Welcome to the Pre-School Unit
We are sure you will enjoy your time with us as there is always lots to do.
When you come in through the Pre-School door you will see the coat pegs all lined up on the wall. You will have a coat peg with your name on and a picture that you will colour in yourself. This is where your bag and coat belong. Don’t worry if you cant quite reach it there is always someone around to help you.
There are 6 ladies that work in the Pre-School during the week they are:
Karen - She loves telling stories and making crafty things.
Rita - Her favourite thing is to sing and dance around the room and do circle time.
Tomomi - She is very good on the keyboard playing your favourite nursery rhymes and likes to go outside.
Nicola- Her favourite interactive play is the cornflour and she likes to sing action rhymes.
Sue-She loves being creative and playing games outside.
Melissa-She enjoys telling stories and singing action rhymes.
Jackie – She loves to play table top games and help children to develop their skills doing jigsaw puzzles.
The Pre-School room has different areas for all of the children to play in. We have the book corner for quiet looking at books, a writing table with paper, chalk boards, chalks, pencils, crayons, and magnetic letters that you can help yourselves to. We have construction toys on the carpet and small world toys like the dolls house and farm on a table. In our number area we have a variety of activities that are number and maths based, like our compare bears and spotty ladybirds. We also have a home corner which is set out as a kitchen with food, pots and pans and kitchen units. This is also where we have some dressing up clothes for you to use.
There are also our interactive trays where you can choose to play with materials like lentils, cornflakes, pasta and rice.
In the middle of our room is the messy play area. In this area there is the water tray, sand pit and easel. These are all out on a daily basis for you to play with.
Every day you will get the chance to do an activity. The ladies will lead the activity and it will be based around the theme of that month. You will be called to do the activity by one of your key workers and they will ask you if you would like a turn. You don’t have to do the activity but they are usually good to do and involve fun things like colouring in, painting, sticking, looking for things in the garden, games, looking at books or filling in activity sheets. You will be asked a couple of times if you would like a turn in case you change your mind.
Mummy and Daddy can see which theme we are doing by looking at the parents wall in the pre-school and if you have anything at home that links to the theme you can bring it in to show us.
The Pre-school also has two computers with lots of games to play with. If you would like to have a go on the computers the ladies will help you to use the mouse and play the games until you can do it by yourself.
On the front wall we have a big apple tree. Everyone has their own apple with their name on and throughout the day we ask all of you to make sure your apple is on the tree. If you struggle to find your name, don’t worry there is always someone to help you.
The snack bar in the pre-school opens from 10-11 in the morning and from 3-4 in the afternoon. One of the ladies sets out the fruit and vegetables into bowls and fills two jugs with water and two jugs with milk. We then tell you the snack bar is open and you can come and help yourselves to the food and drink. A lady is always on hand to help you to pour your drink, refill any food bowls and mop up any spills.
If it is a nice sunny day we like to open the outside door and let you play in the garden. We keep the door open all morning and all afternoon so you can choose to play either indoors or outside. We will put toys outside on the grass and we have lots of bikes and scooters to ride on.
If it is a rainy day then we play indoors with the toys and try to go outside if the rain stops.
As it can get a little noisy in the pre-school the ladies shake a tambourine to get everyone’s attention. When the lady shakes the tambourine we like you to put your hands in the air, wiggle your fingers and walk to find the lady who has the tambourine. The lady then talks to you, telling you what she would like you to do or asking you a question.
As we do lots of artwork in the pre-school everyone has their own art folder. These are kept in the Pre-school near the parents wall. You will have an art folder with your name on and anything that is in the folder you can take home with you. We like to display your artwork on the walls but when we have a change of display or the walls are full your work will be in the folder for your mummy or daddy to collect when they pick you up.
We have a behaviour chart in the Pre-school. On the wall there is a sun, a star and a rainy cloud. On the sun are the names of all of the children in the pre-school. If you have been very good, done something nice for someone else or been very helpful one of the ladies may ask you to find your name and put it onto the star. This is the best place to be and everyone can see that you have been very good.
If you hurt someone or are silly in the room a number of times then one of the ladies will ask you to put your name on the rainy cloud. This isn’t a very good place to be and everyone can see you haven’t been very good. If you stay on the sun all day that is also good place to be.
At the end of the day you can show your mummy or daddy where your name is on the chart. We like to see your name on the sun or star as being on the cloud makes us sad.
The Pre-school has 5 child size toilets and sinks. When you need to go to the toilet we like you to find a lady and tell them you need to go.
If you haven’t been in pants long then a lady will come with you to make sure you are sitting properly on the toilet. When the ladies think you are good enough we let you go on your own.
If you have an accident and wet yourself don’t worry one of the ladies will change your clothes and help you onto the toilet.
During the day the ladies will ask you to go to the toilet to try for a wee, you may not want to go or think you don’t need to but it’s always good to try as having wet pants isn’t nice.
If you are still wearing a nappy when you come to the pre-school then one of the ladies will take you to have your nappy changed. When you get to the bathroom we will take off your nappy and ask you to sit on the toilet or potty to see if you can do a wee before your clean nappy goes on.
When you have been wearing pants at home and have been doing wee’s on your own toilet or potty for 2 weeks really well then mummy or daddy can speak to the ladies about you trying to wear pants in the pre-school.
The Daily Routine
8.00 We start the day in the Pre-School Room
9.30 Carpet time, where we like to say good morning to you and we ask some children to choose the toys.
All of you will get a turn throughout the term and if you are chosen your name will be displayed.
9.50 Playtime with all of the toys around the room.
10.00 Time for the adult led activity.
10.00 Snack bar opens for an hour.
11.00 Time to tidy away and go and play outside if the weather has not permitted our normal indoor/outdoor free flow.
11.55 If you are staying for dinner it’s time to go to the toilet and wash your hands.
12.10 Dinner time. You have to look for your name card at one of the table’s so you know where to sit for dinner.
1.00 To the bathroom to wash your face and hands after dinner and then onto the carpet to play or into the sleep room for a nap.
1.30 We have the television on now so you can have a sit down and rest.
2.00 We do carpet time to say good afternoon and choose the toys.
2.15 Time to play outside if the weather has not permitted our normal indoor/outdoor free flow.
3.00 Indoor play and adult led activity.
3.00 Snack bar is now open for an hour.
4.00 Tidy up time then onto the carpet for a story or singing.
4.30 At this time we sometimes go outside to play or if it’s too dark we carry on playing inside.
5.00 Time for tea brought in from home.
5.30 We join with the rest of nursery for playtime.
6.00 Nursery closed
Parent’s page
Parent’s Wall
As you walk into the pre-school room in front of you is a large wall display for the benefit of all parents. The display wall has different sections on it for your information that tell you what we have been doing that day in the pre-school. The headings are Activity, Toys, Outdoor play,Theme and Parental involvement.
Daily Messages
In the Pre-school the children don’t have a daily chart to take home. During the day the ladies all write important messages in their message book and when you pick up your child they will pass onto you verbally any messages for that day. We feel we only need to write down or pass on messages of a negative nature eg: wet/poo accidents, haven’t eaten much food, have got an accident form to sign, have been on the rainy cloud etc. We find this method works well as we have got lots of children in the Pre-school. If the ladies say that your child has had a good day, has had a nice time etc then we mean that they have been happy, they haven’t had any accidents, they have eaten well and have generally played nicely joining in with the daily routine.
We are always on hand to speak to you and answer and queries you may have about the day.
The message book will go with the children if they are in a different room at the end of the day and the other staff know to check the book for messages.
Learning Journeys
When your child starts in the Pre-school then we start them on a ‘Learning Journey’. This is an ongoing folder about your child’s development and is done by your child’s key workers. In the folder we will put photo’s and observations in which you can see different stages of development and the progression that your child has made, we will also include any work your child has done that shows how well they are doing.
Every term we will write short reports on their development regarding the 6 areas of development.
Over a term we gather evidence of your child’s development using different methods.
When writing the short reports for the ‘Learning Journeys’ the ladies in the room work together to do this and ask each other what they think so we are all confident about what we are writing.
As part of your child’s learning journey we would like to have information from home. It would be really nice to know what you have been doing at home for example if you have been on holiday or if you have some news to share with us. We will also add this information, and any photos you bring in, to your child’s learning journey.
You are welcome to request some time with a member of staff to discuss your child’s progress/development.
If we have any concerns about your child’s development then we may ask you to come in for a meeting to share thoughts and possible strategies.