Parent Partnership

The Children's Garden Day Nursery and Montessori Pre-school has been a part of Stamford's town centre since 1998. Many of our staff live in the town and some have been with us for more than 10 years.

Those young children who came to us back in the late 90's are now fully-fledged adults! Childhood can go so swiftly, and it is a real pleasure to be involved with some of the very youngest in our community and see them develop as individuals.

Here at TCG, we have excellent relationships with all of the schools in the town. Every August, we say goodbye to our latest group of 4-year-olds who are off to take the next steps in their young lives at various schools in the area. We are always sorry to see them go but our sadness is tempered by the satisfaction of having helped prepare them for this exciting moment.

We are a truly inclusive nursery school with families from many different nationalities - which makes for a vibrant atmosphere. We make a point of introducing any new nationality to the other children through key words and greetings, interesting facts about the country and culture and, wherever possible, with food!

Children are continually absorbing influences around them and we recognise that, no matter how much time they spend here at TCG, your child will also be developing at home among family and friends. We aim for a fully collaborative approach to your child's development where progress and milestones are celebrated and shared wherever and whenever they take place.

Schemas in early years: A key part of our ethos is identifying schemas within all our children. 'Schema' is really just a word to describe a child's desire or urge to do things repeatedly in a certain way, like throwing, hiding, covering, connecting, building, climbing etc as they investigate the world around them. This natural and repetitive behaviour helps the child to form connections in their brain which will inform their future development. Schema develop through movement and 'doing' and they can be short-lived, last for a long time and/or be multi-faceted - they are unique and individual to each child. They provide a fascinating insight into the inner thought processes of each child and, with thoughtful observation both at nursery and home - and good communication between parents/carers and TCG staff - we can identify and support these natural actions which, in turn, will assist in their development and growth as a capable and competent individual. It can also help parents/carers/teachers to understand 'tricky' behaviour and redirect it into something more constructive.

Common Schemas:

Trajectory - horizontal and/or vertical: jumping up and down; bouncing balls; whizzing down slides; climbing up and down things; building high

Transporting: carrying bags; moving things from one place to another; pushing trolleys, prams etc; filling container with water/sand and emptying elsewhere; be a 'bus driver'

Connection: sticking/glueing/fastening; string/rope/wool; tying things together; linking things together; 'connecting play' e.g. Lego

Rotation: whisking; spinning globes/balls/chairs; taps/wheels/cogs and keys; cars and trucks with wheels; riding trikes etc

Enveloping: covering objects/space/themselves; dressing up; wrapping up dolls/teddies; layering; hoarding toys and objects

Enclosure: building enclosures/houses/boats with Lego/crates etc; marking out territory through play or drawings; filling spaces

Famly:

This is our online development app which we use to record a child's development and time at TCG. We upload pictures and videos with written observations which parents and carers can see from any online device (it is pin protected and secure). We also encourage you to contribute to your child's Famly record from home with appropriate pictures, videos and your own observations which will help inform the TCG staff working with your child. You can also set up access for other family members if you wish (e.g. grandparents). This record can be printed out at any time and, at the appropriate time, shared with your child's primary school to assist with transfer.

We have numerous ways of connecting with parents and carers, Famly has a messaging service, and you are always welcome to pop in and see us. Our Parent Hub has Wi-Fi for you to use when on-site and also a 'bean-to-cup' coffee machine serving delicious coffee and tea (just pop any size of donation into the Charity Pig - all proceeds go to our existing charity of choice). Parent Newsletters are sent out three times a year and we have Parent Representatives who provide a useful 'sounding board' for some of our ideas and projects as well as assisting with our charity work. They can also assist new parents with any questions about TCG from a fellow parent's perspective.

We also have a Facebook page where we often post pictures and videos of what the children have been up to - as well as sharing announcements and information relevant to TCG parents. We always follow the correct online protocols of never identifying children in images by name.

You can also see testimonials from some of our parents, freely given, which gives a real flavour of their family's experience with TCG.