Little Explorers Forest School, Broomfield, Derby

28/09/2026

📱 Screen time and young children

Screens can be useful and enjoyable, but we know many families are looking for ways to find a comfortable balance. The Best Start in Life guidance shares practical ideas to help you think about screen time and make more room for play, conversation, movement and rest.

Even small changes can help. You might try keeping mealtimes screen-free, putting devices away before bed, or swapping a short period of screen time for a story, song or game together. Repeating a favourite rhyme, chatting while you prepare a snack, or letting your child help with an everyday job can all create lovely opportunities to connect.

If you’d like ideas for reducing or replacing screen time at home, please speak to a member of our team. We’re always happy to share activities that suit your child’s interests and age. You can also borrow one of our Rhyme Time bags and other resources to enjoy together at home. There’s no judgement and no need to make big changes all at once.

You can read the Best Start in Life guidance here 👇

Guidance for parents on managing screen time for under 5s. Learn what's recommended and how to build healthy habits from an early age.

23/09/2026

🌳 There’s something exciting happening down in the woods…👀🌿

The old piece of land alongside our campsite is being completely transformed — and the plans are looking incredible!

It’s going to become another bespoke, nature-based area for our children to explore, discover, investigate and simply be in nature. 🌱🪵

A huge shout-out to Dan and Jake at Derby College Group for their tireless work on this project. I seriously can’t believe the progress they’ve made in just one week! 🙌

There’s still lots to come, but already you can begin to see the vision taking shape.

We are incredibly fortunate to have our nursery within the beautiful Broomfield Hall campus — and I’m very excited to see this next little piece of our outdoor curriculum come to life.

Watch this space….....🌳✨

17/09/2026

🐻💚 Introducing Bertie Bear’s Wellbeing Box

This term we have introduced Bertie Bear’s Wellbeing Box, a new addition to our curriculum designed to help children build their knowledge and understanding of health, wellbeing and their amazing bodies.

Bertie, along with his friend Tim Tum, joins the children regularly with a problem, question or experience to share. These provide a playful and meaningful starting point for conversations, investigation and learning — with the children’s own ideas and curiosity helping to shape what happens next.

Through Bertie, we want our children to progressively develop an understanding of what it means to be healthy and well . This includes learning about their bodies, oral health, exercise and movement, healthy routines, emotions, self-care and the people who help to look after us.

Most importantly, we want children to begin to understand why these things matter and develop the confidence, language and independence to make healthy choices for themselves.

🦷 This week, Bertie told us about his visit to the dentist. The children explored how we care for our teeth, practised brushing using our large model teeth and talked about what helps to keep our mouths healthy.

🩺 Then poor Bertie developed a cough — he really is quite unfortunate! We used a stethoscope to listen to our chests, which sparked lots of curiosity about our hearts.

What does our heart do? Why does it beat? What happens when we exercise?

There was only one way to investigate! We got our bodies moving before listening again and discovering that our hearts were beating faster.

We are already seeing children beginning to make connections between new learning and their own experiences. They are asking questions, sharing stories about visits to doctors and dentists, using new vocabulary and becoming increasingly curious about how their bodies work.

Bertie is also providing a safe, familiar and engaging way for children to talk about health, feelings, care routines and experiences that may sometimes feel unfamiliar or worrying.

For us, this is what meaningful curriculum looks like — not simply completing an activity, but giving children knowledge they can connect to their own lives, revisit, build upon and use.

🐻 And Bertie’s journey is only just beginning…

Over the coming weeks and months, we will continue to build on this learning across the nursery, helping our children develop the knowledge, confidence and independence they need to begin taking care of themselves, their bodies and their wellbeing. 💚🌿

15/09/2026

🌿 A fantastic weekend at Broomfield Hall! 🌿

What a privilege to see our beautiful Broomfield campus buzzing with early years practitioners, as we welcomed childminders for a conference exploring curriculum and pedagogy.

We were especially proud to see our very own Kate Cox invited to deliver the keynote — sharing her experience, challenging thinking and encouraging practitioners to reflect on what curriculum and pedagogy really mean within their own settings. ❤️

The session was full of energy, discussion, challenge and, most importantly, a shared passion for giving young children the very best experiences and opportunities.

At Little Explorers, we are passionate about a curriculum that is meaningful, ambitious, child-centred and rooted in relationships, nature and real experiences. We know that curriculum isn't something that simply sits on a piece of paper — it comes alive through the interactions, environments, experiences and decisions that practitioners make every day.

It was wonderful to see our Broomfield Hall environment providing the backdrop for conversations about early years practice, and to share some of the thinking and principles that underpin our own Little Explorers journey.

Kate is also stepping into her newly appointed role as Early Years Specialist Practice Lead with the Stronger Practice Hub, supporting settings and practitioners across the wider early years sector. We are incredibly proud that the knowledge, experience and passion that have helped shape Little Explorers can now be shared more widely.

At Little Explorers, we believe in sharing, questioning, collaborating and continually growing — because when practitioners grow, children benefit. 🌱

A huge thank you to everyone who joined us, contributed so openly and made the day such a success.

Inspiring practice. Challenging thinking. Growing together.💚

07/09/2026

📚✨ Why do we have core stories at Little Explorers?

This half term, we’re introducing our children to a carefully chosen collection of core stories – but this is about so much more than simply choosing a few books to read.

We know that children develop a love of books when they have the opportunity to hear stories repeatedly, become familiar with characters, join in with repeated phrases, predict what might happen next and eventually retell stories in their own words.

Our core stories give us the opportunity to slow down, revisit and really get to know a story. Rather than reading a book once and moving on, we can bring it to life through play, music, props, puppets, art, movement and our wonderful outdoor environment.

🌱 Our stories are carefully chosen to have a purpose.

❤️ A familiar favourite
Stories such as The Scarecrows' Wedding give children the comfort and confidence of a familiar story while developing language, rhyme, relationships and storytelling.

🍂 A story connected to our environment
Leaf Man allows us to connect books with our natural world, combining nature, creativity, imagination and observation.

🔎 A non-fiction focus
Children need to discover that books aren't only for stories. Non-fiction helps them understand that books can teach us, answer questions and help us find things out.

🎵 Rhyme time
Rhymes are incredibly important for early reading. They help children to listen to the sounds of language, recognise patterns, develop phonological awareness and build the foundations they need to become successful readers.

And this is the important bit… these aren't the only books our children will read. 📖

Our environments will continue to be filled with a rich and varied selection of books for children to independently choose, explore and enjoy.

Our core stories simply give us a shared collection of books that we can really know, really explore and really bring to life.

Because when a child can finish a sentence in a familiar story, shout out the repeated phrase, predict what happens next, retell the story to a friend or take the characters into their play…

that's when we know the story has become theirs. ❤️📚

18/08/2026

Bikeability – From Children’s Voice to Curriculum Impact

The impact of our recent Bikeability experience has been phenomenal. We genuinely could not have predicted the buzz, joy, excitement and learning that would emerge from two days of riding bikes and scooters together.

In Early Years, we talk about intent and impact all the time – what we want children to learn and the difference our experiences make. This experience has been a wonderful reminder that, while we can plan our intent, the impact can sometimes be far greater and more unexpected than we anticipate.

In response to the children’s voice and their growing interest in bikes, we temporarily swapped the woods for the car park, creating a safe, enclosed and risk-assessed space for our Big Group children to bring in their own bikes and scooters. Our initial intent was to:

respond to children’s interests and voice;
develop core strength, balance, coordination and gross motor skills;
build confidence and physical competence;
promote sustainable ways of travelling; and
provide opportunities for children to develop independence and perseverance.

What we saw, however, went far beyond these initial intentions.

Children learned to pedal independently in just two days. Children who had previously relied on tricycles began experimenting with balance bikes. Others gained the confidence to move from a tricycle to a two-wheeler. Children were sharing bikes, taking turns, encouraging one another and supporting their peers. Some children who were initially hesitant watched others, built up their confidence and then had a go themselves.

The learning was not just physical. We saw resilience, confidence, collaboration, communication, problem-solving, risk assessment, perseverance and peer support happening naturally and authentically through play.

Most importantly, we saw children experiencing the pride of mastering something that had initially felt difficult – and then wanting to do it again.

The experience has been so powerful that Bikeability will now become an embedded part of our progressive curriculum. Our ambition is that every child who comes through Little Explorers will have the opportunity to develop the skills, confidence and competence to ride a bike.

This is a powerful example of how listening to children, following their interests and providing the right environment can create learning opportunities that we could never have fully planned on paper. The curriculum intent provided the starting point; the children created the impact.

03/08/2026

🍦🌳 As a special summer treat, the children asked to create their very own ice cream truck in the woods—and we loved bringing their idea to life!

The children planned the flavours, chose the toppings, created menus, and even designed a hat for their chosen ice cream lady 😀. Seeing their excitement when their ideas became a reality was priceless.

After enjoying their ice creams, the children continued the experience through imaginative play, using natural resources to create their own ice creams for one another. It was wonderful to see their creativity, teamwork, and imaginations flourish while making special summer memories together. 💛

25/07/2026

Leavers Party 2026 🥳

Always a special event for our children and families . A heartfelt thank you for choosing Little Explorers and joining us to celebrate.

We have loved having you all as part of our nursery family 🥰

26/06/2026

I'm just going to say it...

My team are better than yours. 😉🌿

Not because they're perfect.
Not because they never have tough days.
But because when the temperature hits 30°C+, they don't just survive—they somehow still turn up with smiles, endless energy, and a determination to make every child's day magical.

They adapt, they innovate, they laugh, they problem-solve, they support each other, and they never lose sight of what matters most... the children.

So yes... I'm biased. And yes... I'm incredibly proud.

To my Little Explorers team—you are the reason our nursery is so special. You are the calm in the chaos, the creators of wonder, and quite honestly... the unsung heroes.

Sorry Not Sorry... my team really are better than yours. ❤️🌿

17/06/2026

⚽🎨 Our World Cup-inspired art provocation was an absolute joy to watch unfold this week.

There is something incredibly rewarding about standing back and observing children become completely immersed in their own ideas, exploring materials in ways that adults could never have planned. The creativity, curiosity and collaboration that emerged from this simple invitation to create were wonderful to see.

At Little Explorers, our provocations are never created just because they look inviting. They are carefully considered and inspired by the developmental needs, interests and learning preferences of the children in front of us. This experience was designed with some of our schematic learners in mind, particularly those exploring trajectory and rotational schemas, giving them opportunities to move, spin, sweep, roll and create on a large scale.

Our Big Art Area continues to be one of my favourite spaces within the nursery. It provides opportunities for children to combine materials, experiment with techniques and develop both gross motor skills and fine hand dexterity, all while following their own ideas and interests. More importantly, it creates a space where children can collaborate, problem-solve, take risks and learn from one another.

Watching children work together, share resources, adapt their ideas and proudly talk about their creations reminded me once again that meaningful learning often happens when we provide the right environment and then allow children the freedom to lead the way.

Sometimes the most powerful learning starts with a simple provocation and a little curiosity. ❤️