Hapinness venne diagram

Our Ethos & Vision

Our ethos at Teepee Day Nursery Bracknell is to bridge the gap between small owner-operators and the large chains of nurseries.

We’re professional with a real personal touch, and our vision, which has proved to be an award-winning formula, is “Happy children + Happy team + Happy parents = Happy all round!”

Our Curriculum

We have honed our curriculum over the years to blend ‘In the Moment Planning’, parent partnership and outdoor learning. It is in this way that we play out our ethos of happy children, happy parents and happy team by capturing and intertwining each of these ‘voices’. With over 20 years of early years experience and a highly qualified team, we ensure that we remain specialists in this area of education; early years.

Child playing with bubbles
Child doing some gardening

In the moment planning

‘In the Moment Planning’ is an educational approach that harnesses the interests of the children in real-time. Our experienced and skilled practitioners observe and engage with the children, responding to their interests and needs as they arise. This approach allows us to tailor our activities to the children’s individual needs and preferences, providing a more personalized and effective learning experience.

We pick one child each week to be our ‘Focus Child’ and all children are rotated throughout the term. This child’s interests and developmental needs dictate our curriculum for all the children for the week. All the children are invited to join in with the Focus Child’s activities, as these morph and change through the week. Because the activities are centered on a real child’s interests the other children are equally engaged, learning and having fun.

Based around the child’s interests and learning needs, our curriculum is designed to provide a balance of child-led and practitioner-led activities, ensuring that the children are developing a range of skills and knowledge. From the earliest age we encourage the children to be active participants in their learning. By using the Focus Child as the vehicle of our curriculum delivery we can provide opportunities for them to explore, experiment and make decisions.

The Parents’ and Child’s Voice

We start our Focus Week with you, as parents, asking for your thoughts and opinions and end it with a meeting with you. Here we feedback on our week and give ideas and suggestions for next steps and home learning. We invite parents to come in throughout the year, but particularly around your child’s ‘Focus Week’ we invite parents in to share a skill; read a story; or enjoy a meal with the children. This rich tapestry of parent involvement continues to strengthen our nursery community.

As the children get older, part of our Focus Child preparation involves asking your child for their opinions on their focus week. These questions are based on seminal research projects, which we have honed and added to over the years. Babies and younger children pick their activities from a small selection of options based around the things they enjoy.

In this way we continue to grow on our ethos of Happy Child + Happy Practitioner + Happy Parent.

Parent holding her young baby smiling
Multiple children with garden tools clearing the ground

Environment as the ‘Third’ Teacher

We believe that the play environment for all children is the ‘third teacher’. This concept comes from the Reggio Emilia approach to education. This means that the physical environment where children learn and play is seen as an important and intentional part of the learning process, alongside the teacher and the child themselves.

Just as a good teacher can inspire and guide children’s learning, we know that a well-designed environment can too. The layout, materials, and atmosphere of a space can have a big impact on how children feel, think, and interact with each other and their surroundings. We have carefully planned, designed and evaluated our learning environment. It is in this way that we have refined our spaces and the equipment within them to encourages exploration, creativity, and learning for all ages.

Ofsted agrees; in our last inspection they described our garden as ‘awe-inspiring’. Come and see for yourself.

Outdoor Learning

We are also passionate about the benefits of outdoor learning. Our large and well-resourced outdoor areas provide a safe and stimulating environment for the children to explore and learn in. We believe that children should have the opportunity to connect with nature and experience the benefits of being outdoors. Our curriculum includes a range of outdoor activities such as gardening, exploring the natural world, and physical play.

In our single storey building all the children’s rooms can access the garden, and so even our babies can ‘freeflow’ in and out. Free flow play is an approach to early years education that allows children to explore and learn through their own interests and choices, and so goes hand-in-hand with In the Moment Planning.

Outdoor garden with trees and logs
Children hugging each other and smiling

Having Fun

In essence, we believe that children learn best when they are engaged and having fun whether they are playing inside or out.

At our day nursery, we understand the importance of providing a holistic approach to learning. Our curriculum is designed harness children’s natural curiosity, thirst for learning and instinct to have fun. We believe that by working together we can achieve this every day.

Extra Curricular Classes

The team at Teepee Day Nursery Bracknell never stands still, because we know that our children won’t – literally. We’re constantly developing our activities to keep your child on their toes, physically and mentally. Activities are always changing, but making use of the woodland on our doorstep through the Forest School programme is a constant. Other activities, which all involve creativity, science, self-esteem – as well as general development and fun – include: