What we offer
Outdoor sessions
Our outdoor sessions are available Monday, Wednesday and Friday
We are incredibly lucky to have access to some beautiful outdoor spaces locally. The ancient woodland of Shining Cliff is just down the road, and we are privileged to have an agreement with The Grith Pioneers, who own and protect this magical place, allowing us to use the woods for our sessions three days a week.
Our woodland sessions give children the freedom to explore, discover and learn in a truly natural environment. They build resilience, confidence, independence and self-motivation, while developing the skills they need for life.
Just as in our hall, we follow the children’s lead and run with their ideas. We use the natural environment to inspire learning across the Early Years Foundation Stage (EYFS), creating opportunities for children to investigate, problem-solve, be creative and develop their understanding of the world around them.
Children are supported to use tools purposefully and safely, with appropriate supervision and clear health and safety measures. At times, we may also build a fire, allowing children to help prepare and cook snacks with us.
We love spending full days in the woods because it gives children the time and space to develop resilience. They learn not only to keep trying when something is difficult, but also to support and encourage one another. The woods don’t always give us perfect weather — but that’s part of the adventure! Rain brings puddles, mud creates opportunities for exploration and every change in the weather gives children something new to discover.
The woods are not just somewhere we go — they are an important part of how we learn.
Hall based sessions
Our hall sessions are available five days a week.
Our bright, calm and welcoming room is filled with natural, authentic, real-world resources. Carefully considered, open-ended arrangements invite children to explore, experiment and follow their natural curiosity.
Our hall is alive with active, engaged little people, digging in and discovering what is available to them. Our continuous provision gives children the freedom to use resources in their own ways, allowing their creativity and imagination to fill the room. There are opportunities for playdough, craft, junk modelling, painting, large-scale mark making and music exploration, alongside a wide range of sensory and creative experiences. Resources can be moved, combined and used in whatever ways the children imagine.
We also have an all-weather outdoor area, allowing children to move freely between inside and outside for fresh air, physical play and creativity. Our children love exploring the mud kitchen, large loose parts, pots and pans, crates and tarpaulins, using them to create whatever their imaginations come up with. Even on our hall days, we like to get out and explore the local area and can often be found at our local park.
Our Forest School ethos runs through everything we do, not just our woodland sessions. Children have opportunities to use real tools during woodwork, help prepare and cook snacks over a fire in the garden, and take part in practical everyday experiences such as cutting and preparing fruit and vegetables — always with appropriate adult support and supervision.
Whether we are in the hall, the garden or the woods, our aim is the same: to give children the freedom, confidence and support to explore, create and discover what they are capable of.
KEEPING IN TOUCH
When your child starts at Wildlings we create an online learning journal for them using software called Famly. This is used to securely hold information about your child and family, produce daily registers and manage information. As parents ourselves, we know how important it is to still feel connected to your child even when you are away from them. Our team use Famly to record photos, videos and general observations about your child's learning and development for you to see.
The photos we send home will give you an insight into your child's experiences with us by seeing what play they have been engaged in and can be used to encourage your child to talk about their time with us and what they have been up to. We also encourage families to upload photos and observations about your home life or holidays as it helps us work in partnership to build a deeper understanding of our wonderful Wildlings.
BUILDING BONDS AND FORGING SUPPORTIVE RELATIONSHIPS
At Wildlings, we truly value the importance of developing personal bonds and connections between each child and the adults who care for them. We purposefully keep our numbers of children low and have high staff to child ratios so that each member of our team of experienced and highly trained staff can effectively forge connections with all children. In this way all staff members get to know and support the learning of all the children we share our days with. This creates a positive, supportive, and nurturing environment in which children know that they can turn to any adult for help, support, encouragement, and companionship.
We want everyone- children, staff, and families, to know that we are all part of the same family working together to provide the best start to your child’s education so that we can discover, explore and learn together. With your input we get to know where the children's strengths, interests and skills lie and look for the teachable moments in order to provide what each child needs at that time to move their learning forward.
Although all staff create observations about all children, each child will be assigned a key person when they start at Wildlings. This person will monitor the observations for your child on Famly, complete a 2-year check for your child if they join us between their 2nd and 3rd birthdays, and will highlight to the rest of the team where a child may need support or point out any interests or strengths so that the whole team can build on, and provide challenge, for each individual.