Our Mission
Providing a safe environment
where children learn through play
Every child deserves the best possible start in life and the support that enables them to fulfil their potential. Children develop quickly in the early years and a child’s experiences between birth and age five have a major impact on their future life chances. A secure, safe and happy childhood is important in its own right. Good parenting and high quality early learning together provide the foundation children need to make the most of their abilities and talents as they grow up.
We provide wrap around care from 8:45AM to 4:15PM every Monday to Thursday. Our school is open from 9am to 3pm every weekday in term time and we’re registered on the Early Years register and both parts of the Childcare Register. We are managed by a voluntary committee of current and past parents and carers. Termly committee meetings include a representative from the school governors which, combined with our great relationship with the head of the school, allows easy communication with the school and greatly helps the smooth running of Pre-School. We have recently changed to a Charitable Incorporated Organisation and are in the process of reregistering with Ofsted.
We achieve this by…
- Ensuring all Standards set out in ‘The Early Years Foundation Stage’ information is adhered to and checked annually.
- Ensuring our policies and procedures are up to date and are reflected in practised in the setting.
- Ensuring that all children and their families feel safe and valued by including all children and families with due regard given to their specific needs with respect to their ethnicities, cultures, religions, languages, family backgrounds, special educational needs, skills and abilities, disabilities, and gender.
- Ensuring children and families are protected from anti-discriminatory behaviour and through role modelling of staff, are taught to have care and respect for others in the environment.
- Building up positive relationships and working in close partnership with children, their families and other professionals and agencies involved in promoting the care and education of each child.
- Have regard for The Statutory Framework for Early Years Foundation Stage (DfE, 2021) and Special Educational Needs and Disability Code of Practice:0-25 years (DfE, 2014) when observing children at play so as to monitor their care and education and extend their learning potential by building on their schemas and interests and needs.
- Ensuring the curriculum is appropriate to the children’s needs and topics are built upon children’s interests.
- Ensuring the environment is free from potential hazards and is welcoming and stimulating thus motivating children to learn.
- Allowing children to choose activities independently whether planned or not and to have the confidence to express themselves.
- Ensuring planning of activities will be flexible to match children’s spontaneous opportunities for learning.
- Ensuring all staff are supported in building on their own knowledge and understanding of child development in the early years through opportunities of training.
- Ensuring the highest quality of service is provided by addressing action points as stipulated by Ofsted inspections and the Early Years Development and Childcare Partnership and addressing matters arising as discussed by Staff and Committee and taking all comments or complaints offered by parents, seriously.
Our teachers
Outside of your family, your child’s teachers and caregivers are the most important people in their life. As such, we place the highest value in carefully selecting and vetting each and every member of our staff.
Gemma Carpenter
Manager, Level 6
Katie Pender
Senior Practitioner, Level 3
Natasha Perks
Room Leader, Level 3
Ann Sammons
Teaching Assistant, Level 2
Fiona O’Sullivan Deputy Manager, Level 3
Philippa Upton Temporary Teaching Assistant
All our staff are passionate about their jobs and very happy within their roles. We go above and beyond and are excited about the future. We want to give the children the ‘awe and wonder’ approach. As our mission statement outlines, we want to ‘provide a safe environment where children learn through play’.
We have six members of staff (5 permanent). The deputy manager, senior practitioner and room leader all hold a level 3 qualification in child care. One teaching assistant holds NVQ level 2 childcare. The manager holds a level 6 qualification with her BA Hons in Early Childhood Studies and has her Early Years Professional Status. The Deputy Manager holds her level 3 qualification in childcare. One teaching assistant holds her NVQ level 3 in childcare and the other has a NVQ level 2 in childcare. All staff members are DBS checked and all staff are qualified within paediatric first aid certification, renewed every three years and displayed within the classroom.
Staff work set hours and a weekly rota is displayed. Our part-time staff also provide cover where necessary so that the children can see a friendly face rather than agency staff. During the week the manager has some office time and key person staff have chance to do learning journeys/online courses/ preparation etc.
Key Person
As a tiny setting, all staff get to know the children well and the children approach all staff freely as part of our family ethos that we promote. We are all available to discuss any aspect of your child’s learning and development. Additionally, for the purpose of making their personal record books we do allocate a key person system. Secure emotional attachments are made with the key person – we feel very strongly that once a child is securely settled and feels safe within the provision we are able to move forward with the child’s learning and development at a confident pace.
Our vision
Inspiring teaching...
Our team set high standards for delivering a stimulating and well-balanced curriculum inclusively for all the children within our care. We adapt our teaching style and methods to meet the needs of individual children within the setting. Once a child is settled and feels safe and secure within their immediate environment, we believe they will begin to flourish allowing us to analyse and execute plans to ensure they start to feel comfortable in all areas of the curriculum.
We believe we are fortunate to have such an established team environment within our small setting. We want to continue to create a learning environment of high-quality interactions focusing on ‘the curiosity approach’. Children happily explore inside and outside through numerous play-based activities and have opportunities to take the lead and be inquisitive about the world around them. This vision and approach helps support children’s wellbeing in particular their confidence and their environment enabling them to excel and develop within their learning.