Toad Hall Day Nursery and Preschool in Rayleigh

Curriculum

Our curriculum at Toad Hall Nursery and Preschool has been developed using the natural environment as a basis for learning, following the Hygge Curriculum with the Curiosity Approach thread throughout. In line with Hygge, our neutral decor ensures calm, comfortable and fun classrooms. Books are key tools in our children’s learning with an overall focus on wellbeing and happiness for every child. This ensures we provide a safe and nurturing environment that helps our children to become curious learners.

We also incorporate our unique education programmes into children’s days, including Sow and Grow, Make and Bake, Innovate and Investigate, Health and Self, and Move and Groove. These programmes are a fun way of ensuring key developmental input is met.

Team

We are proud of our highly qualified and skilled team who have undergone lots of additional training. We have highly experienced SENCO qualified staff who are further supported by amazing childcare practitioners to ensure children in their care are supported with excellence. Our team are communication champions which ensures smooth running of our nursery and strong relationships with colleagues and families.

Many of our staff have progressed from apprentices and worked up to more senior roles. We are passionate about mentoring and helping future generations of Early Years childcare practitioners grow into their desired field!

Parent Partnership

We have an open door policy with our families to support communication. We provide online training and support sessions to help with those milestone moments in children’s lives, such as potty training, starting big school, instilling positive behaviour, supporting speech and language development and more. We also offer stay and play sessions for all the family, including grandparents, as well as regular update meetings.

We use our nursery app to maintain great daily communication with our families. This user-friendly app keeps you connected with your child’s daily activities, meals, and milestones, offering easy access to photos and notes from our caring colleagues.

Facilities

Our wonderful nursery was purpose built to provide a safe, secure and welcoming nursery environment for children.

Playrooms

We have four spacious and bright playrooms designed to meet the needs and interests of the children in each room. We also have a sensory room for children needing more focused and quiet time or space from their base playroom.

Children transition between our different rooms based on their readiness to progress, although our rooms are loosely divided by age to ensure interests and needs are met. The typical age range for each room is:
Otters: Baby room
Toads: Toddler room
Badgers: Preschool room
Moles: Older preschool room

Garden

We have a purpose-built garden space in woodland style grounds, with outdoor play equipment, smooth safety surfaces and lots of toys to encourage children’s natural curiosity and learning. Our outdoor play areas include climbing frames, a sand pit, a mud kitchen and a gardening patch which all help with physical and mental development and wellbeing.

Activities

Boogie Mites: Our lively music and movement sessions encourage our children to express themselves through dance and rhythm, creating a joyful atmosphere where they can develop their physical coordination and social skills. The spacious environment allows for plenty of room to move and groove!

We are also excited to start regular visits from Harley the therapy dog who we are certain our children will be happy spending time around. With the addition of these enriching activities, we create a stimulating environment that supports every child’s development and love for learning!

Community Outings

We love taking our children on fantastic community outings to explore the charming sights of our local area. Our families are invited to join us as helpers which ensures we can enjoy visits to spaces such as the public Library.

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Our Nursery at a Glance