Bledlow Pre-School

Monday to Friday (9.15 a.m. to 12.15p.m.) at Bledlow Village Hall, Chinnor Road, Bledlow, Bucks.

Leader: Tanya Stevenson (Tel: 01844 352684) (Email: tanya@bledlowpreschool.com)

General Information

 AIM OF BLEDLOW PRE- SCHOOL

The aim of Bledlow Pre-School is to enhance the education and whole well being of the child by providing a stimulating, safe and happy environment for each child to feel confident and secure, enabling each of them to reach their full potential to thrive and to learn. A broad, balanced and relevant curriculum provides the children with opportunities for learning that support all aspects of their development - social, emotional, physical and intellectual. Children are encouraged to be actively involved in their own learning with emphasis on play and language. The children are free to progress at their own pace in a relaxed atmosphere with adults always present to give encouragement, guidance and plenty of praise.

INFORMATION

All adults in the group are responsible for ensuring an atmosphere of care and respect in which known rules provide a secure framework to help children build up positive patterns of behaviour, and are aware that their own behaviour provides a model for the children.

Bledlow Pre-School firmly believes that no child, individual or family should be excluded from the pre school's activities on the grounds of gender, class, family status, means, disability, colour, ethnic origin, culture or belief and will endeavour to accommodate any special needs.

If any child who attends pre-school has a bad cold, cough, flu or tonsillitis, stomach upset etc. they must not attend until they are better. If a child contracts a contagious illness such as mumps or chicken pox, please inform a member of staff so a notice may be put up to alert other parents. The same applies to head lice. If your child is likely to be absent for more than a week, please advise us. The staff are also there to help with any worries and concerns you may have regarding your child so please don't hesitate to discuss these with us. A good time for staff to be available to you is between 12 noon and 12.15pm. If your child falls ill during a session every effort will be made by the staff to contact you so the child may be collected.

We are registered to take twenty six children a session between the age of 2 ½ - 5 years, of which twelve can be under three. The curriculum and all equipment used is planned to benefit children in this age range. Great care is taken in the planning to cater for each individual child to ensure they are getting maximum benefit out of their time at Bledlow Pre-school. We have a detailed programme for our 4 year olds that will ensure they are confident and well prepared for primary school and liaise with all local schools to ensure a happy and confident transition into full time education.

We provide excellent care ratios with five members of staff per session. The staff are chosen for their commitment to providing a well planned, well run pre school and for their dedication to the care of young children. All members of staff are trained and attend day courses to keep their skills current.

Bledlow Pre-School belongs to the families that use it. They are responsible for the way it is organised and a committee is elected at the A.G.M. in the autumn to do this work on the parents’ behalf. All parents are actively encouraged to become involved by either being on the committee, helping at the pre-school by means of a voluntary parent rota, helping with fund raising, providing resources or ideas. The committee employs the staff to run the sessions.

The Pre-school is a registered charity, monitored by Ofsted and a member of the Pre - School Learning Alliance.

The Pre-School has a theme per half term covering all aspects of development. All the activities reflect the term theme/goals through a full range of experiences and activities which are planned to provide learning with the inclusion of festivals, a termly visit and/or outing and special occasions. We are well equipped and are able to provide a full range of activities including painting, art and craft work, cooking, play dough, games, puzzles, small and large construction, imaginative, physical and investigative play during the course of the sessions. Our quiet corner, for a story, chat or island time, where a small group have an opportunity to have a story or discuss a topic with their key worker is an essential part of the Pre-school. The Key worker scheme gives each child and parents an allocated member of staff to plan, discuss and monitor the progress of each child and is especially important for the younger ones who still like to identify with one individual for their social and emotional care. The member of staff is closely involved with helping each child produce a personal folder of art and work taking in all aspects of the pre-school educational curriculum and is on hand for one to one help when needed. Music, singing and physical development are all important parts of our pre-school curriculum and all children are encouraged to participate in these group sessions.

The Pre-school curriculum follows the Early Years Foundation Stage set by the Department for Education and Skills. It covers the development of each child through their early education years. It is divided into 6 areas of learning (Personal Social & Emotional, Communication, Language & Literacy, Problem Solving , Reasoning and Numeracy, Creative Development, Knowledge & understanding of the world, and Physical Development) and we ensure all aspects of development are covered to nurture the full educational grounding each child needs.

Parents and Carers are asked to bring children promptly at 9.15am., and to pick up at 12.15pm, except for children attending afternoon sessions, who stay until 2.15pm. For security reasons the front door is locked after 9.25am. A daily register is kept of children, staff and all visitors.

We are very fortunate to have a wonderful large, enclosed garden of which full use is made, weather permitting, by holding the whole or part of the session outside. A selection of outdoor toys, bikes, sports equipment, sandpit and water trays are on offer. Additions to our out- door play are always welcome.

We request that children come in practical casual clothes. No dungarees or belts please! Please provide a named bag with a spare set of clothes. A pair of named Wellingtons are advisable for outdoor play.

Milk or water and a small snack are provided in mid morning. If your child has any special dietary needs please let us know when they start pre-school.

FEES

The fees are to be paid half termly in advance, irrespective of actual attendances. All three and four year olds are paid for by the Government from the term after they turn three. Alternative arrangements for payment are at the discretion of the Treasurer. The Pre-School requires a half term’s notice if you wish to withdraw your child or half a term’s fee in lieu. The Pre-School also operates a Twin Policy. Please ask Tanya for further details.

CONTACT INFORMATION

Bledlow Pre-School Leader: Tanya Stevenson, Tel: 01844 352684