At The Pavilion Pre-School, our curriculum is built around the Early Years Foundation Stage (EYFS) and delivered through rich, meaningful play-based learning. Play is how young children make sense of the world, develop confidence, and build the foundations they need for future learning.

Every day, children explore activities that spark curiosity, encourage independence and support their individual interests.

The Seven Areas of Learning

1. Communication and Language

Language and communication are at the heart of everything we do. Our environment is filled with opportunities for children to talk, listen, share ideas and build confidence in expressing themselves. Through stories, songs, role play, small-group conversations and everyday interactions, children develop strong early communication skills.

Practitioners model rich vocabulary, encourage meaningful conversations and support children to communicate in ways that suit them — whether through words, gestures, signs, pictures or play. We create a space where every child feels heard, understood and able to join in.

By nurturing communication from the very beginning, we help children build the foundations for positive relationships, early literacy and a lifelong love of language.

2. Physical Development

We support children’s physical development through a wide range of fun, active and engaging experiences. Indoors and outdoors, children have daily opportunities to climb, run, balance, dig, build, dance and move their bodies with confidence.

Our environment encourages both gross motor skills — such as strength, coordination and spatial awareness — and fine motor skills, including mark-making, threading, cutting and using tools.

A highlight of our week is our children’s yoga sessions, which help develop balance, flexibility, body awareness and calm breathing. These sessions support both physical wellbeing and emotional regulation, giving children valuable skills they can use throughout their day.

Through active play, movement and exploration, we help children build healthy habits, confidence and a love of being active.

3. Personal, Social & Emotional Development

We place great importance on helping children feel secure, confident and part of a caring community. Through play, shared experiences and gentle guidance, children learn to understand their emotions, develop independence and build positive relationships with others.

Our environment encourages kindness, cooperation and empathy. Children learn to take turns, share, solve small problems together and celebrate each other’s achievements. As they play and explore, they naturally form lasting friendships, developing the social skills that will support them throughout their early years and beyond.

By supporting wellbeing and emotional resilience, we help every child feel valued, included and ready to take on new challenges with confidence.

4. Literacy

We encourage a love of stories, books and early writing from the very start of your child’s journey with us. Children enjoy daily opportunities to share stories, explore books, join in with rhymes and develop their listening and attention skills. Through mark-making, drawing and early writing activities, they begin to understand that print carries meaning and that their ideas can be recorded.

We introduce early phonics in playful, age-appropriate ways, helping children tune into sounds, recognise familiar letters and build the foundations for reading and writing. By surrounding children with rich language and meaningful literacy experiences, we help them grow into confident, enthusiastic early readers and writers.

5. Mathematics

Mathematical learning is woven naturally into everything we do. Children explore early maths concepts through hands-on play, problem-solving and real-life experiences. On our local walks, we enjoy spotting numbers in the environment — on signs, doors, buses and in the park — helping children recognise numerals in meaningful contexts.

Inside the setting, children take part in mathematical games, construction activities, sorting, counting, pattern-making and measuring. We use every day routines to introduce and reinforce mathematical language.

By embedding maths throughout the day, we help children develop confidence, curiosity and a strong foundation for future learning.

6. Understanding the World

We encourage children to investigate nature, explore their community, notice seasonal changes and learn about people, cultures and the wider world. Outdoor learning plays a big part in this area.

Enrichment & Life-Cycle Learning:

Our curriculum gives children hands-on opportunities to explore the natural world and understand how living things grow and change. Each year, children watch our tadpoles transform into frogs in our pre-school tank, observing each stage up close. We also care for caterpillars as they become butterflies, before releasing them back into the wildlife around us — a magical moment the children always remember. These real-life experiences help children develop curiosity, a care for living things and a deeper understanding of nature.

7. Expressive Arts and Design

Children are encouraged to explore their imaginations and express themselves freely through a wide range of creative experiences. We provide open-ended materials — from natural objects, loose parts, collage, play dough, clay, junk modelling and large scale paint projects — allowing children to create, experiment and bring their ideas to life.

Through music, movement, role play and imaginative play, children develop confidence, creativity and the ability to share their thoughts and stories in their own unique way. Our environment celebrates individuality and supports every child to explore, design and create with joy and curiosity.

How We Teach

Learning Through Play

Play is purposeful, child-led and supported by skilled practitioners who extend learning through questions, modelling language and introducing new challenges.

A Balance of Child-Initiated and Adult-Led Activities

Children are able to choose from a wide range of activities while adults also introduce small-group sessions to support early phonics, maths, stories and focused learning experiences.

The Key Person Approach

Each child has a dedicated key person who builds a strong relationship with them and their family, tracks progress and plans next steps tailored to their needs.

Supporting Special Educational Needs & Disabilities (SEND)

At The Pavilion Pre-School, we believe every child deserves to feel welcome, valued and fully included. We are committed to creating an environment where all children — whatever their needs, abilities or backgrounds — can learn, play and thrive.

Everyone is Welcome

We celebrate individuality. Every child who joins our pre-school is recognised as a unique learner with their own strengths, interests and ways of communicating. We work closely with families to understand each child’s story, so they feel seen, understood and supported from the very beginning.

Inclusive Practice at the Heart of What We Do

• Inclusion is not an add-on — it is woven into our daily routines, our environment and our approach to teaching. We adapt activities, resources and expectations so that all children can take part meaningfully and confidently.

This includes:

• Providing visual supports, sensory resources and calm spaces

• Adapting routines to suit individual needs

• Offering differentiated activities and flexible learning opportunities

• Using clear, supportive communication strategies

• Encouraging peer friendships and positive social interactions

Working in Partnership with Families

Parents and carers know their children best. Families play a vital role in each child’s early learning journey. We build strong, trusting relationships with families, listening carefully and working together to plan the right support. We value the knowledge, insight and perspective you bring and through regular conversations, shared observations and open communication we ensure that your child’s needs are understood and met. By working together, we create a positive, secure environment where children thrive.

Ofsted said ‘Partnership with parents is strong. Parents speak highly of the pre-school and comment that the staff team are nurturing, compassionate and their children thrive in a safe environment’

A Setting Where Every Child Belongs

We are proud to be an inclusive community where differences are embraced, and all children are encouraged to shine. By creating a supportive, nurturing environment, we ensure that every child — with or without additional needs — has the opportunity to grow, explore and succeed.

Educational Visits & Enrichment

Children learn best when they can explore real places, handle real objects, and experience the world beyond the pre-school. Our enrichment programme is thoughtfully designed to spark curiosity, build confidence, and deepen children’s understanding through hands-on, meaningful adventures.

Our children enjoy a wide variety of visits throughout the year. These include trips to our local woodlands, where the children observe nature, collect natural items such as leaves, pine cones, chestnuts and sticks as well as trying activities such as bark rubbing. Our woodland trips encourage wonder, imagination and a love of the outdoors.

We also make the most of our local community. Regular walks around Willet Recreation Ground give children the chance to explore their surroundings, including visiting the Sundial.  This gives the children opportunity to move, run, develop social skills and spark interest in our surroundings. Visits to the local library nurture a love of stories and early literacy, while trips to Petts Wood shops help children learn about their community and understand everyday experiences.

To support wellbeing and physical development, we also enjoy weekly yoga sessions, giving children time to stretch, move and relax.

Further afield we enjoy trips to the London Transport Museum, where the children discover the history of London transport from horse-drawn buses to modern tubes. The children gain the opportunity to explore the inside of various different types of buses, trains and tubes and learn about the history of London Transport over the past 200 years.  We also enjoy a fun day out at Godstone Farm, where the children meet the animals during an interactive session, enjoy pig racing and have lots of fun exploring the huge farm. Each experience helps the children make real-world connections and supports language, social development, and early understanding of the wider world.

Every outing is carefully linked to our curriculum, ensuring each experience enriches children’s learning, wellbeing, and sense of belonging in their community as well as creating lasting memories.

At The Pavilion Pre-School, we bring learning to life through a wide range of exciting experiences both within and beyond our setting.