Learning through play at COG Pre-School

Play-based learning approach

Our experienced practitioners advocate and follow a curriculum of 'learning through play' as a powerful approach that supports comprehensive development in the early years. Using a model of Early Intervention across all areas of our service delivery; in our pre-school, toddler groups and family support, we aim to lay strong foundations for future academic success and lifelong learning for children attending our pre-school.

The Early Intervention model, which identifies and provides effective early support to children who are at risk of low outcomes for various reasons, has been proven to improve developmental success rates. It is particularly important in the first three years of a child's life, when development is at its most rapid. We work with other professionals in a child's life, as well as from our own observations, to monitor and determine where extra support might be needed and aim to provide every child with the opportunities they need to progress.

Take a look at 'A Day at COG Pre-School' to see us in action!

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^{Thanks to Stephen Makin at Laurelgrove Productions for kindly making this video for us.}

Learning through play is a fundamental aspect of early childhood education and recognises the natural curiosity and creativity of young children. Play provides an holistic and enjoyable approach that supports progress through early intervention and across the seven areas of learning outlined in the Early Years Foundation Stage (EYFS). These include primarily communication and language, physical development, and personal, social and emotional development, then literacy, mathematics, understanding the world, and expressive arts and design.

At COG, our approach to learning can be broadly categorised into adult-led and child-led or initiated activities. Using a combination of both, we create a balanced and enriching learning environment that caters to individual needs and interests, while also providing necessary guidance and structure.

An adult-led approach involves educators taking an active role in planning and directing learning experiences; to design structured activities, set goals, and guide children through specific learning objectives. This approach is often used to introduce new concepts, teach specific skills, or facilitate group activities.

A child-led or initiated approach emphasises children taking the lead in their learning experiences. Educators observe and support children's interests, allowing them to explore and initiate activities based on their curiosity and preferences. This approach fosters independence, creativity, and self-directed learning.

Learning environments

We are fortunate at COG to have wonderful spaces for play and learning both indoors and outdoors!

Playroom

Our bright and welcoming playroom is spacious and calming. Decorated in neutral tones and with light wooden furniture, we bring colour, movement and texture in through our resources and activities. This enables our experienced practitioners to determine just what will suit the children in each session. Designed not to overwhelm but to inspire and empower children to be able to focus on their play and their early development.

Role playing room

Linked to the main playroom is a small room we use for role playing and focus stories. Our musical instruments and lots of other resources can be chosen from here too. This can be set up as a shoe shop, cafe, animal hospital, Dr's surgery; the options are limited only by imagination! You'll sometimes find it as a scene from one of our focus stories, such as the surface of the moon, or with dressing up clothes for children to re-enact the story.

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Activity and Sensory rooms

Accessed directly from our main playroom, these versatile rooms can be one large space or two smaller rooms. Used to provide a quiet space for calming activities and sensory play, the sensory room is equipped with a bubble tube, fairy lights, comfy beanbags and soft blankets; as well as a host of sensory toys and resources. This area is also home to our vast library of children's books and many other resources. It is used for small group work, led by a pre-school practitioner and allowing children to focus on tasks to help them, for example, to prepare for primary school or support them to meet outcomes on a My Plan, an achievable learning plan used to support children with SEND. You can find out more about how children with additional needs and SEND thrive at COG on our Early Years SEND Support page. Children also come here to choose a book from the lending library to take home in their book bags and to sing 'hello' at the start of our afternoon sessions.

Playground

Our playground was refurbished in November 2021 and quickly became a new favourite. Designed with imagination and for the imagination, the open-ended intention for the large wooden structures allows them to be incorporated into children's imaginative play, as well as using them in more traditional and multi-purpose ways.

Outdoor play and learning holds such a central role here at COG that we have a page of our website dedicated to it. You can find out more about all of our outside areas, including the playground, on the Outdoor Learning page.

Growing garden

Our fenced growing garden has raised beds, feeders for the birds, and sometimes the squirrels, and even its own scarecrow!

Here we learn about the growing cycle and have fun planting a variety of plants, seeds and bulbs; some to eat, some to give as gifts, some to explore the different colours, smells and textures.

The children enjoy growing and harvesting, proudly presenting their produce to our pre-school cook, who will include it on the lunch menu.

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Children's cloakroom

Our children's cloakroom is large, bright and airy. This room forms part of learning about routines and structure in children's lives. We come here on arrival to take off and hang up coats and bags, and to wash our hands, which the children are encouraged to learn how to do; fostering independence and self-care skills. This room is equally important for children who are toilet training. We work closely with parents and carers during this vital time in a child's life, ensuring consistency between home and pre-school as much as possible. We have an array of different potties and four small toilets with different coloured doors to choose from! Children learn good hygiene routines after using the toilet and also to wash their hands before eating and after playing outside or with 'messy play'.

We also work closely with parents and carers to understand and follow any specific nappy changing routines used at home, to ensure consistency, and that children feel comfortable and secure while their care routines are followed by practitioners. As with many routines at COG, those that take place in this room are often accompanied by a song, with repetition and a tune being two of the best ways to understand and retain learning in a fun way!

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Soft Play

Our newly refurbished soft play room is a jewel in the children's treasure trove of activities. Furnished in a contemporary colour scheme, with sensory wall panels and activities, soft play provides so many opportunities for learning, and is so much fun the children don't even realise the benefits it provides! From building core strength and gross motor skills, to developing co-ordination and problem-solving, to socialisation and confidence building, soft play is a valuable and immensely popular resource. Perhaps one of its best assets is its inclusivity. With soft floors and walls, it offers a safe space particularly for children who need to build strength to support a mobility issue, or who have challenging behaviours that sometimes benefit from a protective environment in which they can be free to explore and move around independently.

Therapy room

This room is used to provide Music Therapy for our children, which you can read more about on the Early Years SEND Support page.

The Therapy Room is, as with the main playroom, painted in a calming and neutral colour scheme, free from distractions and anything which might overwhelm the senses. Children are referred for one-to-one Music Therapy here to support various needs, which could be due to a diagnosed condition or syndrome, or to provide an emotional outlet to support confidence- building and resilience.

Undercover play areas

We are so fortunate to have THREE undercover, outdoor play areas here at COG! Fresh air and space to explore is so important in our pre-school sessions, and areas that we can still use outside in all weathers are wonderful resources to have.

Fenced free flow area

Accessed directly from the playroom, and leading to our playground, this area is securely fenced and gated so that children can choose, during free flow times, whether they want to play indoors or out. Activities will be set up in this area, and staff are on hand both in and outside to support children's choices.

This area is truly versatile, offering fresh air and outside play, rain or shine.

Covered sandpit

Our large sandpit is a favourite of the children and when it was made 'all weather' in 2021, with it's cover to protect from the rain and shade from the sun, this provided even more opportunities for learning. The water wall provides lots of fun and a way to create wet sand for building when the weather is warm. With lots of space and plenty of sand, the children make happy memories playing here.

Outdoor classroom

Situated within COG's grounds in our beautiful woodland, the outdoor classroom is a natural resource we love. From rustic craft activities, story time or music and singing, this area is also used for 'Stay and Play' events, when families are invited to join part of their child's pre-school session.

Most children learn well outdoors, free from the distractions and confines of an indoor environment. We benefit from the soft natural light and listen to the sounds of the birds.

Extensive grounds and woodland

One of our strengths here at COG is our outdoor learning provision, which helps us to meet the requirements of all our pre-school children. Children love to explore their surroundings and have outdoor adventures; with fresh air and exercise being such an important part of health, growth and learning. We are so lucky to be able to support this area of their development so well within our large grounds, which offers a variety of outdoor spaces, from our playground with large wooden play structures, including a trike track, sandpit and train, to our grassy area with a slide, playhouses and large boat! Not to mention our woodland area with pathways to explore, a base camp, 'fairy circle' and outdoor classroom plus composting toilet!

Our outdoor areas are not only great fun and a valuable resource to support children's development but following our Early Intervention model, these spaces allow us to provide experiences which may not be available to some children for many different reasons, as well as helping us to support various different sensory, additional and SEND needs.

There is so much to tell about our outdoor provision that it can all be seen on our dedicated page - Outdoor Learning.‍

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