The children are greeted by a member of staff. In the entrance lobby they will find a name card which they are encouraged to put upon the chart on entering the main room. The session starts in the reading room where the register is taken and time is given to sharing news, talking about the week’s topic, singing activities and action rhymes.

The children move into the main room where they can participate in a variety of activities including dough, sand or water play, art and craft, construction toys and imaginary play. At the end of this period of activity the children help to sort and tidy up.

Children sit in small groups with a member of staff for some refreshments, which may be sweet or savoury (N.B. water is provided throughout the session). This can provide the opportunity for children to talk about what they have been doing.

Different activities are brought out after break time and we continue to follow the theme of the week. Cutting and sticking, painting and junk modelling as well as cooking are firm favourites.

When the weather permits the children go outside where they can play on a selection of ride-on toys or experiment with balls, hoops, beanbags, etc.. When the weather is bad we can still provide plenty of physical activities through the use of the indoor climbing frame and slide or music and movement. We return to the reading room for a quiet story before the session ends.

A similar pattern is followed in the afternoon sessions although more structured activities are included in order to help the older children prepare for their move to the Reception Year.