How We Teach Physical Development

Being physically active is essential to children’s development and wellbeing. Developing gross and fine motor control lays the foundation for lifelong skills such as personal care and writing. Our curriculum offer ensures that children understand ways to stay healthy and they are offered a wide range of ways to keep active laying the foundations for long and healthy lives.

Moving and Handling: Gross Motor

Our children can access a fabulous, large outdoor space, carefully resourced to promote physical activity and appropriate risk taking. Staff model and encourage activities that involve large muscles such as crawling, walking, running, jumping, and climbing as appropriate to a child’s developmental stage and physical ability. Children have access to this space and these opportunities for a large part of every session.

Health and Self-Care: Staying Safe

We take very seriously the importance of teaching children how to keep themselves safe at school and beyond. We introduce rules and include children in risk assessing areas and resources. Our children learn to cross roads safely during community walks, they learn about the potential benefits and dangers that plants and animals can present whilst working outdoors.

Moving and Handling: Fine Motor

We support the development of children’s fine motor control through carefully planned and well-resourced provision. Children are given the opportunity to use tools and resources that promote skills such as threading, twisting, cutting, squeezing and many more. These help our children to build critical life skills such as using scissors, buttoning a shirt or writing.

Supportive Environment

Our extensive, well-resourced outdoor spaces promote gross motor development.
A wide range of fine motor resources are available to access and use.

Fully funded snack provision great opportunity to learn about health and hygiene practices.

Health and Self-Care: Personal Hygiene

Teaching our children about good hygiene practices is embedded in all we do. We use both planned sessions and opportune moments to model and promote independence in washing hands, brushing teeth, and using tissues. Our children are active contributors to preparing their snacks and they learn about the importance of nutritious food.

Family Involvement

Stay and play sessions are offered termly to allow a safe space for parents to observe their children accessing the outdoor space.
Strategies to support children’s independence are shared with parents through catch up calls and other communication.
Busy finger packs can be borrowed to support fine motor development at home.