Pre School

Bratton Clovelly Under 5's Pre School

Bratton Clovelly Under 5's Pre School aims to...

Exchanging knowledge about their children’s needs, activities, interests and progress with the staf
Provide high quality care and education for children primarily below statutory school age
Work in partnership with parents to help children learn and develop
Add to the life and well-being of its local community
Offer children and their parents a service which promises equality and values diversity

As a member of Bratton Clovelly Under 5's Pre School, your child is...

In a safe and stimulating environment; is given generous care and attention, because of our high ratio of adults to children
Has the chance to join with other children and adults to live, play, work and learn together
Is helped to take forward his/her learning and development by being helped to build on what he/she already knows and can do
Has a personal key person who makes sure your child makes satisfactory progress
Is in a pre school which sees you as a partner in helping your child to learn and develop
Is in a pre school in which parents help to shape the service it offers

We provide care and education for young children between the ages of 3 and 5 on all three mornings with Early Years funding available the term after your child is three. Please ask the Play Leader for more information.

Play helps young children to learn and develop through doing and talking, which research has shown to be the means by which young children think.
Bratton Clovelly Under 5’s Pre School uses the early learning goals and their stepping stones to plan and provide a range of play activities which help children to make progress in each of the areas of learning and development. In some of these activities children decide how they will use the activity and, in others, an adult takes the lead in helping the children to take part in the activity. In all activities information from the early learning goals and stepping-stones has been used to decide what equipment to provide and how to provide it.

Working together for your children
Pre School has a high ratio of adults to children in the setting. This helps us to:

Give time and attention to each child
Talk with children about their interests and activities
Help children to experience and benefit from the activities we provide
Allow the children to explore and be adventurous in safety

How parents take part in the Pre School
As a member of the Pre School Learning Alliance, Bratton Clovelly under 5’s Pre School recognizes parents as the first and most important educators of their children.
All of the staff see themselves as co-workers with you in providing care and education for your child. There are many ways in which parents take part in making the pre school a welcoming and stimulating place for children and parents, such as:

Exchanging knowledge about their children’s needs, activities, interests and progress with the staff
Helping at sessions of the pre school
Sharing their own special interests with the children
Helping provide, make and look after the equipment and materials used in the children’s play activities
Being part of the management of the pre school
Taking part in events and informal discussions about the activities and curriculum provided by the pre school
Joining in community activities in which the pre school takes part
Building friendships with other parents in the pre school

Joining in
You can offer to take part in a session by sharing your own interests and skills with the children. Parents have visited the Pre School to: play the guitar for the children, show pictures of holiday held in their childhood, and show the children their pets.

Key Workers
The Pre School has a key person system. This means that each member of staff has a group of children for whom he/she is responsible. Your child’s key person will be the person who works with you to make sure that what the Pre School provides is right for your child’s particular needs and interests. When your child first starts at the Pre School, he/she will help your child to settle and throughout your child’s time at the Pre School, he/she will help your child to benefit from the Pre School’s activities.

Record of Achievement
The Pre School keeps a record of achievement for each child. Staff and parents working together on their children’s records of achievement are one of the ways in which Pre School and parents work in partnership. Your child’s record of achievement helps us to celebrate together his/hers achievements and to work together to provide what your child needs for his/her well being and to make progress.
Your child’s key person will work with you to keep this record. To do this you and he/she will collect information about your child’s needs, activities, interests and achievements. This information will enable the key person to identify your child’s stage progress. You and the key person will then decide on how to help your child to move on to the next stage.

Learning opportunities for parents
As well as gaining qualifications in early years care abs education, the pre School staff takes part in further training to help them to keep up-to-date with thinking about early years care and education.
The Pre School also keeps itself up-to-date with best practice in early years care and education through the Pre School Learning Alliance’s magazine Under Five and publications produced by the Pre School Learning Alliance. The current copy of Under Five is available for you to read.
From time to time the Pre School holds learning events for parents. These usually look at how adults can help children to learn and develop in their early years.
Courses on similar topics are held locally by the Pre School Learning Alliance.

The Pre School Timetable and Routines
Bratton Clovelly Under 5’s Pre School believes that care and education are equally important in the experience, which we offer children. The routines and activities that make up the Pre School’ sessions are provided in ways that:

Help each child to feel that he/she is a valued member of Pre School
Ensure the safety of each child
Help children gain form the social experience of being part of a group
Provide children with opportunities to learn and help them to value learning

The Session
The Pre School organizes its session so that the children can choose from - and work at – a range of activities and, in doing so, build up their ability to select and work through a task to its completion. The children are also helped and encouraged to take part in adult-led small and large group activities, which introduce them to new experiences and help them to gain new skills, as well as helping them to learn to work with others.
Outdoor activities contribute to children’s health, their physical development and their knowledge of the world around them. The children have the opportunity – and are encouraged – to take part in outdoor child-chosen and adult-led activities, as well as those provided in the indoor playroom/s.

Snack
The Pre School makes snack time a social time at which children and adults sit together. We plan for snack so that they provide the children with healthy and nutritious food. Do tell us about your child’s dietary needs and we will make sure that these are met.

Policies
The Pre School policies help us to make sure that the service provided by the Pre School is a high quality one and that being a member of the Pre School is an enjoyable and beneficial experience for each child and his/her parents/carers.
The staff and parents of the Pre School work together to adopt the policies and they all have the opportunity to take part in the annual review of the policies. This review helps us to make sure that the policies are enabling the Pre School to provide a quality service for its members and the local community.

Special needs
As part of the Pre School’s policy to make sure that its provision meets the needs of each individual child, we take account of any special needs, which a child may have. The Pre School works to the requirements of the 1993 Education Act and The Special Education Needs Code of Practice (2000).

Management of the Pre School
A parent management committee – whose members are elected by the parents of the children who attend the Pre School – manages the Pre School. The elections take place at the Pre School’s annual general meeting, which is held each year.
The committee is responsible for:

Managing the Pre School’s finances
Employing and managing the staff
Making sure that the Pre School has – and works to – policies which help it to provide a high quality service
Making sure that the Pre School works in partnership with the children’s parents/carers.

The annual general meeting is open to the parents/carers of all the children who attend the Pre School. It is their forum for looking back over the previous years activities and shaping the coming years activities.

Fees
Mother and Toddler, pay as you go sessions:

0-6mths free
6-18mths £1 a session
18- 36mths £2 a session

2½ to 5 year olds (pre-school) non funded:

£5.50 morning session
£7.50 full session

Fees must still be paid if children are absent without notice for short periods of time. There is an allocation for 2 weeks holiday per annum. Please give notice to the treasurer if your child has to be absent over a long period of time.
For your child to keep his/her place at the Pre School, you must pay the fees or we must receive nursery funding for your child.

Starting at Bratton Clovelly Under 5’s Pre School

The first days
We want your child to feel happy and safe at the Pre School. To make sure that this is the case, the staff will work with you to decide on how to help your child to settle into the Pre School. The Pre School has a policy about helping children settle into the Pre School.

Clothing
The Pre School provides protective clothing for the children when they play with messy activities.

The Pre School encourages children to gain the skills, which help them to be independent and look after themselves. These include taking themselves to the toilet and taking off – and putting on – outdoor clothes. Clothing which is easy for them to manage will help them to do this.

Bratton Clovelly Under 5’s Pre School hopes that you and your child enjoy being members of the Pre School and that you find that taking part in our activities are both interesting and stimulating. The staff are always ready and willing to talk with you about your ideas, views and questions.