If any one area of the curriculum could be called the foundation of early years care and development, it would surely be PSED. Creating bonds, managing emotions, building self-worth and creating friendships all begin here. And, just like us, in our own homes and places of work, a child's physical environments influence their emotions and how they feel on a day-to-day basis.
The physical space, and number of children cared for, are big influences in the set-up of a practitioner's working environment. Can smaller spaces such as home-based settings prove limiting – or an advantage?
CHILDMINDER APPROACH
Kerri Fitzgibbon is a childminder working from a home setting – Poppyfields in Colchester, Essex. Kerri won the Nursery World Individual Childminder of the Year 2024 Award and was praised in her recent Outstanding Ofsted report for encouraging her ‘extremely independent’ children to have a go and achieve for themselves.
Kerri says, ‘I'm lucky to work with a small group of children in my home-from-home setting. I take time to get to know each child extremely well, building a strong, trusting relationship with them and their families, which is reflected in my environment. This enables children to feel safe and loved with a real sense of belonging.’
The home environment offers both limitations and scope, says Kerri. ‘The children are my curriculum, and as I know each one so well, I can tailor my environment to each child as an individual. I'm lucky that I have a dedicated room and area of my garden for childminding. Each child that I care for shines through. The environment is full of provocations linked to each child's current interests, resources linked to their next steps and signs and photos of each child's family.’
For Kerri, the environment is about using it as a third teacher. ‘This allows me to spend the day planning in the moment while taking it slow,’ she says. ‘We seize the day wherever possible, and the children are confident that I will be attentive to their ideas and value the importance of their play.
‘Working from home does have some limitations. As space is restricted, I rotate resources regularly, and some are expensive. I value quality over quantity and try to reuse and recycle wherever possible. Boot sales and charity shops are a firm favourite! I also offer a range of loose parts, real-life objects and opportunities to grow a love of nature. My dogs are a much-loved part of our environment!’
Independence and taking risks
‘When children step through the door, the learning starts straight away. Children can hang up their own coats, climb a ladder, get ready to go outside, chop their fruit or clean a spill independently because my environment facilitates this. Everything is accessible and encourages children to be independent, enabling a positive sense of self and a growth mindset.
‘Through strong attachments with adults, time to take it slow and play in a well-considered environment, according to each individual child, children can lead healthy and happy lives maximising their cognitive development.’
TREEHOUSE NURSERY SCHOOLS
STEM and confidence
Treehouse Nursery Schools has prioritised dedicated spaces for science, technology, engineering and mathematics (STEM). Its Wanstead, London nursery was Highly Commended in Nursery World's Enabling Environments 2024 award category. Judges highlighted its dedication to fostering a love of exploration and curiosity around STEM through an enabling environment and engaging activities.
Nazia Shabbir, CEO, says, ‘Children can discover and investigate objects and ideas to capture their imaginations. For example, we have a special area where children can discover the timeline of the technology they have grown with, such as laptops and mobile phones, by encouraging children to investigate old dial phones and floppy discs.’
Nazia says its STEM curriculum was designed using research and statistics in relation to the gaps in children's knowledge and understanding of STEM when they enter primary school. ‘We decided to embed STEM learning into our curriculum from our baby rooms through to our toddler and pre-school rooms by purchasing age-appropriate resources.
‘Some of our most-used resources for use in scientific experimentation include magnets, cylinders, goggles, lab coats, telescopes and magnifying glasses – and loose-parts play is a STEM experience in itself.’
She adds it is important children direct their own discoveries.
Outdoor learning
‘A lot of our STEM activities take place outdoors, where children get more opportunities to engage in “risky” play with plenty of opportunity to fail and try again through tinkering and using tools at our woodwork benches,’ says Nazia.
‘Staff are trained on how to support and encourage children to learn through trial and error and how to develop a growth mindset, using language and statements to support this in practice, such as, “It is OK to make mistakes; let's try again; could we try a different way?”
‘Naturally, we also have cosy, quiet spaces for children to visit, and we've created stations in rooms for the Colour Monster system – a resource for recognising individual emotions, using colour-coded lolly sticks reflecting the colours shown in storybook The Colour Monster. We have found this to be really effective in helping children identify their emotions, supported by staff.’
STORAL
Giving children independence
Tailoring your activities towards child autonomy can be difficult in a busy nursery, but Shanti Flynn, quality and education director for the Storal nursery group, keeps this firmly within her sight.
Storal's Woodville Preschool in Derbyshire was the winner of Nursery World's 2024 Pre-School of the Year award. In its most recent Outstanding Ofsted report, Woodville was praised for its use of observations in delivering PSED through both its delivery of the curriculum and considered use of transitions, routines and environment. ‘The use of observations to influence our children's environment in relation to PSED plays a huge role in how we organise our day,’ says Shanti.
‘We place a strong consideration on our quiet spaces and transitioning times as our playroom is multi-use. Through observations we've found the best way to negotiate this is through routines, which means we don't have everyone having their meals at the same time, but use two sittings instead.
‘This is really useful when you have children who need a bit longer to complete a game or task as it gives them time to bring their activities to completion – we've moved past the old way of “tidy-up time, put everything away”, because it can be frustrating for children to have to immediately end their game.’
At Storal, children can choose to finish their activities and join the second sitting. There are also built-in sensory breaks throughout the day to enable children to ‘energise and regulate’. ‘Our SENDCo has completed sensory circuit break training and shared this with the team,’ says Shanti.
An attention to mindfulness
Shanti says, ‘We use a lot of self-regulation and wellbeing activities, such as regular yoga sessions used through a story framework, and mindfulness activities, or just something really simple like looking up at the clouds. We've also developed an outdoor sensory shed so children can have self-regulation space indoors and out. These areas dedicated to supporting children to self-regulate and take a break are really important to their wellbeing, particularly with our high levels of children with additional needs.’
Storal nurseries apply a flexible and progressive curriculum, so it does not plan too far ahead. ‘This means we are not setting a rigid timescale for any project we're investigating – they can go on for many weeks, or as long as children are interested. We also weave themes together to cover multiple areas of interest. It's the job of the educator to excite children and bring out their sense of wonder and to be imaginative in tailoring a project towards each individual child.’
She adds, ‘There have been times we've planned a project we thought children would really love, only to find children haven't engaged with it at all, so we've dropped it and started something else.’
ATELIER NURSERY
Rooted in attachment theory
When planning a PSED-rich environment for your youngest children, the focus will inevitably be on creating snuggly, tactile areas to provide security and comfort.
Clare Crowther is head of nursery at Atelier Nursery in Chippenham, Wiltshire, winner of Nursery World’s Working with Babies and Twos award 2024 and where the focus is on attachment theory.
Clare says, ‘At Atelier Nursery, we create environments that nurture the personal, social and emotional development of babies and young children. Rooted in attachment theory and guided by research, our approach integrates the thoughtful use of physical spaces with genuine, responsive caregiving.
‘Peter Elfer's concept of an “invisible piece of elastic”, describing the connection between a child and their key person, guides our practice. Building upon the strong, trusting relationship a child holds with their key person, over time and at their own pace, children gradually stretch their metaphorical piece of elastic.
‘They explore new spaces and venture to previously unknown areas, engage in new experiences and interact with others, branching out and forming connections. Children feel safe and secure in the knowledge they can return to their key person for comfort, reassurance and emotional refuelling.’
Space to nurture
Inspired by the principles of Reggio Emilia, Atelier's learning environments seek to act as a nurturing element, complementing the role of the child's key person.
‘Soft furnishings create cosy spaces for babies and toddlers to snuggle, relax and connect, or to simply be, and open spaces, combined with low-level furniture support and scaffold children's physical development,’ says Clare.
‘For our indoors spaces, we've used neutral colours and homely touches. Outdoors, the natural tones of trees, shrubs, herbs and our kitchen garden provide a calming backdrop for exploration and play.
‘Our rooms are connected by small, internal windows, offering glimpses of opportunities available in neighbouring spaces.’
Meanwhile, the layout of the environment enables educators to seamlessly weave care routines throughout the rhythm of the day.
‘Changing stations provide rich face-to-face interactions, and cosy rocking chairs provide spaces for connection, relaxation and emotional regulation,’ explains Clare. ‘Cots and coracles in our indoor and outdoor sleep spaces provide babies with a secure and inviting space to rest, and just like at home, mealtimes at Atelier are social occasions.
‘By creating spaces that align with attachment theory, the Froebelian principles and aspects of the Reggio Emilia approach, at Atelier, we have created a unique, enabling environment in which babies and young children can thrive.’
Top picks from our featured settings
Kerri Fitzgibbon, childminder
Wooden Play Ladder, Cosy Direct - Tickit Loose Parts Bundle, Hope Education –
- Safety Vegetable Holders and Knives 8pk, TTS
- Treehouse Nursery Schools
The Colour Monster pop-up book, Amazon
Atelier Nursery
- Snuggly Teepee, Early Years Direct
- Dream Coracle, Community Playthings
- Outdoor/Indoor Arch Mirror Window (set of 6), Hope Education
