If you go down into the woods today…our ethos is ‘outdoor play every day’ and as a setting we believe that there are many benefits to being outdoors.

Playing outside helps children to develop their abilities to be creative, develop their social skill, encourage independence and allow them to be little explorers.

Here at Muddy Boots our preschool staff are Forest School trained which enables them to provide stimulating and exciting opportunities for all the children.

We follow an ‘In the moment planning’ approach thus allowing the children to choose for themselves, helping them be independent, and encourages them to learn through their own play.

The children were recently intrigued with Halloween showing a curiosity approach to learning and asking lots of questions.

Thinking outside the box staff turned preschool into a magical place for all to encounter spells, potions, cobwebs and spiders, lots of exciting opportunities were given.

Pumpkin carving was messy sensory fun but offered lots of learning experiences; this was enhanced through investigation by looking at the seeds closely and talking about how pumpkins grow, the children adapted further by adding technology equipment and implementing their own role play ideas.

Once the pumpkins had been carved the children proudly placed them outside to light up the area for parents to see, “maybe we could put some in the forest to feed the animals” someone said, so that’s what they did next.

Collecting equipment to allow them to dig holes, the children went off on an adventure to the forest.

The babies and toddlers also experience the outdoors on a daily basis accessing the whole of the college site; we often visit the different variety of animals here at the college.

The children love being outdoors and embrace all the opportunities that we have to offer.

From walks in the gardens or woods, to visiting the horses or going to the sports pitches, there is always something new to explore.

On a recent walk the children collected autumn leaves and talked about all the different colours they had found which later provided further activities and exploration in the classroom.

The nursery opened in September 2001 and originally was known as The Early Years Centre.

Following a change of ownership the nursery became known as Muddy Boots Nursery following a consultation with our parents and children, who also decided on our new name. In September 2013 the nursery became a limited company and is registered as Muddy Boots Nursery (Cumbria) Ltd but still trades under the name Muddy Boots Nursery.

The nursery has established itself a reputation for provision of quality childcare and staffing, and is a member of the National Day Nurseries Association (NDNA).

We are a Local Authority approved provider for the 15 hours Early Years Free Entitlement (EYFE) for three to five years olds and for funded two year old places.

Continuous professional development

In our busy changing society there is a big push on addressing personal and emotional wellbeing, in the workplace as well as at home, as a nursery this is an topic we continually explore and discuss with staff regularly to enable us to understand and put strategies in place to cope with any wellbeing circumstances we may encounter.

In our baby room one of the areas staff have had the opportunity to explore and learn new skills through is baby massage.

This training has been led by Gerry Garvey our nursery manager who is a certified infant massage instructor (CIMI) who qualified through the International Association of Infant Massage (IAIM).

Gerry has over 10 years’ experience in baby massage, and has been running courses throughout the year for parents, carers and staff in both settings.

Staff have learnt how to recognise the cues of a baby which enables them to identify and understand the emotional needs of the baby, in addition through nurturing touch they are able to provide comfort from stress and relief from pain such as constipation and colic through use of massage.