Growing Together
Our mission is the ensure that all children are provided the opportunity to learn and develop through real life, hands on experiences. Becoming independent, curious and resilient life long learners.
Our stimulating and exciting indoor and outdoor environment is thoughtfully designed to provide children with enhanced opportunities to learn and develop in their early learning goals, across all seven areas of the Early Years Foundation Stage.
A key person is assigned for every individual child, ensuring their needs are met and enabling them to feel safe and secure in the nursery environment. Each key person will observe and monitor progress and development through ongoing observations, using photos and videos, which are shared with parents via our online nursery app Famly. This enables parents to understand and be part of their child’s learning journey, and ways in which they can support their children’s next steps.
We encourage parents to contribute to their child’s learning journey, inviting you to add photo/videos and observations from home, sharing your child’s experiences and key interests. Sharing information enables us to enhance these interests and experiences within nursery.
The Great Outdoors
Freedom to learn through Nature
Through exciting outdoor exploration and discovery children develop their confidence, resilience, and physical and mental wellbeing. As well as this, children gain an understanding the world we live in and the importance of sharing our space with nature, leading them to think about what we can do protect and preserve our environment.
We provide hands on exciting experiences such as Forest School, Gardening, growing flowers to encourage the bee’s and other insects, encouraging wildlife such as birds and hedgehog’s, den building, composting, growing vegetables for our kitchen, and learning where our food comes from.
We are very fortunate to be able to look after some very special farm animals. Our pigs Peppa and Penelope love seeing the children and having their ears scratched! Children are very confident in caring for the on site animals, which include pigs, chickens, a cockerel, fish, cats, rabbits and guinea pigs.
What We Offer
Wonder Wood
Our large woodland, accessible through our Green Garden, is used daily by all children at the nursery. Our planned forest school sessions, and free play allows for risky play activities such as climbing trees, camp fires, den building, using tools, ladders and tyre swings.
Gardening
We love planting, and caring for our seedlings, watching them grow into flowers, fruits & Vegetables. Observing the seasons and making our own compost and leaf mould. We enjoy encouraging insects such as worms, bees and other wildlife into our garden.
Our Farm Animals
Caring and respecting all living things. Each day the children have the opportunity to feed and care for our two pigs, chickens, cats and rabbits. Children collect and count fresh eggs, returning them to our nursery kitchen to add to our meals.
Garden & Meadow
Children have plenty of opportunities for water play, football, and parachute games. As well as climbing equipment, steppingstone logs, painting easel, Mud cafe, net swing, sand pit, tepee and tyre swings are all there to be explored. The garden has gated access into the forest, and petting farm, ensuring that, the children can also extend their learning into different outdoor spaces.
Adventure
We enjoy walks, nature and wildlife searching, paddling in streams, and watching the tractors and combines in our surrounding fields. We also have our own mini bus providing us with opportunities to engage in the local community, such as the food market, windmill, primary school, Library and church.
Playground
Our playground space is a great area for ride on toys. Children move in different speeds, manoeuvring in and out of spaces and cones. We have a range of cars, bikes, and scooters that they can use independently or in partnership with their friends. The playground space also has a construction area, sheltered mark making station and water butt.
Indoor Learning Environment
All our thoughtfully designed indoor classrooms have been created with a cosy and calming feel, with each class equipped with large, comfortable furnishings and accessible resources. Every room has its own wooden home corner, with ‘real life’ resources to enhance children’s imaginative development, in addition to creative stations filled with lots of different mark making resources. The classrooms provide a homely, comfortable, and welcoming atmosphere so that children feel happy and relaxed.
All of our classrooms open up onto the outdoor space providing children with the opportunity to flow safely into different areas.
Food & Health
Good nutrition is essential for children’s growth and development, with diet being one of the most important parts of living a healthy lifestyle. It’s important to us to ensure that children receive a variety of nutritional meals, packed full of goodness to fuel their busy day.
Children take part in activities such as preparing their own food at mealtimes, cooking, baking and planting fruit and vegetables in our own garden. We also focus on health through physical activities, promoting oral health and wellbeing activities through nature, yoga and relaxation.
We provide children with a variety of well balanced meals and encourage positive eating habits and patterns. Our nursery cook prepares and cooks all meals in our nursery kitchen, using a variety of fresh quality produce. Our rolling menu provides a selection of seasonal dishes and can be adapted to meet any dietary requirements.
Children are offered whole milk at snack and mealtimes, and have access to water at all times to ensure they remain well hydrated throughout the day.
The Barn Family Team
Our wonderful nursery team have a wealth of skills, experience and qualifications, and are passionate in providing children with an outstanding level of care every day.
Each member of staff is qualified in paediatric first aid, safeguarding and all relevant mandatory training. The Barn Nursery encourages and supports our team to learn and develop within their roles, through in house training, additional training courses and apprenticeships.
Photos
Get in Touch
Buckinghams Farm,
Stanbrook,
Thaxted,
CM6 2NJ
We are open 8.00am – 6.00pm Monday – Friday
Closed Bank Holidays and one week at Christmas