the children about what they like do at home. We ask parents to complete ‘My Family Culture’ form and also to provide the nursery with family photos, so that we know who is important in the children’s lives.  We also have a Bright Beginnings Bear who goes home in turn with the children and ask parents and children to complete the Bear’s travel book.  Some of our parents also come in and talk to our children about their jobs or hobbies etc, depending on our current topic of learning.

Each day at Bright Beginnings is an adventure waiting to happen, whether it be a child-initiated play activity, an adult-led invitation to play and be curious, a trip to somewhere in our local community or a visitor to our nursery.

Let the adventures begin………..