Squirrels Nursery 2025 - 2026

Welcome to the Squirrels Room!

A warm welcome awaits your little one to the Squirrels-our cosy and nurturing nursery space specially designed for children age 2 to 3 years.

At this stage of early development your child will begin exploring the word around them through play,creativity and gentle routines.In Squirrels, we focus on building strong relationships,encouraging independance and supporting early langauge,social and motor skills in a safe,stimulating environment.

Our caring and experienced team is here to help each child to feel secure,happy and ready to learn,at their own pace.

From messy play and story time to songs and outdoor adventures,every day is fun of fun and discovery!

As our Squirrels gently settle into their new environment and daily routine, we'll begin to explore the wonders of Autumn together. This will be through rich sensory experiences such as - crunchy leaves, discovering natural textures and noticing autumnal colours and fruits. The children will have opportunities to nurture their curiosity,go on Autumn walks and begin to develop an early understanding of the world around them.

                       We will include stories,puppets and songs around our different themes

                                and keen to research "The Gruffelo" story this  term.

How we learn through play in Squirrel's…

In Squirrels, we follow the Early Years Foundation Stage (EYFS) framework, with a strong focus on the three prime areas of development: Communication and Language, Physical Development, and Personal, Social and Emotional Development. These areas are at the heart of everything we do, as they form the foundation for children's future learning, wellbeing, and success

Physical development

• Gross motor skills (e.g., running, jumping)

• Fine motor skills (e.g., using utensils, writing)

• Health and self-care (e.g., hygiene, nutrition)

We promote physical development in Squirrels by:

• having our very own bespoke-designed outdoor area, which provides rich opportunities for physical development. It encourages children to explore, climb, balance, run, and engage in active play that supports both their gross and fine motor skills.

• offering a range of materials like playdough, chunky crayons, and building blocks to strengthen fine motor skills,

• encouraging activities that involve coordination and balance, such as obstacle courses, dancing, and ball games,

Personal, Social and Emotional

• Self-regulation and behavior

• Building relationships

• Developing self-confidence and self-awareness

We promote Personal, Social and Emotional Development in Squirrels by:

• building warm, trusting relationships through consistent key person interactions, helping children feel safe and secure,

• encouraging turn-taking and sharing during play to develop social skills and cooperation,

• supporting children in naming and understanding their emotions using simple language and visual cues,

• modelling positive behavior and gentle conflict resolution,

• promoting independence in self-care tasks such as tidying up, choosing activities, and feeding themselves,

• celebrating individual achievements to build self-confidence and a sense of belonging,

providing comfort and reassurance during moments of upset, helping children learn to self-regulate over time

Communication and Language

• Listening and attention
• Understanding                                                                                                                                                                                                          
• Speaking                                                                                                                                                               

We promote communication and language in Squirrels by:

• engaging in frequent face-to-face conversations with children during play and daily routines,

• narrating what we and the children are doing to model rich vocabulary,

• using songs, rhymes, and simple stories to build listening and speaking skills,

• giving children time to respond in conversations and valuing all attempts at communication,

• using visual aids, gestures, and sign language (if applicable) to support understanding,  ,

• encouraging turn-taking in conversations and group activities,

• repeating and expanding on what children say to build sentence structure and vocabulary.

                                                                                                          Daily Items 

A bag with a change of clothing

Nappies and wipes

                                                                                                        A water bottle                                   

                                                                                                       Coat, hats, gloves                                                                                                  

                                                                      Lunch box or hot dinner to purchase                                                        

Weather exploring

• We love to explore the outdoors in all weathers, please make sure your child has suitable clothing for fun in the sun, rain, wind or snow.

Changes to collection

• If somebody else is collecting your child, please can you let staff know as soon as possible.

Tapestry

We love to see all the things that our children get up to when they are not at Squirrels. Please share these moments on Tapestry.

We also love to share photos in class either through tapestry or emails sent During your child's time in Squirrels, we will also update their learning journey on Tapestry for you to enjoy!                                  

Here is Sandy our class Squirrel.Sandy would love to have a turn to go home with you and have wonderful adventures

together with you and your families!

Website address

Squirrels@woodlands.cheshire.sch.uk