About Us

At Sunbeams, our child-initiated learning takes place through "Planning in the Moment" – where teachable moments and concepts are discovered through a child's play. This unique approach allows each child to develop at their own pace whilst following their individual interests. This also enables us to guide the child-led play into different objectives that we wish to pursue. The flexible and spontaneous nature of this style enables us to learn about the children more personally whilst they tailor their own learning experiences.

 

What is “Planning in the Moment”?
Our setting is organised so that each child can decide where to go, how to utilise the indoor and outside learning spaces, which resources to use, whether to be alone or with others, and for how long they wish to pursue an activity. By doing so, they become deeply involved in their tasks and progress occurs more organically. In some cases, children’s level of involvement can dip. This can happen for a variety of reasons: they may not know what to do or how to approach something; they may be faced with unfamiliar equipment; others may unsettle their play; or they may need something added to enhance their experience. When this happens, the child will need to seek help, from other children or from adults. This is when skilful practitioners would step in and assess what is needed for the child to carry on – these are what we would call ‘teachable moments’. These will either be recorded as observations or WOW moments. Practitioner observations, WOW moments, independent work, and experiences from home all come together to form a child’s Learning Journey.

 

Focus Week
Once a term, your child will be chosen to be a focus child. Practitioners will focus primarily on your child, their interests, strengths and areas of development. Prior to your child’s focus week, you will be given a Focus Child Plan – this form requires parents/guardians to write down any relevant information about their child at present (this could involve birthdays, a new pet, siblings, a holiday, special day trips, etc.). It is also an opportunity for you to share any concerns you may have or any areas where you feel that your child would benefit from working on. These areas of development will form part of the planning for the week.
Along with this form, we ask that you either print or send us a Dojo message containing up to nine recent photos of your child. These are a great insight into your child’s interests and life events. Observations and teachable moments will be documented on your child’s Observation Sheet to build their Learning Journey. As part of your child’s focus week, they will also be able to present an item in Show and Tell.
Parents and carers play a key role in building their child’s Learning Journey. You can send us WOW moments via Class Dojo add to their portfolio.

 

Parent Consultation
Following your child’s focus week, you will receive a phone call from your child’s keyworker alongside your child’s Observation Sheet. The keyworker will talk you through the events of the week, targets worked on and areas of development going forward. Your half-termly phone call will be in place of a formal Parents Evening. You will receive a phone call after each focus week throughout the academic year.

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If you have any questions/queries regarding Planning in the Moment, you can contact our nursery manager, Mrs Flack, via the school office.