Set in the old doctors surgery within the heart of the Cowbridge village, St. Aubin Cowbridge benefits from large open planned rooms, and amazing outdoor space for the children to enjoy. Close to the local parks, library and the Cowbridge town, the children really can be a part of the local community and Cowbridge life.
Our youngest little friends enjoy the freedom of their very own unit made up from a spacious play room, a sensory room, separate cot room and feeding room and nappy changing facilities. The baby unit cares for children between the ages of 0-2 years and has a range of learning opportunities for the little ones to explore. These include a baby size role play area, book corner, ball pool and interactive toys all at their level so that they can begin to make choices for themselves. The sensory room is a tranquil and calming environment for the children to go into and enjoy the lights and sounds that it offers. The separate cot room and additional sensory room offer a quiet space for the youngsters to enjoy a snooze or just some quiet time. We will aim to support the routine your little one requires and understand that as each child is different their sleep times will also vary. The tranquil cot room, set away from the main room allows the children to recharge their batteries away from the hustle and bustle from the main rooms. All of the foods for the babies are prepared by our cook and made on site in the main kitchen. We ensure that the children enjoy a wide variety of fresh foods including fresh meat from the local butcher and vegetables and fruits from the greengrocers. Once the food is ready it is taken to the unit and their individual food is then prepared to meet the requirements of each child at whatever stage they are at.
The children love to be taken out for walks to the local parks and gardens and so enjoy the fresh from the local area. They especially enjoy feeding the ducks!
St Aubin Cowbridge will provide SMA, Aptimal and Cow and gate milk for your little one up until their first birthday and then fresh cow's milk will be given from then on.
When your little one is ready, they will prepare for their move to the toddler unit. Similar to how they began with us, we will arrange the visits with the children them and gradually introduce them and you to the unit. When they are happy and settled they will transfer the to their next exciting stage.
At approximately two years old, the children will fly from the baby unit nest to their next exciting stage in the toddler units. The Welsh and English medium toddler units both mirror each other in what they offer to the children. The units both have their own role play areas, quiet area and welcome all sort s of messy play activities! Each room has doors leading out into the spacious gardens and so we can fully support the outdoor/ indoor approach to education. The rooms are equipped with a wide range of equipment at the children's level so that the children can make decisions and begin to guide their own learning. With a little helping hand from the staff who work with them, we aim to promote confidence in the children to try lots of new things!
You will see your little ones work displayed in the units so that you too can enjoy their learning.
Despite their young age, the Toddler units both have access to and up to date IT suite. Equipped with an interactive white board, child computers with a range of software packages aimed to guide and engage the children in developing IT skills. Growing up in a world where ICT is in the forefront, we feel that the ICT suite is a really important part of their time with us.
When you feel the time is right to think about toilet training the staff will work with you to help your little one to use the potty/ toilet with us. Of course there will be accidents but the children will be supported and praised at each stage as they learn. With the toilets and potty within easy reach of the rooms they play in, they will begin to feel confident about deciding when they need to use them!
As with the baby unit, the toddlers also enjoy exploring the local environment and love to go to the park. All of the children wear wrists straps/reins or enjoy being pushed in a pushchair whilst they are out so they're safety is always ensured.
The staff in the Welsh medium toddler unit are fully Welsh speaking so that your child can be immersed in the Welsh language .Welsh is used throughout the nursery so that even the English medium units enjoy the Welsh language.
Nursery School
As with the toddler units both the Welsh and English medium units are equipped with similar learning opportunities and work under the principals of the foundations phase meaning that learning through play and hands on experiences are at the forefront of their time. Here the staff guide the children through the principals of the foundation phase exploring the construction area, mark making, arts and craft areas, literacy corners and so on. All of the rooms are designed to open out to the garden areas so that the children can enjoy learning both indoors and outdoors. As we are within a short distance of the library, the children also enjoy choosing books and take them back to explore in the nursery.
The children have planted an outdoor vegetable patch and grow their own vegetables to use in their cooking. They have even donated some vegetables to the local community during the harvest festival.
As cooking activities regularly form part of the children's activities, you will regularly enjoy the taste of their work!
All of the children in our care are continually assessed and monitored to ensure that they are reaching the appropriate milestones and support is given should they need it. With the idea that they will shortly be going to school we begin to give the children a little more responsibility and begin to prepare them for what will be expected by their teachers. We will help them to explore turn taking, social skills and feeding skills as well as all the aspects of the foundation phase curriculum. The ICT suite forms a central part to the children's time with us with the children freely exploring the ICT around them.
The children come into the nursery departments at approximately 2 1/2 years old and they will stay with us until they go to school.
We currently offer wrap around care for Ysgol Iolo Morgannwg and Y Bont-faen primary.
Outdoor Space
Our Cowbridge nursery is set within the green gardens outside of the library and physic gardens. The children in all the areas have access to the outdoor space from their units and can come in and out with ease. The nursery has a large open space that spans the whole way around the building meaning that we are blessed to be able to offer so many different and varied learning opportunities for the children including a mud kitchen, growing patches, music stations, literacy corners, outdoor classroom, pirate ship and of course a home to our nursery bunnies Susie and Bobby. Lots of bikes and outdoor toys are freely available for them also. Wet weather gear is ready for the children to wear so that weather is never a reason for them not to enjoy the fresh air and learning potential.
