At Clowns we recognise that sport and Physical Education are paramount in the development of young children because of this we have employed a full time P.E. Coach who works full time and is on site from Monday to Friday. All classes at Clowns engage with P.E. at an age appropriate level.
Lessons are held all week in one of our 3 gardens and the older children also visit Golders Hill Park and / or the Hampstead Heath Extension – both of which are in walking distance from the nursery. Each class has 2 or 3 P.E. lessons each week and the lessons correlate to the scheduled garden times. They last between 20 minutes and an hour, depending on the age of the children in the class being taught. All our P.E. lessons are structured around the EYFS and we enhance this with the various initiatives which are embedded within Clowns. Each P.E. session is planned with a view to further developing gross motor skills and is designed to lay down foundations to improve the children’s co-ordination, confidence, core strength and listening skills.
A typical lesson will often include, but is not limited to, warm up games, learning or skills acquisition activities, group games, individual or team challenges and a cool down at the end. As a nursery we are also well-equipped with a range of equipment to give the children the foundations for later engagement in sport.
The aim for the children in Cherry is to encourage their ability to be physically independent and to move with increasing confidence when crawling, walking, or running for the first time. We also introduce aspects such as colours, ball rolling and moving objects.
The children in Strawberry are already walking and running so we begin to introduce jumping, squatting and standing up without using our hands – all of which are based on the core strength and balance of the children.
In Elm, Willow and Peach the children further develop their ability to move in different and more imaginative ways and changing directions as they begin to understand and adjust the speed of their moves accordingly.
The children in our Limetree and Rosewood classes are the eldest in the nursery. These children are challenged to further develop sport-specific skills for a range of different sports that they may be introduced to when they go to ‘big school’. For example, they will be challenged to stop a football with the sole of their foot, walk along a balance beam that is raised 10 to 20 centimetres above the floor and engage in throwing and catching activities with one of their peers.
After School Multi-Sports Club
At Clowns, we also offer after-school multi-sports clubs for certain age groups. These are open to children that are enthusiastic about sport and want to further their abilities or children who would not typically pick up a hockey stick or tennis racquet outside of Clowns that may want to start to develop a good understanding of sport.
P.E. Motto
At Clowns we have a Physical Development motto that we teach all the children. This is something we believe aids the children to understand how we work and the impact P.E. can have on our lives. Our motto is:
TOGETHER
EVERYONE
ACHIEVES
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