Alfreton Nursery School in Derbyshire has achieved IQM Centre of Excellence status.
Inclusive Approach
During the course of the day I was able to see the nursery in action and feel the inclusive approach taken by the school regardless of individual need. The Tour enabled me to see the effective use of space in which you created curiosity corners, safe places to explore, opportunity to try out new things and develop both social and emotional skills as well as an understanding of the world and aspects of the EYFS.
Readiness to Learn
Through your in-depth look at readiness to learn you are able to offer activities which allow children to approach them at their own level. Staff support and interject rather than intervene which enables children to develop independence and take control of their own learning.
Deeper Understanding
I was inspired by the approach taken to Philosophy 4 Children which is enabling youngsters to recognise that there are different points of view, fostering the development of questioning and deeper understanding.
Open-Ended Resources
Outdoors we shared the Atelier work encouraged in the school and saw the effectiveness of this. Provision of stores of open-ended resources have become a part of your continuous provision. These contents offer the children the opportunity to explore, create, imagine and enjoy. By encouraging this approach, the children become confident, independent and motivated, with a positive attitude to learning.
Forest School
An emphasis has been placed on Forest school work; the school has gained Eco School’s fifth Green flag linking with the school’s desire to foster outdoor learning. According to the school website, “Staff value the importance for developing a rich environmentally friendly attitude, involving the children in creating, nurturing and respecting the world that they live in and for others around them. The children have a curiosity and enthusiasm for learning outdoors and all the awe and wonder that this has to offer them. Our Forest School provision is recognised for its Outstanding teaching and is embedded into our ethos for outdoor learning. We are very proud of our continuous recognition for our hard work towards achieving and maintaining the ECO Schools’ Green Flag award”. The school should be justifiably proud of this achievement. During the day, I was able to visit the Forest area of the school with the ‘Earth Elves’ and it became a voyage of discovery and excitement as the children learned to create bee feeders and make them available in the
woodland area.
A Place for Reflection
The Rotunda, based in the woodland space, is an ideal place for reflection and to be immersed in a different world. I held the parents’ meeting in the room and it was conducive to small group discussion, as a teaching space and a place of calm.
Roly Poly Friday
The school offers ‘Roly Poly’ Friday, which is a fun way of supporting physical development and body strength. Children were fully engaged in this on the day of the visit and keen to participate.
Monitoring Outcomes
Pleasing too is that the school is using a simple system EAZ MAG whereby the school staff member enters their assessment data once and then the system automatically generates various graphs, spreadsheets, learning journeys and trackers etc. This online system has been specifically designed for Early Years Foundation Stage (EYFS) settings such as Children’s Centres, Nurseries, Infant Schools and Primary Schools to cover children between 0 – 5 years. Accordingly, the school is able to monitor the outcomes of the impact of the work in which it engages to monitor progress. SLT scrutinise this half-termly to identify interventions. Governors are involved and are able to ask challenging questions based on the data they receive from EAZ MAG e.g. differences between boys’ and girls’ literacy and how to ensure this is addressed.
Find out more about the IQM Inclusive School Award
If your school is interested in obtaining the IQM Inclusive School Award or you wish to talk to a member of the IQM team please telephone:
028 7127 7857 (9.00 am to 5.00 pm)
or email: [email protected] for further details.
Want more information on the IQM Award? Click here to request your free IQM information pack.