IN THE SETTING
At Fingertips we offer inclusive, enriching and exciting opportunities in a nurturing and sensitive environment where each child is valued and encouraged to have fun and be happy, whilst learning new skills. There is a high adult to child ratio of a highly-qualified team that allows us to focus on each child’s individual needs.
Decision making and age appropriate independence are encouraged. There are topics that we investigate but we always respond to your child’s individual interests and build on their strengths. We aim to meet and plan for the individual social and learning needs of each child every week whilst having lots of fun along the way.
Our qualified and passionate team ensure that each day is packed with exciting and motivating learning opportunities. We strive to offer our children the opportunity to embark on a journey towards a life-long love of learning.
The layout of our setting is specifically designed to meet all areas of the Early Years Foundation Stage (EYFS) as is our natural garden.
Singing songs, reading together, playing games with letters and numbers and having fun with friends gives Pre-school aged children a head start and helps them with their confidence, so they can handle whatever life may bring.
We designate areas of the setting and the garden for learning such as a role play, small world, maths, junk modelling, literacy, art, malleable materials and construction tables. We have labelled boxes and a choosing book so that children can select the equipment or activity that they wish to play with. This gives the children a sense of independence, responsibility and achievement. Throughout the session children can choose whether they want to select an activity from visiting our nature garden, diving into the mud kitchen, reading in our library shed or experimenting with sand and water, select a healthy snack or choose an area to play in. We also invite them into their small learning group, where they play games which help to extend their learning. At the end of the session we come together as a whole group to engage in show and tell, interactive story and music, songs or dance.
FOREST SCHOOL
Fingertips were the first preschool to pioneer Forest School in Harpenden. We have been able to share our expertise and skills with
local schools, pre-schools and nurseries, working with them and giving their children opportunities to experience this amazing approach.
Forest School is based on the Scandinavian educational learning approach where children can develop their confidence and self-esteem in a natural outdoor woodland environment. They learn new skills, how to manage their own risk and are given opportunities to use their own initiative to problem solve. Their play is imaginative and helps them grow into creative thinkers. We see our children beginning to share and co-operate with their peers while achieving their own goals. Forest School is an all-weather, all year approach and by attending Forest School sessions the children
learn about themselves and to appreciate the changing natural environment.
We believe that children need to reconnect with the natural world; touch it, feel it, taste it and play in it.
Some of the things we do at forest school; whittling sticks, making mud pies, sawing, climbing trees, playing on rope swings, playing imaginary games, lighting fires and learning about the environment and the natural world we live in. These activities are carefully designed to; build confidence and self-esteem, improve communication and social skills, learn to recognise and manage risk improve team skills and provide a natural motivation and positive attitude towards learning.
This freedom to explore and play allows children to feel in control of managing their own risks and making their own decisions. It is a place where your child cannot fail and can only succeed. This sense of achievement and the confidence in learning that forest school brings develops their brain in a unique way. We see children who start with us who are unable to talk or form sentences and within a short space of time their confidence has excelled and their speech begins to develop rapidly. The development of language in both the setting and in the forest, has been immense. In the forest children from all ability groups are able to break the boundaries of their limitations exceeding expectations of development and learning.