Our Curriculum
Your child will experience a wonderfully rich curriculum, fuelled by the awe-inspiring arts. Our curriculum means that learning is active, interactive, imagination-boosting and challenging.
Your child will be guided to develop their skills and knowledge and to contribute to our class vision. Ultimately, the curriculum is shaped by our pupils interests and needs; we cover all areas of the EYFS including maths, literacy and science. Albert Einstein said ' Logic can take you from A to B, but imagination can take you anywhere!' Hence why we believe so strongly in purposefully developing a child's innate creativity and curiosity.
Your child is oh-so-capable and clever at discerning what their brain and body wants to learn how to do next. We could be studying and painting sunflowers one minute and excavating dinosaur bones in the garden, the next! Every day is exciting, every day is a learning adventure.
As your child's teachers, our aims are simple: we are creating a deeply embedded self-motivation to seek out and love building their knowledge and developing their skills. We are also keen to develop independent thinking, critical-thinking skills, perseverance, resilience and social skills in your child, so that they are brave, kind, adventurous and confident.
and ultimately we want your child to enjoy coming to school knowing that their teachers love them for exactly who they are and exactly where they are in their own learning journey. We all shine in different ways and at different times.
We intend for our curriculum to bestow all children with what we call the 4 Performatots C's:
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Confidence
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Curiosity
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Creativity
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Capability
We do this through a truly magical and unique learning programme, that fully acknowledges and harnesses the power of the arts and the attributes they give young children.
Facilitated by our highly qualified and experienced teachers, we capture your child's interests, spark their imagination and build on their knowledge and skills each and every day.
We spend time with your child, really getting to know them through careful observation. We get to know your child's individual personality, their interests and learning style preference and work hard to provide them with a wealth of learning opportunities and experiences to fulfil their personal potential.
Our pre-school curriculum has been designed to ensure that every pupil receives a cultural, well-rounded early years education, and they develop the necessary lifelong learning skills to become self-motivated, forward-thinking, cooperative learners.
At Performatots, the creative and performing arts are used as a vehicle for teaching all sorts of subjects and concepts from historical events to marine life to numeracy and life-cycles!
Our young pupils are at the heart of everything we do, and we pride ourselves on our welcoming, inspiring and supportive pre-school. Our children grow in independence, imagination, creative thinking and academic skills throughout their time with us.
'Be kind and caring, loving and sharing' is our Performatots family classroom motto, shared and upheld by our teachers and pupils. We are dedicated to developing a nice person, as well as a bright brain!
Your child is rewarded every step of the way for developing patience, manners, perseverence and resilience.
We aren't just developing your child's academic abilities, we want them to be a super kind friend, a fantastic sharer, a lovely listener and a thoughtful, honest citizen of the future.
Educating the mind, without educating the heart is no education at all.
- Aristotle
Teacher-Led Activities
We are lucky to have some amazing teacher-led sessions every single day, introducing our pupils to a wide array of subject matter and extending vocabulary. Through teacher-led activities, we are able to explore all sorts of wonderful things through our curriculum; gymnastics, languages, yoga sessions, baby ballet, street-dance and baking club to getting muddy on the field in nature inspired sessions and exploring and investigating in Science School. We may be acting out stories in speech and drama workshops or singing our little hearts out in our daily music session! If it's creative, active and gets the developing brain working - you can be sure to find it in the teacher-led part of our curriculum!
Child-Centred Activities
Play is a highly researched and documented early childhood subject. Many famous people have had plenty to say on the topic, Albert Einstein described it as '...the highest form of research' and Rogers described it as 'The work of childhood'. Play is the child's passionate work - it is how their brains learn best. Play is literally the way their brains build skills and knowledge. It is not frivolous, it is not a luxury or something to be undervalued. It is vital, necessary and fundamental to a child's development.
You can discover more about a person in an hour of play than in a year of conversation.
- Plato
Free Choice Play
Free play is a planned and special part of our routines - a chance to develop your child's own interests and spark their curiosity with our high quality and carefully selected resources. We want our children to be confident to think for themselves, able to independently select and access activities, join in, iniatiate and extend play with others and feel that their acheivements are valued. Freeplay is where we really get the chance to observe your child, so we can plan individually to meet their needs - challenging and encouraging or supporting where necessary. In free-play, pupils are doing what they love, interacting with teachers and new friends, totally self-motivated and engaged. That's how we want our classrooms to be - happy, busy, with an air of industry and excitement; where magical little miracles happen every day.
Early Years Useful & Interesting Links
An Interesting article on brain development and creativity
A really informative educational publication on the role of dramatic play and it's impact on confidence and imagination in Early Years.
Benefits of the Arts in Early Years
Some interesting facts on the benefits of exploring the arts in Early Years.
Pre-School Classes in Harrogate
Find out more about extra activities we have tried and tested in the area for your little one.
The Early Years Foundation Stage
A useful guide for parents 'What to expect, when?' on learning and development. Performatots follows the EYFS and tracks your child's progress
Help with Early Education Costs
Find out how much the government can help with the costs of early education for your child. We also have scholarships for low income families so please do ask about help with fees.
Better exam grades, higher wages, a more successful future...There is a lot of excellent research into the benefits of providing your child with early years education and experiences through pre-school. Read about some here.
