Naturally Curious Childcare

  • Basingstoke01256 331147
  • Totton023 8086 4894
  • Eling023 8086 6763
  • Farnborough01252 912085
Call us now 023 8086 4894

Pinecones Day Nursery, Totton

Pinecones Day Nursery

  • Age: Birth to 5 Year Olds
  • Open: 8.00am to 6.00pm
  • Call us now 023 8086 4894

If you require immediate information on Naturally Curious Childcare's Nurseries, we have uploaded our parent pack for you to take a look at. Download it now it. it's packed full of really usefull information on the nursery.

 

About Pinecones Day Nursery

Pinecones Day Nursery, situated on Water Lane, Totton has part of Naturally Curious Childcare since November 2017. We are situated in a purpose built open plan building on the premises of Totton College and Totton Health and Leisure Centre which provides us with ample of parking for parents.

We currently care for children aged 3 months up until after their fourth birthday when they leave to attend school. We provide variety of rooms for our children to explore, a baby room for our under 2’s, a large open room for our over 2 early years children and a construction room with a build in sandpit that all ages can use.

Pinecones Day Nursery follows the Curiosity Approach method of teaching and learning, the nursery is filled with open end resources to inspire and make little minds inquisitive to the wider world. We are currently in the process of achieving our Curiosity Approach Accreditation.

The Baby Room

Our homely baby room cares for 9 children a day. Our babies have two rooms that the they can free flow between daily. The rooms are fully equipped to deal with everything that the under two’s will ever need with plenty of communication friendly spaces to snuggle, read a story and gain those important relationships with their peers and adults.

With staff ratios of 3:1 it’s a safe and calm environment that allows ample of learning opportunities and positive relationships for all. Children progress at their own pace whilst our passionate and experienced team of practitioners ensure each child receives the best possible care.

The team work directly with the parents to ensure that the routines you have at home are mirrored within the setting, providing consistency for your baby. This in turn helps them to settle and become content and confident in the new environment. All of our teams make great relationships with all of our families and will always be on hand to support, guide and work alongside you throughout your children's time with us.

Fresh, home-made food is prepared by our wonderful cook Penny and made palatable for whatever stage of weaning your child is at - we promote baby led weaning which has current research and benefits towards your child's speech later on in life.

The baby room has a vast array of equipment and open ended natural resources including loose parts and treasure baskets. Each baby takes part in sensory play, exploring those textural experiences that allows them to express their emotions through manipulating materials such as sand, shaving foam, paint and many more. This helps improve their senses experiencing touch, taste, sound and many more. The richer the textural experience, the richer their cognitive and language development will be.

When it’s time for a well-earned nap, the babies have their own cosy sleep area which is peaceful and soothing. Comfy cots and calm music set the atmosphere for a lovely snooze. Whether your child self-soothes or is rocked to sleep, we will ensure the routines in which you have at home are also implemented within the setting.

Early Years Room

Our ethos continues to thrive throughout our Early Years Room where the children can readily access both indoors and out. We have a mixed age range of 2-4 year olds within this room meaning the younger children can learn from our older children who are positive role models to them. We can cater for up to 28 children on a day to day basis, all of our nurseries are small giving that homely feel and meaning the practitioners can spend lots of one to one time with the children.

With ratios of 1:4 for two year olds and 1:8 for 3 and 4 year olds, we have ample of staff in the room to support your children’s learning and to challenge and support them every step of the way. We get to know the children and their families on an individual basis and promote the children’s home environment and learning throughout the setting.

At Pinecones we encourage the children to grow into strong, independent, individuals through having the freedom to self-select their choices in activities, self-serving their own meals and learning the importance of looking after the environment around them.

With their knowledge and understanding of each individual child, the practitioners provide learning opportunities both indoors and out to entice, excite and extend their learning and development further. We encourage the children to develop their knowledge and understanding of the world around them through play so that their experience of nursery will always provide fun memories to last a lifetime!

We encourage and promote adventurous play within the setting that is managed and risk assessed suitably. All activities are risk assessed alongside the children meaning they understand how to stay safe and how to manage risks. It's important that we trust our little people to challenge themselves and take appropriate steps to push themselves and grow confidence.

Provocations are provided to encourage & provoke learning opportunities and extend the children’s knowledge and understanding. Resources and equipment are often changed to promote curiosity and imagination to explore the environment around them becoming confident little people. We love to get creative with a wide range of paints, sand, water and other art materials so please dress your child for mess on a nursery day.

‘School readiness’ is a key part of the early years foundation stage which is the curriculum in which we follow throughout the nursery. As early years educators we have an important role in supporting and promoting the children’s development so that they can continue to thrive when they start school.

Many of us feel pressure to ensure that children are ‘school ready’ but most children will gain the important characteristics and skills to transition to school within our approach. School readiness is not about being able to write their names, nor is it about being able to count to 100, however, it is about providing the children with confidence and high self-esteem which is embedded throughout our approach.

We support and encourage the children to become leaders in their own play, to be inquisitive about the world around them, to be confident to question those around them, to build their own friendships and to become independent in their self-help skills.

Do they understand how to stay safe? What acceptable behavior is? Do they understand their actions have consequences? Will they take turns and share with one another? Can they actively learn, confidently share ideas and critically think?

These are some of the vital skills that will ensure your children progress well at school and become confident learners. We, of course cover areas such as literacy and Maths but in an interesting, inspiring way and a way that is based around their interests. Our children are all amazing, unique and individual people, so let’s allow them to learn in their own way empowering them to be creative and confident little people.

The children are provided with opportunities to self-serve their own food, to prepare the tables for meals and to tidy up afterwards in an environment where they can enjoy meals socially with their peers. We promote healthy eating throughout the setting through our freshly, home cooked meals which provide a balanced diet for all and through our mealtime routines.

We find that children are more successful in eating when they are given the opportunity to choose which foods they would like to eat when they can access it independently. Social learning happens throughout our meals times as children learn new vocabulary and practice skills such as turn taking, waiting and sharing.

Our Garden

The early year’s children have free flow to outdoors throughout their day, our babies will also spend a majority of their morning and afternoons outside in their designated baby garden. All continuous provision is covered both indoors and out, which includes water play, sand, malleable materials, role play and mark making, with all seven areas of learning embedded throughout this.

The great outdoors provides the children with a variety of opportunities to grow into strong, independent children through managing their own risks when climbing trees, problem solving through building assault courses, and exploring our wonderful mud kitchen.

We support the children in learning vital life skills through the importance of looking after the environment and caring from living things. From planting flowers and herbs to picking up litter and observing wildlife. The children are encouraged to be educated for their future. It's our view that the garden is an extension of the inside area and all if not more learning takes place in the great outdoors.

The children are also able to access the college fields which provides them the freedom to run around in an open space and explore the natural world around them further. We also go out in the local community, visiting local parks and the library. During visits out of the nursery premises, our ratios change to 1:2.

It's known that children sleep better, eat better and behave better with outdoor play and fresh air. In the warmer month’s children eat outside and even sleep outside where possible.

 

 

My son had never spent time away from his Mummy and Daddy before but he has quickly settled and is really enjoying himself. There is a lovely home from home atmosphere and the staff are nurturing and attentive to the children and make sure parents are kept informed of how the little ones are doing. The children enjoy a lovely range of stimulating activities and the outside space is also lovely. The food is varied, nutritious and very much enjoyed-especially the cheese straws ?? I noticed some real improvements in my son's development since he has started and really can't recommend highly enough xxx

Jenna Turner - March 2023 5 Stars