Phoenix Preschool, Carries Hall, Rush Green Road, Romford, Essex

Our setting supports and promotes the entitlement of every young child to be and become:

A strong child
A strong child is about young children being strong, confident, capable and self-assured. To do this they need to be secure within loving relationships at home and within the nurturing care of their key person in their early years setting. Young children are getting to know themselves and what they can do; the respect, care, love and emotional support they receive helps them develop trust and positive self image. The way we acknowledge and affirm babies and young children leads them to gain confidence and inner strength. Having close relationships with them promotes self assurance and a sense of belonging in our setting as a secure base to learn and try new experiences.

A skilful communicator
Through being with people who love them at home, and through their key persons who care for them in the nursery, young children will become skilful communicators. They will make friendships where they will learn about other people, communicating and sharing their feelings and experiences. They will learn they have a voice, that they are listened to and responded to in a way that supports their understanding and search for meaning, helping them to learn the skills they will need for communicating with others. Through opportunities for talk with adults and peers, through sustained interactions, through stories, songs, mime and gesture, children will learn to become skilful communicators.

A competent learner
Children are learners from birth. They are actively involved in exploring their environment, using their senses to build up their knowledge about the world. Our provision young children the opportunity to take part in planned and unplanned activities that will help them to make connections with what they already know and build new understandings to help them form more complex ideas about the world. They will have opportunity to be imaginative and creative; to express their ideas and represent them.

A healthy child
The healthy child is one who is emotionally secure and knows that he or she can depend on carers to meet his or her needs. Through our key person approach we aim to provide young children with secure relationships as a firm foundation for them to gradually learn to become independent at their own pace. Young children will have their needs for good nutrition, play and rest met so that their growth and development are assured. We provide an environment that protects children from harm and abuse; we minimise risk to children, but at the same time provide a safe structure in which they can learn to take their own risks, such as climbing or riding a bike. We provide boundaries within which they learn about being with others in a social group.