Children flourish when playing outdoors in all weathers.
“Feeling sun, wind, rain, snow and ice first hand is important as it connects us as human beings to the planet we live on. Being in nature stimulates the senses and nurtures a sense of wonder and awe at the processes of life. Outdoor environments can offer different surfaces, different levels, lots of natural features to explore, trees to climb and bushes and shrubs to hide and build dens in. Different natural spaces can simultaneously ignite creativity and imagination whilst fostering a sense of wellbeing and calm.”
“Realising the Ambition: Being Me”, Education Scotland 2020
Curriculum for Excellence
At Haddo Woodland Kindergarten, we are in partnership with Aberdeenshire Council to deliver funded Early Learning and Childcare (ELC). That means we meet the National Standard for ELC and use Scotland’s Curriculum for Excellence to provide experiences for your child. Children aged 3-6y are offered the Early Level Curriculum which spans into Primary 1 to ensure a smooth transition across their earliest years of education. All nurseries that deliver the funded hours use the same curriculum.
Kindy is special because children's curricular experiences are based in nature. So, our provision might not look the same as other nurseries, but children are getting the same curriculum with all the added benefits of being outdoors. Our service is founded on a wealth of knowledge of child development and play pedagogy as well as children’s rights-based practice. We use national practice guidance, Realising the Ambition: Being Me and Pre-Birth to Three to frame our practice.
Our service is inspected by both the Care Inspectorate, as a registered Day Care of Children service, and Education Scotland, as a registered provider of Early Learning and Childcare.
Our staff team are either already qualified or are working towards qualifications in relevant early years practice. All staff are professionally registered with Scottish Social Services Council (SSSC) and hold Protecting Vulnerable Groups (PVG) memberships. Staff are committed to ongoing continuous professional development and are highly skilled in outdoor provision and care for early years.
Froebelian Practice
As a fully outdoor and off grid setting we have a unique opportunity to provide space for big movement and dynamic play as well as nature-based learning, much like in the Scandinavian and Australian kindergartens.
We are inspired by the work of Friedrich Froebel, who established the first ever kindergarten (garden for children), and the Froebelian practice which is based on learning through nature.
Much of what we now take for granted in early learning and childcare has its origins in Froebel’s ideas. Outdoor play, play with blocks, sand, water, clay, painting and drawing. Observation-led planning and partnerships with parents and the wider community can be traced back to Froebel’s work.
At Haddo Woodland Kindergarten we work with these key Froebelian principles…
Childhood as a valid stage of development within its own right
Consideration of the child’s holistic development
Importance of family – feeling loved and valued
Play as an integrating mechanism, helping children to bring together and organise learning
Play helps children to reach the deepest levels of learning
Value of self-activity within a framework of guidance
Importance of learning through the senses
Importance of real experiences in real contexts
Importance of making links across learning to develop awareness of the unity of life
Importance of nature – with harmony and natural connections
Importance of adults and children working and learning together
Observation-based assessment of the child’s learning
Significance of the development of symbol use