The Early Years Centre at the University of Southampton provides high quality childcare from birth to five years of age. We are open 50 weeks per year, Monday to Friday 08:00 - 17:45, and are closed for one week at Christmas, one week at Easter, and all bank holidays.
The Centre
Each child’s happiness is The Early Years Centre’s main priority. Our space is specifically designed to feel warm, welcoming, and tranquil. Our Centre is complete with modern equipment and a variety of natural and authentic resources for the children to explore and we are currently working towards The Curiosity Approach accreditation. This child-centred approach ensures children feel relaxed and at ease in their environment and are not bombarded by the over stimulation of bright colours and plastic resources. Our environment and the resources we provide ensures the children learn through exploring and handling an array of natural and authentic resources, providing a vast variety of textures to investigate.
The Centre is divided into three rooms:
- Under Two's : one to two years
- Toddlers : two to three years
- Preschool : three to five years
We also have a large outdoor space for the children to play, and under two’s have their own fenced of section of garden space with access from the Tweenie room.
Early Years Foundation Stage
The Early Years Foundation Stage (EYFS) is the statutory framework within which we operate to meet the learning, development and care for children from birth to five. We use Development Matters alongside the EYFS curriculum. There are seven areas of learning and development that must shape educational programmes and all areas of learning and development are important and inter-connect.
Three areas are particularly important for building a foundation for igniting children's curiosity and enthusiasm for learning, forming relationships, and thriving:
- Communication and Language
- Physical Development
- Personal, Social and Emotional Development
We support children in four specific areas, through which the three prime areas are strengthened and applied. These specific areas are:
- Literacy
- Mathematics
- Understanding the World
- Expressive Arts and Design
If you would like to know more about the EYFS you can download information from the Department for Education website or speak to your child’s Keyworker or a member of the management team.
Learning through play
We promote the idea that play is the natural and most effective way a child learns. Through play, children learn to concentrate, try out ideas, imitate their role models, develop their imagination, share and socialise. Play activities provided at the centre include creative, imaginative play, play with natural materials and activities to encourage scientific interest, reasoning skills and individual choice making.