Barkway Playgroup

For further information, please contact Mrs Joe Barker on 01763 848199 or 01763 848249.

The playgroup has been part of the village for over thirty years. We hold our sessions in the village hall, Cambridge Road.  We take children form two years old accompanied by an adult.  From the age of two and a half, they can attend sessions alone.  We are open each morning except Wednesdays from 9.30 am until 12pm and there is an optional lunch session until 1pm. 

We offer a varied curriculum covering a range of activities to promote early learning and believe that children learn through play.  We an outdoor play area, which the children really enjoy.  We had a good OFSTED report and are continuing to improve resources and provide opportunities for the children to learn from new experiences.  We also have achieved the Herts Quality Standard Kite Mark for the quality of our care. 

This terms theme is Safety and we will be teaching the children all aspects of keeping safe including visits from the community policeman, the fire brigade and road safety officer. 

There is also a mother and baby/toddler group, which meets every Wednesday, offering activities, and informative talks from professionals in the child care sector.  They meet every Wednesday at 9.45 – 11.45, in the village hall. On 15 March there will be a talk on mealtimes and feeding.

GROUP AIMS

• Provide a safe welcoming environment where every person feels valued.
• Provide an interesting, stimulating environment encouraging positive learning experiences.
• Provide an environment free from any discrimination or stereotyping.
• Allow each child to develop at his or her own pace matching expectation to ability rather than chronological age.
• Encourage independence and confidence in the children. Encourage friendship and support between members of the group building confidence, self-esteem and consideration of others.
• Recognise every effort and achievement made, and reward with praise and encouragement.
• To encourage and support development in al intellectual, physical, social, emotional, creative and moral areas.
• Recognise and appreciate a child’s opinions, efforts and interests without enforcing adult perceptions and opinions.
• Take part in activities with children providing “scaffolding” for their learning.
• Promote an environment where play is considered a valuable and worthwhile tool for learning.
• Provide a flexible routine that allows children to play in a structured environment that promotes individual development and independence.

SPRING TERM THEME

Personal, social and emotional development 

• Have a positive approach to new experiences
• Demonstrate a sense of pride in own achievement
• Relate and make attachments to members of their group 

Learn the safe way to cross a road

• Care and think about others
• Role play
• Small group time

Communication and Literacy

• Use words/gestures to communicate
• Listen to repeated song/story and recall words
• Listen to others in small group 

• Use puppet to act out stories / dress up / uniforms
• crossing roads song, letter recognition
• Small group time, role play 

Mathematical development

• Use stories/rhymes to develop understanding of numbers
• Use size language
• Compare two groups of objects to see if they have the same number 

Counting games/songs etc.

• Compare sizes – introduce volume
• Cars and lorries – road layout 

Knowledge and Understanding

• Investigate construction materials
• Be aware of the world around you
• Show an interest in why things happen 

• Construction resources – Junk modelling
• Talk about things that cause harm
• Why we need to be aware of dangers 

Physical Development

• Negotiate a coarse with a given route
• Use one handed tools and equipment
• Respond by means of gestures/movement 

Road safety on bikes

• Cutting out work sheet objects
• Ready steady go games

 Creative Development

• Enjoy joining in with music and dance
• Notice what adults do and mimic when adult is not there
• Differentiate marks and movements on paper
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Music time

• Crossing road procedure, Actions to songs
• Tyre prints using paint