Physical Development

Being physically active is essential to children’s development and wellbeing. Developing gross and fine motor control lays the foundation for lifelong skills such as personal care and writing. Our curriculum offer ensures that children understand ways to stay healthy and they are offered a wide range of ways to keep active laying the foundations for long and healthy lives.

Moving and Handling: Gross Motor

Our children have access to a fabulous, large outdoor environment that is carefully designed to promote physical development, exploration and appropriate risk-taking. Children spend a significant part of every session outdoors, where staff model and encourage activities such as crawling, walking, running, jumping and climbing, tailored to each child's stage of development. To support this further, we deliver our Brilliant Body Curriculum, which maps the progressive development of gross motor skills across the nursery, ensuring children build strength, coordination, balance and confidence over time.

Health and Self-Care: Staying Safe

We place a strong emphasis on helping children learn how to keep themselves safe, both at nursery and in the wider community. Through everyday experiences, children learn about rules, boundaries and safe decision-making. They practise important safety skills during community walks, including crossing roads safely, and develop an understanding of how to interact safely with plants, animals and the natural world during outdoor learning experiences.

Moving and Handling: Fine Motor

We support the development of children’s fine motor skills through carefully planned activities and well-resourced environments. Through our Busy Fingers curriculum, children progressively develop the strength, control and coordination needed for everyday tasks and early writing. Children regularly use tools and resources that encourage skills such as threading, twisting, cutting, squeezing and manipulating objects, helping them build confidence and independence in important life skills such as using scissors, fastening clothing and mark making.

Supportive Environment

Extensive outdoor spaces support active play, physical development and exploration.
A range of resources help children develop independence and practical life skills.
Fully funded snack provision provides opportunities to learn about healthy lifestyles and good hygiene habits.

Health and Self-Care: Personal Hygiene

Teaching our children about good hygiene practices is embedded in all we do. We use both planned sessions and opportune moments to model and promote independence in washing hands, brushing teeth, and using tissues. Our children are active contributors to preparing their snacks and they learn about the importance of nutritious food.

Family Involvement

Stay and play sessions are offered termly to allow a safe space for parents/carers to observe their children accessing the outdoor space.
Strategies to support children’s independence are shared with parents / carers through catch up calls and other communication.
Busy finger packs can be borrowed to support fine motor development at home.

Our Curriculum

Physical development is a vital part of every child's learning journey and underpins their health, wellbeing, confidence, independence, and readiness for future learning.

The documents have been created to help parents understand how physical skills develop over time and how we support children at each stage of their journey. Every child develops at their own pace, but there are common milestones and experiences that help children build strength, coordination, control, and confidence in their bodies.

The curriculum document outlines the progression of skills from the earliest stages of development through to school readiness. It highlights how children learn to move, balance, coordinate, handle tools and equipment, and become increasingly independent in everyday tasks such as dressing, eating, and managing their personal care.