About Us - Information for Prospective Parents and Carers

Welcome!

Thank you for visiting our Pre-school website. As a parent/carer you will want to choose the pre-school that you think will be best for your child. We hope that you enjoy looking at the different pages of our website and are able to find all the information you are looking for. We are always happy to talk to you about any questions you may have.

Learning Environment

Our Pre-school provides a safe, vibrant and exciting curriculum for children between the ages of 2 - 5 years. Our location in the school grounds enables us to share the excellent facilities of the Primary School and provides good opportunities for children to become familiar with the school and staff prior to transition.

Our Aim is to:

• Provide a safe, secure and stimulating environment.
• Enable all the children to learn through play and develop as individuals in order to progress and flourish at their own pace.
• Provide high quality care and education of children below statutory school age in a parent-involving, community based group.
• Work in partnership with parents to help children learn and develop.
• Work within a framework which ensures equality of opportunity for all children and families.

Curriculum and Activities

Children start to learn about the world around them from the moment they are born.  The care and education offered by our Pre-school helps children to continue to do this by providing all the children with interesting activities appropriate for their age and stage of development.

Our curriculum is based on the principles of the Early Years Foundation Stage (EYFS); this is how the Government and early year’s professionals describe the time in your child’s life between birth and age 5.  It is a very important stage as it helps your child get ready for school as well as preparing them for their future learning and successes. From when your child is born up until the age of 5, their early years experience should be happy, active, exciting, fun and secure, and support their development, care and learning needs.

We believe that care and education and equally important in the experience that we offer children. We provide activities that:

• Ensure that each child feels that they are a special member of our setting.
• Ensure the safety of each child.
• Develop their social skills as they play and learn alongside other children.
• Provide children with opportunities to learn and help them to value learning.
• Contribute to the child's health and physical development by making use of our lovely outdoor area and holding weekly "Welly Wednesday" sessions.

The Early Years Foundation Stage

The EYFS Framework explains how and what your child will be learning to support their healthy development. Your child will be learning skills, acquiring new knowledge and demonstrating their understanding through 7 areas of learning and development. Children should mostly develop the 3 prime areas first. These are:

• Communication and language;
• Physical development; and
• Personal, social and emotional development.

These prime areas are those most essential for your child’s healthy development and future learning. As children grow, the prime areas will help them to develop skills in 4 specific areas. These are:

• Literacy;
• Mathematics;
• Understanding the world; and
• Expressive arts and design.

These 7 areas are used to plan your child’s learning and activities. Our staff  will make sure that the activities are suited to your child’s unique needs. This is a little bit like a curriculum in primary and secondary schools, but it's suitable for very young children, and it's designed to be really flexible so that staff can follow your child's unique needs and interests. Children in the EYFS learn by playing and exploring, being active, and through creative and critical thinking which takes place both indoors and outside.

Welly Wednesday

Our outdoor environment allows children to play, explore and have fun through first-hand experiences. Activities such as making mud pies, digging, going on a mini beast hunt, and looking at flowers and trees encourage a sense of independence and inspire the children with confidence. These activities also help to develop the children's social skills through working together and caring for the plants and animals they see.

Safeguarding

Our staff are highly experienced and have been selected for their child-centred approach, providing a very caring and secure environment. All staff in school regularly participate in training relating to child protection and follow the procedures set out in our Safeguarding Policy when dealing with any concerns. Our Designated Safeguarding Lead is Mrs Sarah Bitcon, Head Teacher.