HighHouse Day Nursery Established 1985

The Reggio Emilia Approach

                                               

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Montessori and her values

 

 

Pre-School  
 Toddlers
Baby Unit

About The Nursery

Our Events

Where are we?

 

Registration and contact

Testimonials

Job Vacancies and training

Parent Advertising Page

 

Nursery Policies 

Sweden Nov 09
 
The Nursery was in the final five for the NMT lifetime achievement awards. Our visit from  Taiwan academics and teachers. The Nursery collected £250  to help the children's ward. A wonderful learning session

Learning about Lambs!

(click on the boxes to learn more)

Sweden Nov 09

Vanessa was privileged to be invited to Sweden for an in depth study week to the Reggio Emilia Institute in Stockholm. Her visit involved tours of local Reggio Emilia inspired schools and seminars and discussions with leading professionals.

 

 Vanessa with Dr. Gunilla Dahlberg  - Professor of Early Childhood Education, Stockholm Institute of Education, Stockholm, Sweden

Dr. Dahlberg is a leading international scholar in the area of social welfare policy for young children and their families and in the area of identifying the theoretical and policy implications of a ‘postmodern’ view of children’s development. She is one of the leading international authorities in the Reggio Emilia Approach to early education and Director of the Reggio Emilia Institute in Stockholm. She is a principal architect of Sweden’s national policy concerning early childhood education and social policy and has recently been appointed a member of the Swedish Agency for School Development. Gunilla has had many books published; her most famous being "Beyond quality in early childhood education and care: Post modern perspectives," "Governing The Child in The New Millenium" and "Ethics and Politics in early childhood education."

 

As part of the study group, Vanessa had in depth discussions with Gunilla with regards to how children learn, the Reggio Emilia Approach and how to achieve the best possible start for children in pre-schools.

 

 

  

Also participating on the study tour was Jan White, author of ‘Meeting the challenges of outdoor provision in the Early Years Foundation Stage.’   Vanessa is hoping to remain in contact with Jan, who is an expert in using the outdoor area.

 

 

HighHouse featured in NMT Awards

Lifetime Achievement Finalist

Education is the foundation stone of my philosophy for childcare. High House has  mentored and taught students, from all backgrounds and experience for 22 years.

Knowledge is the key to understanding our children.

 This encapsulates my belief in the education of Children.

High House

A brief history  

 

Early 1980’s the importance of good quality Child Care was becoming a major part of the Government agenda. Mrs Thatcher the Prime minister gave a famous pledge that every tiny child had the right to high standards in care. The Government were trying to encourage Mothers back to work after they had had children, or when their children were old enough to attend school.

I was a teacher in a Secondary school in the East End of London; I had seen the deprivation and the poverty first hand. I observed children leaving their lessons, and missing school, to care for their brothers or sisters.  Most families of the time relied heavily on relatives, or untrained and unlicensed friends or strangers to care for their children.  

I attended London University for a diploma course, one of the first in its time, aimed at teachers who wanted to create the child development teaching in schools. Gradually I became involved in creation of the exam syllabus for teenagers that developed into the Child Care curriculum of today.

 I was both interested and involved in the schemes designed to help women to understand the importance of child care and education, believing that both were an integral part of progress within society for Mothers, Fathers,  and their children. Thus training has always been a foundation stone of my beliefs when caring for children. I trained the older children in my care in Schools to go into Nurseries and playgroups, and work with, and learn from, the adults and children around them.

I saw examples of excellent pre school care, I also saw examples of appalling conditions, there seemed to be little concern or consideration at that time for quality, quantity seemed to be more important. There was an excellent scheme for Pre School playgroups, these were run by Mothers for the benefit of their own children and for those in the community around them, These were often very good, but limited, the times were usually half days only, and the care was spasmodic in quality. Education within care, at that time, was virtually non existent.

 Vanessa my daughter had been very fortunate to attend a Nursery near our home in London. It was run by a trained early year’s professional, a rare sight in those days. The Nursery was outstanding. 

I remember an anecdote the head teacher told me, she said you must always be very clear with children, an incident that day had shown her how easy an error could occur.

She had brought some Daffodils from the garden for the children to observe – with a view to the child painting the flowers.

She had talked about the flowers, they had smelt them, touched them and felt their stems. Then she said “ Now we will paint them” 99% of the children picked up their brushes and their paper and tried to represent the flower on their page, except one little boy, he picked the flower up and carefully painted each leaf and petal, he was doing what he had understood her to have said. I learnt a great deal from that simple example, to always explain at the child’s level whatever it was that I needed to be done. To always check that I had been understood, this has helped both in teaching adults and children throughout my life.

There were no Nurseries at all in our local area, the only option was childminders or playgroup.

That was when I decided to open a Nursery.

I was determined that the high quality of care I had seen at my daughter’s  Nursery in London, could be replicated out in the villages, why should these standards only be available if one happened to live in the city?

The Montessori  ideas have stood the test of time and are fantastic. Her beliefs in basic good manners, respect for each other, teachers and the environment, such a simple concept, with such basic methods for implementation. The ideas of children asking to join with each other, of using please and thank you, of inviting play and sharing through negotiation, rather than simply expecting the partner/play companion to give you a share in their activity/time. The ideas of learning basic tasks, cleaning shoes, polishing tables, washing up, things that we take for granted, are being taught, the child learns how to do something, without withholding the opportunities for self discovery. These opportunities are all around, in the play materials and in the activities chosen by the child. The furniture and the toys are based around practical ideas, the furniture is child sized, common now, but in the past, something that was not considered to be very important. 

We were full in 6 months, with a waiting list. I remember the local inspector coming to see me, she was shocked that we allowed children to count beyond 5, The prescriptive regime that was being laid on the playgroups at that time forbade children from knowing any numbers beyond 5, I remember protesting, that they had 10 fingers, so the ban seemed senseless, but I was reprimanded for continuing with our “Mathsland” as we called it. I believed that children were failing in mathematics because of the poor teaching in schools. As a failed mathematician myself I felt that touching, feeling and counting allowed children to absorb the facts that numbers were all around them, the size of the trees the shape of a leaf, the steps in a stairway, the hops in a skipping rope, all were maths and every opportunity should be taken with children to encourage and develop their innate understanding of the math that was all around them, in their everyday lives. It was not something that you learnt from worksheets – your sense of space, time and number should come from your environment, and once you have that real understanding, and then develop the finer aspects at a later date. We developed our number work in that way, and it was very successful.

We were one of the first Nurseries to introduce computers to children. We had some simple programs, one called Pod, that we used to encourage social interaction and language, two of the relationships that had been criticised by those not understanding the world of computers. It was assumed that using the computer would be a solitary experience, whereas we used it with small and large groups, as well as allowing the children to use it themselves.  I had studied a computer course in London, one of the first aimed at actually using the machine to encourage and teach, rather than program, as had been done before. Children shared, discussed, laughed and enjoyed the experience, an innovation in its time.

 Due to the demand for Nursery places we needed to move the nursery to new premises. The local area, once again, proved to be very difficult to locate anything suitable.

Eventually we contacted the airport to see if they had anything we could rent, albeit on a temporary basis, and High House was offered to us, at that time a derelict farmhouse with grass that came over the heads of my children.

 The Nursery has grown since then, but always with the ethos of education at its heart. My daughter Vanessa has proved to be an outstanding Director, with energy and enthusiasm to take the Nursery forward to a new era. She has some brilliant ideas developed from her research in Italy and is always ready to evaluate and use new innovations, without losing the original philosophy  on which the foundations were laid.. I am very very proud of her.

 

Mrs Gibson, (above right) the Nursery Founder, is one of the five Nationwide finalists in the NMT awards for Lifetime Achievement in Nursery Education .

(Far right Vanessa Callan B.Sc. PGCE  High House Nursery Director)

finalists in major NMT awards for Nursery Education

 

Well we didn't win the award, but to have achieved the final 4 Nationwide was a major success. These are some pictures of the actual event itself.

Ester Rantzen giving the NUrsery awards out.

Our visit from  Taiwan academics and teachers.

See below part of the letter we received recently from K.... Y..... She organises study tours for groups of Taiwanese teachers and academics to visit pre-schools in countries with advanced educational systems.

"In August this year they are bringing a group to the UK and would like to visit nurseries and pre-schools around the London and Cambridge areas on the 11th and 12th August.
We are looking for nurseries and pre-schools which are well managed with high standards that would allow a visit of about one to two hours. Your nursery is a remarkable achievement, and we believe it will make a special impression to the study group"

Please see the wonderful "Thank You" we received below. It was a lovely day for all of us.

Dear Vanessa,

I would like to say a big thank you on behalf of our study group from Taiwan and also from myself.

It was most kind of you and your staff to receive us and show us around your nursery; please give our sincere thanks to Linda for her help despite the untimely heavy rain. All members of the group and I were extremely impressed by every aspect of your nursery, especially the loving care you have for your children and the teaching and preparation for primary school.
.
We were fascinated to see so many different learning materials and toys, wonderful facilities and activities you have provided for your children.
The quality of your approach in caring, teaching and classroom management was quite evident. We believed that your nursery was an excellent example, and admired your leadership skills.

Your thoughtful hospitality in serving us drinks and biscuits was greatly appreciated; I hope we did not disturb your routine too much.

I was very pleased that you gave me an opportunity to introduce your nursery to the study group. We had a delightful and memorable time
visiting your nursery; the members of the group have learned many new ideas and gained an insight into nursery education from you, and this
made their tour of England a rewarding experience.

Thank you again, and hope to see you next summer perhaps.

Best wishes to you and everyone in your nursery

Kind regards  M.. P...

 
 

The visit was a great success. The feedback from the teachers and the professor of education was wonderful. They particularly liked the range of natural resources we have recently developed to promote creativity. Since visiting Italy in April and seeing the Reggio Emilia approach to nursery education, I have implemented many changes throughout our nursery. The Taiwanese teachers noted 'they found the way we combined Montessori with Reggio and the government based method excellent.' The trip organiser Mai Porter said when leaving our nursery was the 'best they had seen.' I am immensely proud, and hope to foster further links with schools in Taiwan in the future.

Vanessa

 

 

Andrea and Vanessa at Royal Alexandria Hospital.

The Nursery collected £250 through sponsored events to help the children's ward.

Here are the staff at Princess Alexandra Hospital in Harlow accepting a selection of books and personal CD players purchased by our school. The children took part in a sponsored 'Readathon' to mark World Book Day on March 16th. They raised an incredible £250 with which we purchased story CDs and stereos.
 

 

HighHouse Day Nursery Directors at Princess Alexandria Hospital. Charity events for the Day Nursery

   

Highhouse Nursery children having a wonderful learning session with insects.

The children had been studying a topic relating to "minibeasts".

We invited Jo Jungle into the school, to show us some of her minibeasts, as well as a few other treats such as the rat!! The millipede, called Shylo smelt of swimming pools and the children were keen to give her a sniff!!

 

Learning about Lambs!!

Our environment in the countryside gives us the opportunity to allow our children a unique experience of touching smelling and watching these young lambs as they are fed.

A local farmer with whom we have links, kindly brought in two lambs for an hour , as you can see the children loved them, all age groups participated in stroking, touching and watching the little animals.

He set up a pen in the grounds and all the children from the entire nursery had the opportunity to stroke the lambs, look at a recently shorn fleece, learn about what they like eating and what they do during the day.

The children named them Lola and Lulu.

 

These kinds of experiences bring alive the topics we cover and offer the children hands on experience of living things. 

 

 

HIGH HOUSE NURSERY LTD.   7 GRANARD BUSINESS CENTRE, LONDON, NW7 2DQ  REGISTERED ENGLAND 2862905