Kindergarten

Our beautiful woodland site is based just off Common Lane, close to the suburbs of Bents Green, Greystones and Fulwood and within the Girl Guiding Outdoor Activity Centre.

We are located in the ‘Back Woods Area’, on a site of nearly 0.5 acre, and set amongst mature woodland, whilst still within the boundary of the Activity Centre.

The children will benefit from exploring the vast amount of woodland and countryside surrounding our area and make full use of our base camp, where the children will spend the majority of their day taking part in traditional outdoor activities such as willow weaving, wood carvings, mud kitchen play, reading dens, fire circle, and so much more! 

Session Times and Fees

KITS (2 year olds)

Short Day Session	8.30am – 4.00pm	£53.00
Full Day Session	8.00am – 5.30pm	£66.00
Ad-Hoc Hour	Per hour	£10.00 per hour

KINDY (3 – 5 years 6 months)

Short Day Session	8.30am – 4.00pm	£46.50
Full Day Session	8.00am – 5.30pm	£58.00
Ad-Hoc Hour	Per hour	£10.00 per hour

Funded sessions using 2, 3 & 4 year funding

Short Day Session	8.30am – 4.00pm	7.5 hours stretched funding + £3.00 consumables*
Full Day Session	8.00am – 5.30pm	9.5 hours stretched funding + £3.00 consumables*

Please note

*Our £3.00 charge is to go towards consumables in the settings such as snacks, nappies and wipes. It also contributes towards the cost of having higher ratios on trips and also towards the cost of fares and fees on trips. If you feel that you are unable to pay for consumables please speak to a member of management.

We have designed our own bespoke curriculum at Kindy, taking on board the values and ideas of the staff team our parents, and of course our Kindy children too!

Our curriculum supports the settings initial ethos of learning through nature and allows for children to express their interests, fascinations, thoughts and emotions. Encouraging ‘magical days as standard’.

We believe that what children ‘know and can do’ is only half of what we need to teach children in the early years. We strive to support children with developing a moral compass and an appreciation of nature, having a good heart and kindness, and respect for people and the environment – taking on a holistic approach to early years education and development.

We have designed part of our curriculum on Coyote approach, using the book Coyote’s Guide to Connecting with Nature – believing that we must sync with children’s energy cycles which change throughout each day in order to maximise learning opportunities. Respecting children’s need to sometimes step back, observe, reflect and not pushing children to always be moving at 100 miles an hour is a key element of our approach. It is after all when we step back that we notice the beauty of our surroundings, the finer details, the magic and the awe and wonder in our world. When we step back into the Awe & Reverence stage, we can free our minds, and create space for those all-important ideas and creations that allow us to explore and investigate, that make us curious and inquisitive, and that take us through to that Aliveness and Agility stage.

Developing good values and respect in children is so crucial in the early years….

With the Early Years Statutory Framework (EYFS) it talks about the Characteristics of Effective Teaching & Learning. We have incorporated these into our curriculum, believing that those different characteristics are displayed within the different energy cycles within the Coyote Guide.

We use references to wildlife and animals when we talk about characteristics, feelings and behaviours. Supporting children to understand their own feelings and actions, while making links to those we share our environment with. For example, if a child would like some time on their own to step back or to self-regulate, we would liken this to a hedgehog who hibernates. Ensuring we are understanding that the child needs that time, the way a hedgehog needs to hibernate. We all go through different energies and feelings throughout the day and we feel it’s so important that we respect children’s feelings and energies at all times so that we can meet their needs, and that they can learn to be resilient and develop empathy. In this vast, ever-changing, and sometimes overwhelming world – giving them the skills they need for now and for their future.

“Childhood is that state which ends when a puddle is first viewed as an obstacle, not an opportunity” – Kathy Williams

Our curriculum and pedagogy has taken into account a number of different pedagogical approaches….

Forest School… the forest school approach encourages a deep connection with the world and the nature within it. Learning is run through all of the seasons in a way which supports children to develop socially, emotionally, spiritually physically and intellectually.

Building resilience and self-belief is highly valued within the forest school approach, and can be supported through activities such as building fires, using tools and taking risks.

Steiner… With the emphasis on developing the whole person, the Steiner approach incorporates building spiritual values, developing social skills including respect for one’s self and for others, and fostering a creative mind.

Loose parts… is a daily part of Kindy with a range of materials and resources for the children to use. Loose parts encourage children to take risks and to trial and error with their ideas, the freedom to move parts in any which way they choose with no right or wrong. Initially a theory developed by Simon Nicholson, loose parts offer children the opportunity to experiment with shapes and materials, building and constructing, testing gravity and exploring weight and measurements. Using a variety of items develops opportunities for critical thinking, problem solving, independent play and/or teamwork.

“The more risks you allow children to take, the better they learn to take care of themselves” – Road Dahl

We provide morning and afternoon snacks for the children and these snacks are often cooked on the fire. Some of our favourite snacks are pancakes, pasta dishes, soups and fritters and that’s just a few. Our weekly snack menu is created in line with Kindy’s letter of the week, creating linked learning opportunities as well as a variety of tasty treats. We cater for all food allergies, intolerances and preferences, offering cows, oat and soya milk each day and finding alternative foods to swap out in recipes to ensure the menu caters for all of our children.

We recognise snack time as a learning opportunity and ensure children have access to their own chopping board along with child safe knifes. Involving children within the preparing and cooking process creates a sense of responsibility and ignites a love for cooking, and eating!

We love to forage for ingredients and will often go into the woods for wild garlic, dandelions and nettles. We also have an orchard on site where we can collect apples, pears, plums and sometimes grapes.

At lunch time, the children come together as a group, enjoying healthy and nutritious foods provided by parents. We value lunchtime as an opportunity for children to develop their social and communication skills, whilst building a sense of themselves and learning about each other. Due to us being fully outdoors we do not have facilities to store food anywhere other than outside. We therefore ask parents to be mindful of providing foods that may spoil in hot weathers, and also to consider providing warm food in flasks on colder days.

Parent partnerships are highly valued at Sheffield Woodland Kindergarten.

We use Famly, a nursery management software, to communicate with parents, keeping them updated on their child’s interests and developments. Also, informing parents and carers of updates and changes within the setting, as well as sharing parts of the Coyote’s Guide to Connecting with Nature, a key approach our curriculum was designed on.

We hold regular parent events such as stay and play sessions, our Winter Solstice Party, Wake Up Kindy and aim to include parents and carers within our learning. We invited parents and carers into Kindy for World Book Day where parents could read stories in their home languages. Children especially enjoyed reading ‘The Very Hungry Caterpillar’ in Spanish!

We gather parent and carers’ views and feedback through questionnaires, and invite parents and carers in throughout the year to speak with their child’s key person to share progress and achievements.