Our aims at Cramond Playgroup
At Cramond Playgroup we strive to provide a safe, happy and stimulating environment for children to play, learn, develop independence and make friends as part of their first steps through their education journey.
Within the Playgroup we strongly believe in “Getting it right for every child” (GIRFEC), supporting families by making sure children and young people can receive the right help, at the right time, from the right people.
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Following your child’s development with us with Learning Journals
In order to ensure that we “get it right for every child”, our staff take regular observations for all of our children relating to their development milestones. To do so we use the online tool learning Journals so that staff and parents can track and follow the progress of key events with a view to prepare the child for their next education steps, particularly in preparation for nursery and primary school. This is a safe and secure space for you to track to progress of key learning milestones. These are only updated with key milestones and are not intended as a regular method to update you on the goings on at the Playgroup.
Shortly after your child starts with us, you will receive log in details for the Learning Journal portal. If you lose these please contact Cramondplaygroupdeputy@gmail.com to request these again.
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Curriculum topics
Although play is central to the children’s time at Playgroup, our team work hard to provide a range of opportunities for children to develop socially, physically and creatively as well as develop their own independence. We encourage children to have a positive attitude and respect for both themselves and other people.
We try to ensure that learning is child led with follow up play ideas incorporated into each week in other areas of the curriculum.
We also try to incorporate seasonal events such as Spring, Halloween, Winter etc into our general play and arts and crafts activities to further reinforce learning opportunities.
To assess the wellbeing of a child at any given time, we compare our children’s experience against eight wellbeing indicators represented by the SHANARRI acronym:-
SHANARRI asks whether a child is:
- Safe – does the child know how to keep themselves safe and how to ask for help?
- Healthy – does the child follow a healthy diet and maintain proper hygiene?
- Achieving – does the child have the opportunity to learn, practise and excel, both in school and at home?
- Nurtured – is the child part of a caring network of family and friends?
- Active – does the child take part in regular exercise and outdoor activities?
- Respected – is the child listened to and valued both in school and at home?
- Responsible – can the child act appropriately, follow instructions and be a role model?
- Included – does the child feel part of their family and school community?
Snack at Playgroup
At Cramond Playgroup we aim to provide our children with a healthy range of nutritious snacks throughout the week. These are usually available in a single sitting and prior to COVID would involve preparation of the food by the children themselves. We are always looking into new fun ways to engage the children with a range of food types. Please let us know if your child has a particular allergy and we will make the required changes to our snack routines.
Outdoor time
We are fortunate within our setting to be surrounded by fantastic woodland areas, a local park and a fun outdoor garden area. During the children’s time with us we aim to spend as much time outdoors learning about nature and having fun! Please make sure you provide the required clothes for outdoor play.