GROWING WITH ORCHARD
GROWING WITH ORCHARD
We have five rooms at Orchard: Pips, Blossoms, Red Apples, Green Apples and our popular after-school club, Orchard Explorers. Each room is dedicated to the different ages and stages of the children, but with our flexible approach, we do not just move up children according to their date of birth, but consider when they are developmentally ready for the move into the next group.
Pips is dedicated to babies from 3 months and is a room full of love and warmth, gorgeous sensory activities and exploratory play experiences, all within a room that offers flexible and individual care around your baby’s routines.
Blossoms gives toddlers between the approximate age of eighteen months to thirty months a fun and exciting environment in which to learn and to explore. Plenty of outdoor play ensures that all children have a wide and exciting range of activities.
Red Apples is for children between two and three years old, providing that extra stimulation for the inquisitive mind, whilst ensuring that boundaries are understood in both play and friendships. Children continue to develop their love of learning, whist enjoying activities that support their emerging numeracy and literacy skills.
Green Apples is where children learn and further develop important skills in the year before school. Children continue to learn through play and carefully planned and adult led activities, whilst continuing the important job of getting 'school ready'.
We manage all transitions very carefully, especially when children are advancing to the next room. We take great care to ensure that each child is given time to adapt to their new environment; firstly consulting with parents and deciding together whether a child has reached the necessary level of development, then introducing them to the next room and their new key person. Children are then supported with a number of settling in sessions until they are happy and ready to move up.
Pips
Babies from 3 months
“Pips" is the name of our baby room, and it is where the adventure begins! Pips is a loving, warm and stimulating environment inside with a safe, secure and sheltered baby garden just outside.
A fine balance of play and quiet times are key to a day in Pips, with a dedicated staff team who understand babies and their development and can support these important early days. This special environment gives babies the very best start on the road to learning and development. From an unsteady crawl to the first tentative steps, our fully qualified team are there to hold a hand and celebrate first achievements.
Blossoms
1½ to 2½ years
Tentative steps quickly turn into enthusiastic leaps, and our Blossoms room gives our toddlers the space to grow and develop in complete safety.
"Blossoms" is designed to stimulate and encourage these inquisitive minds, encourage friendships, provide challenges and establish boundaries. Our toddlers play in a language rich environment with a staff team who are dedicated to this precious stage of development and learning. Lots of outdoor play in the playground and the school field encourage a love of the environment and a chance to run, jump and climb. Indoors, children experiment with messy play, role play and countless other age appropriate activities, all to keep these little minds busy and to encourage a love of learning.
Red Apples
2½ to 3½ years
For children nearing 2 ½, we enter the busy world of Red Apples. Days crammed with fun give the perfect channel for seemingly endless energy and enthusiasm for learning. Red Apples are given the space to experiment and create, investigate and learn. There are endless opportunities for developing imagination through stories and song time, circle time, messy play, role play and outdoor adventures. Children forge strong friendships as they collaborate and share ideas and experiences.
Green Apples
3 to 4 years
Green Apples are our oldest group of children who will all leave for school at the end of the year. They have an independent classroom and free flow playground designed and resourced just for them. Our Green Apples teachers and practitioners are dedicated towards the meticulous preparation of children for their next adventure at first school, whilst ensuring all have an enormous amount of fun! Developing numeracy and literacy skills are an important part of each day, as is the frequent ventures into the countryside with our Forest School leaders giving Green Apples children a meaningful appreciation of our environment, whilst allowing them to interact with nature.
Orchard Explorers
After school club for 4 to 9 years
Our After School Club 'Orchard Explorers', offers fully supervised non-stop fun for children aged 4 to 9 years, giving them lots of freedom to play and relax after a demanding day at school. Inside, we have a great range of activities and games for the children to enjoy; whilst outside we make the most of the extensive school grounds and play equipment.
There are two sessions available at Explorers - The full session is from 3pm to 6pm, and the short session is 3pm to 5pm. Both sessions include tea.
We are positioned within the boundaries of Trinity First School, but are always delighted to welcome children from other local schools to Orchard Explorers.
