What is BarBar like for children?

At BarBar we firmly believe that parents are their children's first and primary influence and we respect this and take our lead from what parents want for thier children. We work closely with every family on an individual basis regarding settling their child at BarBar. Some parents prefer to drop off their children and leave whilst others prefer to stay for a while or do some short sessions to settle their child before leaving them for a whole day- we work with our parents as they know their child best and what they want for them. Mrs N said, " BarBar have been so understanding to my child's needs and really helped me with leaving her. She came on in leaps and bounds both academically and socially. Now she is leaving for school, I recommend your services to everyone and I will send my son to you when he turns two."

When pre-school children start with us at BarBar, we concentrate on their social skills of sharing, turn taking and independence. The children are encouraged to make up their own rules, to tidy away after themselves and to be a good friend to their peers. The reception teacher at The Rosary School, Mrs Williams said, " I can tell which children have come from BarBar every September, as they are very self reliant and independent. They start school and "just get on with it." They are helpful to the other children too."

Children meet lots of new children and become friends with them along with the adults and staff at BarBar. Some children will be those that they have been friends with since they were babies, others will be brand new friends, and some will stay friends with them on into Primary School.

The focus of the nurseries and pre-schools is on child centred play with the children having free access to a wide range of activities and equipment such as sand and water play, music and puzzles, painting, construction activities, small world,  role play and dressing up, and outdoor experiences of role play, trips and visits, and climbing apparatus. Some adult directed activities occur and these include craft, cooking, story time, dance and music and PE. At a recent inspection from Jill Mitchell from Gloucestershire County Council, she said, " There is rich language for babies and wonderful staff interactions at BarBar."

BarBar has a wide range of toys games and activities to make the child’s learning fun - for example there is a role play area, home corner, dressing up, workbench, garage and cars, a brio train set, duplo, octons, a quiet book corner, threading, cards, games and puzzles, dolls and prams and an outdoor play area with a house, tunnels, balls, hoops, rockers, slide, bikes and trikes,trampoline, climbing frame and much much more besides.

Children have lots of practical creative activities to do- including painting, glueing, play dough, clay modelling, cutting and sticking.  Music, songs and rhymes and dances are an important part of nursery life along with story time and access to a wide variety of books for self exploration.

We introduce children to ICT skills with the use of a  computer, games, trips out with practical ICT experiences, musical instruments, tapes and books.   

The children wore their pyjamas to nursery to raise funds for charity- Feb 2009

During the day at BarBar children are provided with a healthy snack of fruit, cheese and ham, toast, biscuits etc along with water or milk . We do not charge for our snacks.