A fun and purpose designed hall for all the ‘Little People’
Chislet and District Playgroup is set in the Village Hall in the little picturesque village of Hoath, in Kent.
Classroom Facilities
Chislet and Hoath Playgroup is a purpose-designed village hall and all on one level. It is bright and airy and has an accessible toilet for all.
With our new extension almost finished we will have large double doors that will open out onto our garden area. All of our equipment is designed to be accessible for all children to encourage independence. The environment itself creates a calm, warm and inviting ‘free flowing space’ to encourage the children’s awe and curiosity.
Indoor Play Areas
We provide a rich range of activities that are created to captivate children’s interests and provide them with awe and curiosity of the world. Each activity is centred around the seven areas of the EYFS curriculum.
Our Indoor area is set up into focussed areas for the children to self- select their chosen activities thus encouraging independence in all areas of the curriculum. The following activities are accessible everyday:
Reading Corner: This area contains lovely soft cushions to snuggle up and choose your favourite book to read or be read to. It is a quiet area to go and have a little quiet from the hustle and bustle of the setting.
Sensory Area: This area is being developed to create a calming area for children to go and explore, with a rich focus on tactile and sensory resources to calm the mind and develop their wellbeing.
Junk Modelling: This area encourages the children to create anything and everything that their hearts desire. There is a range of materials from sparkly and colourful pompoms to corrugated cards and papers to stick, colour, glue and assemble into their chosen designs.
Creative Area: This is our messy area! From cornflour to paint, shaving foam to water. Here the children are free to explore, play and paint with the media of the day.
Writing Area: This area encourages children to develop their literacy skills. It is filled with paper, notepads, colouring pencils, pens, stencils and letter formation activities to develop the early stages of writing.
Small World Area: Here the children can play with a range of small world activities mimicking real life experiences e.g. cars and road tracks, trains, hospital, schools, seaside scenes and figures.
Construction: This area is filled with wooden blocks, stickl-brick, cogs, duplo and many more connecting and building resources. We challenge children to build towers, houses and walls that can’t be knocked down, developing both their problem solving and construction skills.
Role Play: This area changes on a weekly basis, depending on the children’s interest. We can have, doctors, Vets, Hairdressers, Ice-cream Parlours, Post Offices, Dressing up corner and Home corner to list a few. Here the children develop their social and communication and language skills by acting out the different roles and putting real life experiences into action.
Music Area: Here the children can explore with a range of music from around the world, listen to CDs, nursery rhymes and play with a range of musical instruments developing their musical skills.
Puzzle and Social skill Area: This area encourages children to take turns, listen and play alongside one another whilst developing their problem solving skills and spatial awareness.
Snack Area : Here the children can help themselves to a cup, plate and snack provided on a rotation, manned by one of the nursery practitioners. During snack we promote good sitting, turn taking and polite table manners.
Outdoor Play Areas
The outdoor area is an enclosed area that is set up all year round. Every day a rotation of activities is put out to ensure all areas of the EYFS curriculum are met. Within this provision we have a mud kitchen, equipped with pots/ pans and cooking utensils, a bike area, play house, construction area, garden plants in raised flower tubs along with a bug area for digging and finding lots of worms! We also have whiteboard and blackboards to encourage mark making and a lovely reading corner to sit, relax and enjoy a good book.
We are fortunate to have access to the village recreation ground just a short walk away, the primary schools outdoor area and countryside walks that surround the playgroup. We can often be seen out and about throughout the village.
Forest School
Forest School Leaders from Hoath Primary School provide a weekly session to our children; teaching them survival skills, and how to use tools safely. By the Summer Term our children are confident enough to go to Ross Woods and put all their learnt skills into action within a real wood setting. These sessions provide opportunity for all, especially those who flourish in the outdoors. Children learn essential life skills, self –esteem, confidence and the ability to keep on trying and never give up.
The curriculum is divided into 3 prime areas:
- Personal, Social and Emotional Development.
- Communication and Language Development
- Physical Development
With an additional 4 specific areas: Literacy, Mathematics, Knowledge and Understanding of the World and Expressive Arts and Designs.
