Planning in the moment.

We are an in the moment planning setting meaning that we follow your child’s individual spark, what interests and what motivates them. We observe children and in turn tune into their play and ideas, extending on their learning by playing alongside and guiding them in answering open ended questions or finding out something new. This then gives us a basis to plan our environment, to create further provocations and provide resources which supports your child’s learning further. Please take a look at our gallery to see what provocations, resources and experiences we provide.

“Children are born with all the curiosity they will ever need. It will last a lifetime if they are fed upon a diet of daily ideas.” - Charlotte Mason

Progress Scrapbooks

In September 2021 the EYFS Development Matters is set to change meaning that there is less demand on paperwork, assessing children and data. We have taken the leap, in preparation for this, to reduce all unnecessary paperwork giving us much more time with the children to do what we do best. Therefore children are no longer tracked developmentally but each child has a ‘Progress Scrapbook’ in which we collage photographs and record achievements for each child individually, over time showing their progress. This then becomes a keepsake for you as your child moves room to room or leaves us to transition to school. In support of this we also provide an overview of your child’s progress and development each term to keep you involved in your child’s journey.

We invite you at any time to view your child’s progress scrapbook and can offer meetings, phone calls or simply a chat at drop off or collection should you feel you need to discuss any matter of your child’s development.

Inclusive practice.

We consider ourselves to be a highly inclusive setting that has equal opportunities for all children and families no matter what their needs, nationality, background or culture. Each child is recognised as an individual and has their needs tailored to each day to support them in their learning and growing. Our setting SENCO is trained in all aspects of supporting children with special educational needs and she has built up good supportive relationships with our Local Authority Inclusion Team as well as external agencies such as Speech and Language Therapy - As a result becoming the SENCO Champion for our cluster area; working to support all local Early Years setting SENCO’s. All staff at Next Generation are subsequently trained and given knowledge on supporting children with additional needs as well as being able to identify this at the earliest opportunity. Nicola deputises Zoe’s SENCO role and supports throughout all aspects. Please visit our Policies and Procedures page to read our SEND policy.

“We have had 4 children with additional needs attend Next Generation over the last 7 years. We have always felt fully supported and kept informed throughout all assessments and processes. Staff are well informed and trained on working with children with additional needs and aren’t afraid to learn new skills to support when needed. Excellent service, excellent skills, excellent staff - what can we say - just an all round excellent organisation!” - Diane - (Parent)

Communication Champions.

At Next Generation we value the importance of supporting children’s speech, language and communication skills. We know that such skills are a crucial part of a child’s overall development.

On our journey to creating a communication friendly environment across our setting, we have developed the roles of Communication Champions. We have 4 Communication Champions at Next Generation Nursery; these staff members have completed additional training courses such as Keys to Communication, Elklan and ECAT (provided by Wigan Early Years Team) to help support in both identifying and supporting children with speech, language and communication needs. The knowledge and skills of these practitioners are also beneficial to all children at our setting. Our Communication Champions are Zoe (Manager), Nicola (Infants lead), Stacey (Preschool lead) and Joanne (Under 2’s lead).

We have strong links with the WWL NHS Speech and Language Therapy Service and actively follow appropriate guidance when referring children to the Speech and Language Therapy Service. Supporting families throughout the whole process from referral to embedding strategies and sharing ideas.

If you have concerns or questions regarding your child’s speech, language and communication development, please do not hesitate to speak with your child’s key person or Zoe, Nicola, Stacey & Joanne - who would be happy to support and advise.

September 2021 saw the EYFS make oral health an Early Years requirement for settings to uphold, ensuring that the oral health of children was on the agenda continuously given the fact that 1 in 5 children under the age of 5 has tooth decay. As a setting we have always been part of any toothbrushing scheme on offer to us over the years and have continually ensured that brushing teeth was a daily routine practice for all Early Years children. Therefore all children will continue to brush their teeth at nursery with prior consent gained from parents/carers upon enrolment. Children are encouraged to do this independently in support of our brushing scheme with Start 4 life - Top Tips for Teeth. Supported by our Local Authority.

Please visit the link below for advice on early toothbrushing and much more

http://search3.openobjects.com/kb5/wigan/fsd/advice.page?id=2j_ewD6LJnQ