Moving to a new school and country stimulates children’s curiosity and enhances development, but it can also be a little daunting. Our friendly staff, with key workers dedicated to the settling in process, welcome children with a positive attitude and help them get used to their new environment, complementing support from their parents and others around them.
Our relatively small size means that we are able to pay close attention to each child’s personal development. We place strong emphasis on being able to interact well as part of a group – making friends is fundamental to the educational experience we provide.
Attachment theorists, such as Bowlby, promote the benefits of focused attention from adults in developing a child’s individuality. With our healthy staff-to-child ratio, we ensure that each child is paid enough attention by a variety of well-qualified adults throughout the day, while ensuring that a child does not become overly dependent on one staff member.
Academic goals for children are important, but we also know that children’s development needs to be measured carefully against more personal criteria. This is why we work with parents to create Individual Development Programmes for each child, tailored to their age, to keep track of their progress, abilities and other factors, such as their emotional development.
In our teaching, we respect and listen to the children’s wishes and concerns, but ensure that clear, kind and firm instructions are given about the behaviour expected of them. Our expectations for children’s progress are always measured against the appropriate levels of development for their age.