Our curriculum is structured around the acronym BARN.
Belonging - This aspect focuses on building personal identity and connections with preschool and the local community. Children learn by forming friendships, confidently sharing their thoughts and ideas, and understanding diversity and variation in the wider world.
Active - This element promotes physical growth, healthy choices and learning by 'doing'. Children develop fine and gross motor skills both indoors and outdoors and discover the curriculum through hands-on activities.
Resilience - We support emotional growth, independence, and learning to cope with everyday challenges. Children learn to understand and navigate their big emotions and safely challenge themselves in play.
Nurture - We teach mindfulness and practice yoga within preschool. We foster an understanding of how to care for people and the world around us. Children will engage with topics like sustainability, growing, recycling, and animal care to deepen their connection to the environment.
Our Curriculum
The BARN curriculum supports children's growth and development through play. It follows the Early Years Foundation Stage (EYFS) principles and focuses on seven key areas of learning:
Prime Areas
- Personal, social and emotional development
- Physical development
- Communication and language
Specific Areas
- Literacy
- Mathematics
- Understanding the world
- Expressive arts and design
"Play is never play, it's learning in action"
What does our day look like?
Staff are on hand to welcome parents and carers as they arrive, helping children hang up their bags and coats before self-registration
Our fun-filled morning begins with circle time, where we sing, chat about the weather, days of the week and read a story. Children have the freedom to choose from a wide range of activities, with our friendly key workers nearby to support their play and language development. Our outdoor area is a fantastic space full of engaging toys, including cars, bikes, a new sandpit, and a mud kitchen where imaginations can run wild.
At 10 a.m., it’s snack time. Children can join their friends, pick from a variety of healthy foods, and even learn how to pour their own drinks.
Throughout the morning, we have fun with group activities like parachute games, children’s yoga, and mindfulness classes. We also have Rugby Tots join us to offer fun and educational rugby sessions.
Our Clover-focused group, offered during the session, is designed especially for our nursery children and provides extra support and activities as they get ready for school.
As the session ends, we come together to share our favourite moments from the morning, sing songs, and enjoy some stories before heading home or joining our lunch club for more fun in the afternoon.
Learning Groups
At Barn Close Pre School,
we offer two learning groups for our children:
Bramble
Clover
The Bramble group is designed for our preschoolers, focusing on helping our new starters and younger children settle in and learn through play, while supporting their development across all areas of the Early Years Foundation Stage (EYFS).
The Clover group is for our older nursery-aged children.
Alongside Bramble activities, this group is specifically tailored for slightly older children and offers small-group activities that focus on fostering independence and helping them become school-ready.
For more information about our groups, please get in touch with us using the link below. Thank you.
Sustainability
We are passionate about including sustainability within our curriculum. With trained staff and support from our local council, we are proud to offer a range of activities to support our environment.
These activities include;
- Gardening & Planting
- Feeding the surrounding wildlife
- Food Waste & Recycling, and much more
At Barn Close Pre-school, we help teach children that small steps can lead to big changes and will create a better world for them to grow up in.
