HOUSED in the historic Tudor building, the nursery at Beaudesert School hosts a huge variety of different activities for the young children to enjoy and learn from.

Showing me around her classroom, nursery teacher and head of Early Years Victoria Abbosh tells me there is a free-flow idea in the classroom, with different activity stations throughout the room.

This bright and colourful room then leads out into the outdoor play space, complete with forest schools area.

In their interactive classroom, the nursery children enjoy all sorts of activities, such as cookery, art, reading and music and movement.

When I visited on Monday morning, half of the class were learning how to swim in the school’s on-site swimming pool, while the other half enjoyed story and water-play activities.

This lesson involved children using bamboo poles to create flowing water ways for little boats to travel down.

Stroud News and Journal:

Making use of the interactive outdoor area on the back of the classroom, I was then shown the children’s newly planted beans, which they would then pick and use in cookery class later in the year.

The learning theme for the term had been farming, with children recently enjoying a visit to Cotswold Farm parts and learning about different foods.

Also on the menu was the children’s own porridge, which was crafted to a not-too-sweet and not-too-salty perfection with the help of the story of Goldilocks and the Three Bears.

And nestled in a small area of trees just to the rear of the classroom is the nursery pupil’s forest school area, complete with wooden hut and soon-to-be insect display case.

Mrs Abbosh explained how the education in early years is very much based around the children’s personal preference and learning style.

“As our children all learn in different ways, it’s great we can offer them such a huge range of different activities for them to experience.

“We have two different classes daily, with both a morning and an afternoon session. It’s great to watch their confidence grow and their learning flourish.”

She explained how the children’s parents were always highly involved at the school, with weekly updates on classes and learning.

An example of this had been a recent judo presentation, where parents had come to watch as their young ones showed off their newly learned judo skills.

Led by Sensei Mark Maidment, fifth Dan, the sessions are designed to be a stepping stone into the martial art.

The children learn about judo etiquette and discipline, some of the Japanese words associated with the sport, and get active with lots of different judo-inspired, fun-packed games and exercises.