306 - Planning the environment

Hi,
I could use another eye to look over some work I've written if someone could be so kind. Not sure if I have written enough and if there is anything else you think would be useful to add, I'd like to hear your ideas.
The write-up is for 306 - Plan and organise environments for children and families. I had an activity sheet where I was supposed to design the layout and environment of a nursery, but instead have decided it would be easier for me to write about how it is set up in the nursery I work at. Ok...well, here it is!

The manager has recently changed the layout of the ground floor Sunshine and Rainbow rooms. This was because we needed to incorporate an actual area for mathematical development into the rooms, in order to fully meet the curriculum.
I think that the move around has been a change for the better. The different areas of the rooms are now more clearly defined, still with sufficient space to move between them.
There are only a few negative points about the change. The tall shelving unit has been moved approximately half way into the Rainbow room, which is difficult to see behind at times, and is therefore not safe in my opinion. Secondly, we have a box of musical instruments that has been placed next to the book corner. It is not a very good idea to have noisy toys such as these right by the quiet area, although saying this, I do realise the difficulty in trying to perfectly place everything in the little space we have. I am trying to think a way around this though! We also have art racks, but they are situated in the Smiley room, where the children have their snack! I have suggested to the manager that they be removed from the walls and put into the Rainbow room instead, near the creative area. She agreed that this would be better.
The Rainbow room contains the messier activities, as it has an easy to clean floor, whereas the Sunshine room is carpeted. They are set out with the following types of activities:

Sunshine

- Construction
- Small world
- Maths
- Book corner
- Role play

Rainbow

- Sand & water trays
- Creative
- Malleable
- Office.

The space we have is very limited and to get around this, we often combine the areas. For example, role play can be taken into the garden (car wash, emergency services…etc) and small world or construction in the sand tray (toy people, animals, bricks…etc). This works very well.
All sections of the room support the 6 areas of learning. Some activities even cover more than one of these areas and at times, all of them. Below is a list of the 6 areas, with a couple of examples of types of activities, equipment and resources we provide to support the delivery of the curriculum.

PSED

• Role-play shop for social interaction.
- Till, toy/real money, purses, handbags, shopping baskets, empty (clean) food boxes, pricing labels…
Also linked to: CLL, PSRN & CD
• Bikes and scooters. We only have a few, so the children learn about sharing.
Also linked to: PD

CLL

• Water painting on walls in the garden.
- Pots of water and variety of sized brushes.
Also linked to: CD
• Alphabet puzzle.
Also linked to: PSED, PD

KUW

• Gardening.
- Seeds, rakes, trowels, watering can…
Also linked to: PSED, CLL, PSRN, PD
• Laptop use.
- The children like to go on Word and Paint, as well as playing on educational CD-ROMs.
Also linked to: PSED, CLL, PSRN, CD, PD

PSRN

• Cooking.
- Cookbooks, necessary ingredients and equipment (e.g. scales, jugs, bowls, spoons, rolling pins, pastry cutters…
Also linked to: PSED, CLL, KUW, CD, PD
• Board games.
- We have Snakes & Ladders, The Bear Hunt, Ladybirds…etc
Also liked to: PSED, CLL, PD

PD

• Scissor control
- Variety of scissors for all (right & left handed, ambidextrous, patterned, easy-use) and selection of paper/card to choose from.
Also linked to: CD
• Obstacle course.
- Hoops, tunnels, balancing beams, stepping stones, balls, bean bags…
Also linked to: PSED and when the children design their own, CD

CD

• Small world beach scene
- Sand & water trays, toy people, sea creatures, shells, pebbles, green cellophane for seaweed…
Also linked to: PSED, CLL
• Junk modelling
- Various boxes, cartons, plastic bottles, etc. No toilet roll for hygiene reasons and egg carton for contamination of salmonella. Glue & gluesticks, sellotape, selection of scissors. Pens, collage material, glitter etc for decoration.
Also linked to: PSED, PD

Apart from the safety issue with the shelving unit in the Rainbow room, I have no other concerns. The furniture is all stable and no chance of toppling over on the children or staff!! We have a variety of safety procedures in place:

• Fingerprint detection and locks on front and back doors,
• fire extinguishers,
• fire guards,
• door stoppers,
• cupboard locks,
• chemicals and medicines out of children’s reach,
• plug socket covers,
• safety gates,
• appropriate toys (meet standards, clean, not broken, no sharp edges or small pieces for when babies come downstairs to play).

A risk assessment book is filled in every morning by one of the opening-up members of staff to check the ground floor is safe. Also, cleaning ticklists are recorded at the end of the day to show that different areas of the rooms have been cleaned and prepared for the next day and by whom.
I feel that the environment is comforting and stimulating and this is done by:

• Welcome poster in entrance to building in different languages,
• personalised pegs,
• self-registration board (with own rockets made by the children),
• named trays,
• children’s artwork displayed in the rooms and corridor,
• relaxed area with comfortable chairs, cushions and music to be played if desired,
• wide range of toys, books and equipment, which is changed every now and again to stimulate interest.

There is plenty of choice in the nursery and we encourage independence a great deal. We are free-flow downstairs and the planning is pretty much child-led, based on the previous week’s observations. The toys and equipment are easily accessible to the children in boxes situated within the appropriate areas of the room. The art unit, however, is too tall and the children cannot reach the higher shelves to freely select the items from this area.
The book corner is our chill out, quieter area of the room, but because our space is so small, it is more difficult to separate noisy and quiet activities during play time. Therefore, we split the day into noisy and quiet times. The quieter times of the day, are as follows:

• Circle time (registration and small group activities),
• reflection time,
• story time,
• sleep or rest after lunch, with quiet toys (e.g. puzzles, drawing..) for those awake.

For physical activity, the chairs, tables and other furniture needs to be pushed back to give the children enough space to move. This can be done with ease.
It has not been necessary, as yet, to adapt the environment for a child in our care who has a disability. If a child came to our setting in a wheelchair, a lot of changes would need to be made. Here is a list of adaptations if this situation were to arise:

• All doors to be widened,
• ramps,
• lift or some other way to access the baby floor,
• create more space to move between activities,
• instead of floor toys, table top activities.

Thank you for your time.

Sarah Lou
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