Our Pre-school specialises in looking after two year-olds. We are virtually a “pre-nursery school” not just a pre-school! Most of our children stay for 1 to 3 terms, attending 2, 3 or 4 mornings a week, and then go on to one of the local nursery classes or nursery schools in the term after they are three years old. We accept funding for eligible 2 year olds and for 3 – 4 year olds.

We follow the Early Years Foundation Stage, the curriculum for children aged 0 – 5 years, and plan all of our activities to help children make progress and stimulate their enthusiasm for learning.

We concentrate on teaching the children social skills – taking turns, making friends and being kind to each other. They learn to be without their parent/carer, building good relationships with other caring adults. These are key skills which help the children when they go on to Nursery.

Children of this age learn through Play and we always have a variety of toys and activities in our lower hall and our garden, which we vary every day in order to give all our children lots of new experiences.

We have a large hall upstairs for physical play – running, riding trikes, dancing to music and playing ring games and ball games. 

We also regularly take the children for small groups, reading them stories, to help develop a love of books, and playing games or doing other adult led activities which help develop their communication skills. They’ll be doing painting, gluing, drawing, threading and other activities which help their “fine motor skills” leading to good pencil control and singing songs such as “5 little ducks” and doing jigsaws which all help with pre-maths skills.

We have an excellent team of professional, caring and qualified, staff, all of whom are mothers themselves. Each child has a “key worker” who builds a good relationship with the child and the parents and helps with settling them into the preschool. The staff observe their “key children” and use their observations to plan activities around the individual needs and interests of each child, in accordance with the Government’s Early Years Foundation Stage. We also have a team of regular volunteers. We maintain a ratio of 1 adult to 4 children which is a requirement set by the Government. We also work closely with the Local Authority Early Years Advisory Team.

We want your child to be happy at our preschool and we encourage you to visit – with your child – before deciding whether or not you wish him/her to attend. We also draw your attention to our Policies and Procedures File which has more information about the running of our preschool and the ways in which parents can get involved (see ‘Parental Involvement Policy’).