Our welcoming Pre School provides care and nursery education for children from 3 to 5 years old.

In our Pre School room toys and equipment are displayed at child level so that they are accessible to the children. This allows children to make their own choices and decisions and to play with materials in their own way - solving problems and using their imaginations.

Staff work with children individually and in groups, offering ideas and suggestions and introducing new language and concepts to extend children’s learning.

Enjoyable play-based activities ensure that we cover all the areas of learning identified in the Early Years Foundation Stage (EYFS).

These areas of learning are:

• Personal, social and emotional development

• Knowledge and understanding of the world

• Communication, language and literacy

• Physical development

• Problem solving, reasoning and numeracy

• Creative development.

We take an holistic approach to learning, recognising that children often cover lots of areas of learning in the course of doing one activity.

Children in this room have direct access to outdoor play so that the indoor and outdoor learning environments operate as a continuous space.

The areas of provision on offer include:

Sand – wet and dry sand offer different experiences to learn about the properties of natural materials and to dig, pour, mould, and make marks.

Water – children love water, pouring, splashing, floating and sinking sailing boats, filling and emptying.

Malleable Materials – clay and play dough offer opportunities for tactile and imaginative play.

Mark Making – although we have a specific area for crayoning, emergent writing and drawing, we also make ‘mark making’ materials available around the nursery so that children can write in other areas – for example making shopping lists in the role play area or drawing maps in the construction area.

Paint – children can create works of art using paint with brushes, sponges and string. We will display some of these on our walls - and you can take some home for your walls!

Creative Workshop – lots of materials are available for children to make collages and junk models. We may ask you for empty cereals boxes and cardboard tubes from time to time, to keep this area stocked up!

Role Play – children can dress up and pretend. Whether it’s a home or a hospital they can take on different roles.

Large Construction – block play develops children’s ability to problem solve and their spatial awareness. It provides physical play which enhances co-ordination.

Small Construction – duplo, sticklebricks and other resources help to develop children’s fine motor skills.