Pre-School

Academic Year 2024-2025
Learning Environment.      Our daily timetable holds a focus on the rich play and learning experiences that allow your child to progress at their own, individual pace and experience in choosing and expressing their own interests. Through a free-flow provision, the open plan classroom allows your child to choose between a number of activities and resources inside and outside. An open learning space provides an opportunity for your child to play, explore and learn with a level independence. Your child’s play is central to their learning and we provide purposeful play experiences through themed learning activities.

The Team
In Our Care.      We recognise you may want to know the background childcare experiences, qualifications and studies of the childcare practitioners who care for your child.

The Pre-School leader is Mr Starr. He works closely with the teaching staff in Foundation 1 and 2, putting practice in place to support the children as they develop through the stages and transition into their next teaching group.

We are supported by Mrs Tansley the Pre-School deputy manager, also on the team we have our childcare apprentices Mrs Fry, Miss Campbell and Miss Keyworth.

The majority of the Pre-School childcare assistants are completing training to develop themselves professionally and apply their research studies to develop and enhance our provision.

Our Sessions
The Options.      We offer a variety of session for funded and non-funded children, term time only.

If you do not qualify for funding, we offer paid places:
Paid per session 8:30am – 11:30 am / 12:20 pm – 3:20pm (£13)
Paid full day 8:30am – 3:20pm (£26)

Home Learning
Working Together.       You can significantly support your child’s development through your engagement in meaningful activities that encourage your child’s thinking and talking.

Based on evidence, the home learning activities that have the biggest impact are:
Reading, sharing books and going to the library,
Going out on visits,
Playing with print (letters and numbers),
Singing songs and nursery rhymes,
Drawing and painting (making meaningful marks).

Class Dojo.        We want to show you the learning and play activities that your child experiences in school. We use Tapestry as a platform to celebrate children’s learning and development. This secure online learning journal builds a very special record of child’s experiences and development through observations that are share photos, videos and comments. Please make sure you activate your Tapestry account to view your child’s individual learning journey.

Talking Time
Communication and Language.      Talking, playing and socialising with your child is the best way you can help them in their development. There are lots of basic communication and language skills involved first which children need to help them get ready for school.

Top Tips for Talking.      Have some quiet time – no TV or mobile phones, this will help your child to listen and pay attention. Chat and sing together – this will help develop your child’s listening and speaking. Drop the dummy – this will help your child to have clearer speech. Praise your child – use positive words and praise when they do something well as this can help your child be more confident.

Sharing Books.      It can be tempting to just use books to read. Books can be explored in a number of ways and these suggestions outline other activities to encourage your child’s speech and language. Tell the story from the pictures rather than just reading the words. Encourage your child to retell the story, either with or without the pictures. Make comments about the pictures in the story e.g. “Wow! Look at the giraffe; he’s got a long neck”.

Our Stories.      To start the year, we explore text themed around our family and friends, our similarities and differences, and our emotions. We then continue the year and explore text on the season change, traditional tales, curious creatures, gardening, and under water.early years who share stories and nursery rhymes with adults find it easier to learn to read.

Speech and Language.      Our Speech and Language Therapist, Ms Harris, can provide guidance and support to parents and education staff that is specific to communication, speech, listening and attention.

Numbers and Shapes.       We aim to develop your child’s number awareness through number rhymes. In our mathematics area, we use blocks to build and position, and we explore shapes we find pictured on the resources or in the provision. 

Reminders
Extra clothes.        We are always grateful for clothing donations for times when children need changing. Please bring in spare clothes for your own child in case of any toileting accidents or messy play activities.

Label, label, label!        Please label all items of clothing with your child’s name, especially school jumpers. Items that have no named label will be taken to lost property.

Water bottles only.        If you pack your child a drink for the session, we only accept bottles of water. Any fizzy drinks will be stored away from the provision until the end of the session. We only offer water or milk. Please avoid putting water in baby bottles.

No jewellery.        For Health and Safety reasons, we do not allow the children to wear jewellery in school apart from earring studs or small objects of religious significance. No jewellery is allowed to be worn during physical activity due to safety reasons.