Information Pack

HELLO AND WELCOME!!

We hope you will find this booklet a useful introduction to the Pre-school and that should you decide to enrol your child or children with us, the information contained here will ensure a smooth and happy progression for them through pre-school to school.

All children are welcome to attend irrespective of gender, race, language, culture, disability, learning difficulty.

Newbottle and Charlton pre-school was established in 1967 and has been operating in the village of Charlton, for the past 50 years. The pre-school offers educational care for children in the local area aging from 18 months-5 years inclusive. The facility is a registered charity and approved by the Ofsted authority to provide this care.
The service currently offered by the pre-school is from 8.00am till 6.00pm,(Mon-Thurs) and 8.00-4.00 Fridays.

The pre-school is run by an elected committee, which includes parents and staff.

The playgroup is funded via 4 main sources,

Childcare vouchers from Northampton County Council
Fees paid by parents/carers.
15/30 hours funding
Fundraising

British Values

As a school we promote British Values to ensure young people leave Newbottle & Charlton prepared for life in modern Britain. We have a duty to ‘actively promote’ the fundamental British values of democracy, the rule of law, individual liberty, and mutual respect and tolerance of those with different faiths and beliefs.

Newbottle and Charlton Pre-school aims to:

Provide high quality care and education for children primarily below statutory school age
Work in partnership with parents to help children to learn and develop
Add to the life and well- being of the local community
Offer children and their parents a service which promotes equality and values diversity

As a member of Newbottle and Charlton 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 her/his learning and development by being helped to build on what she/he already knows and can do
Has a personal key person who makes sure your child makes satisfying progress
Is in a pre-school which see you as a partner in helping your child to learn and develop
Is in a pre-school in which parents help to share the service it offers.

The Curriculum Provided by Newbottle and Charlton Pre-school

Children start to learn about the world around them from the moment they are born. The care and education offered by Newbottle and Charlton Pre-school helps children to continue to do this by providing all the children with interesting activities that are right for their age and stage of development.

For all children, the pre-school follows a set of guidelines for the Early Years foundation stage of education. These guidelines are set out in a document, published by the Early Years Department for Education and Skills, and is based on Every Child Matters change for children agenda. Pre-school follows this guidance.

The guidance divides children's learning and development into seven areas:

There are Prime Areas of learning: Prime areas fundamental, work together, and are move through to support development in all areas:

Personal, Social and Emotional Development.
Communication, Language.
Physical Development.

Personal, Social and Emotional Development:

This area of children's development covers:

Making relationships
Self-confidence and self-awareness
Managing feelings and behaviour

Communication and Language Development:

This area of children's development covers:

Listening and attention
Understanding
Speaking

Physical Development:

This area of children's development covers:

Moving and handling
Health and self care

There are the Specific areas of learning: Specific areas include essential skills and knowledge for children to participate successfully in society.

Literacy Development.
Understanding of the World.
Expressive Arts and Design.
Mathematics.

Literacy Development.

Reading
Writing

Understanding the World

People and communities
The world
Technology

Expressive Arts and Design

Exploring and using media and materials
Being imaginative

Mathematics:

Numbers
Shape, space, and measure

The guidance is focused on Every Child Matters Agenda which is split into 3 areas:

The guidance also offers themes and commitments which we are then inspected on during ofsted inspections.

A Unique child- includes diversity and special needs, build a safe and healthy environment, and ensure children develop to their full potential.

Positive Relationships – to help children respect each other, work in partnership with parents, build on the key worker system and support children’s learning.

Enabling Environments – to ensure children are given a stimulating environment in which to learn, be observed and assessed and working in partnership with others.

Learning & Development- this is where the educational guidelines are found.

Play helps young children to learn and develop through doing and talking, which research has shown to be how young children think. Newbottle and Charlton Pre-school uses the early learning goals and their steppingstones 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 activity’s information from the early learning goals and steppingstones has been used to decide what equipment to provide and how to provide it.

Working Together for your Children

Newbottle and Charlton Pre-school’s ratio of adults to children helps us to:

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

Management and Administration

The Pre-school is run by an elected committee, which ensures that major decision-making is in the hands of the parents who use the group. The committee are responsible for:

Managing the pre-schools finances
Employing and managing the staff
Making sure that the pre-school has and works to policies.
Making sure that the pre-school works in partnership with the children’s parents.
Fundraising Activities

Our Annual General Meeting, at which the committee for the following year is elected, is held in September and parents will be informed in good time so they are able to attend. However, you can join the committee at any time - please contact any member for further information.

The Service we Offer

We are open five days a week between 9.00am and 11.30am, and 12.30 to 3.00pm. We can also provide a lunchtime session between 11.30am and 12.30pm. Alternatively we can provide full day care.

We also offer early morning sessions from 8:00am or 8:30am and after school sessions from 3:00pm – 6:00pm. Monday to Thursday and till 4.00 on a Friday.

We are closed during school holidays and usually follow the same term dates as Newbottle & Charlton Primary School.

We provide care and education for young children aged between 12 months and 5 years.

The staff and committee recommend that children attend a minimum of 2 sessions a week. It is felt that this helps children to settle in more quickly.

LUNCHTIMES

We offer the opportunity to get a hot meal for your child’s lunch. The lunches are made by a company called Fresh Start and operate at Newbottle & Charlton Primary School. You will be given a letter with log in details on how to order the food, which is a cost of £2.50. Alternately you can bring in a packed lunch.

The First Step

We operate a waiting list and for your child to be included we need a registration form (included with this pack) complete and returned to the Pre-school together with a non-refundable deposit of £15 which will secure your child’s place. Details of this are included in our charging policy.

As the time approaches for your child to start Pre-school, we recommend that your child visits Pre-School and stays for a whole session. There is no charge for this visit.

Starting at Newbottle and Charlton 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 to settle into the pre-school.

Clothing

Each child has a named peg in the hall for coats, bags, and hats. Each child also has a named drawer for paintings, letters etc, so please check it at the end of each session. The pre-school provides protective clothing for the children when they play with messy activities, but we ask you to bring a bag with spare clothes ,wellies all in ones, and if necessary, pull ups, wipes, and nappy bags. Please could you name clothes, especially sweatshirts as this helps us to reunite children with their clothes. Please remember a sun hat in summer and a warm hat and gloves for outdoor play in winter.

How Parents take part in the Pre-school

As a member of the Pre-school Learning Alliance, we recognise parents as the first and most important educators of their children. All 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 playgroup 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 to 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 pre-school.

Terms and Conditions

In the event of your child leaving pre-school, for any reason other than them starting school, the Playgroup will require 6 weeks’ notice and a leaving form must be completed. If your child leaves before the end of the 6-week notice period and is fee-paying, then the balance of the fees owed up to the end of the 6-week period must be paid.

Dropping off and Collection

Parents are welcome to use the top car park when dropping off and collecting their child but are reminded that they must not use the bottom car park. The barrier will be locked at the end of the day as staff members leave. The front door is always locked with a member of staff manning it.

Please do not arrive to collect your child before the end of the session, unless agreed with staff. Our collection procedure is designed to ensure maximum safety for your child. We therefore request that you remain outside until a member of staff advises you that your child is ready for collection.

If someone other than yourself will be collecting your child, please inform the staff when your child is brought to Pre-school, you may be asked to give a password. In the event of an emergency please let the staff know who is collecting your child by telephoning the pre-school on (01295) 812909.

Please remember that Breakfast club is 8.00-9.00, Preschool starts form 9.00, end of the day is 15.00, after school club is 15.00-18.00. If you arrive earlier or later than already booked in you will be charge accordingly.

Health Matters

For the benefit of your own child, the staff, and other children attending Pre-school, please keep your child at home if they are unwell. Our staff are qualified to administer routine first aid. If a child becomes unwell or has a serious accident, every effort will be made to contact the parents. When parents cannot be reached, we will be responsible for contacting a doctor or summoning an ambulance if necessary. We ask parents to supply us with emergency contact numbers and full details of any relevant medical problem or allergy. Please let us know if your emergency contact number changes, it is important that we have up-to-date information.

In the case of vomiting or diarrhoea, children should be kept at home for 48 hours from the last occurrence of sickness. If a child is being treated with antibiotics it is our recommendation that they should stay at home for a full 48 hours.

SEN

The number of adults present in pre-school enables us to give each child some individual attention. They can progress at their own rate in all areas of development. We are experienced in working in close liaison with professionals across the range of special needs. If you would like to discuss the group’s ability to meet your own child’s special needs, please talk to the pre-school leader or your child’s key worker.

Pre-school Staff

We are proud of the high ratio of adults to children in our pre-school. This ensures individual attention to the needs and development of each child. Our staff are well trained and very experienced in working with young children.

Key Workers

Our key worker system gives each member of staff responsibility for a specific group of children. Each child in the group has one special adult to relate to, which can make settling into the group very much easier. In addition, the key worker can tailor the group’s curriculum to the unique needs of each individual child. The key worker maintains links with the child’s home setting, working with parents through shared record keeping. This ensures that all children are supported in reaching their full potential.

Record-Keeping

Because so many adults help in the group, we can implement an excellent record-keeping system in which observations of the children in the group, and at home, are used as a basis for drawing up a curriculum for each child.

Training

Our membership of the Pre-School Learning Alliance (PLA) ensures that we are constantly in touch with new thinking in the field of child education and care. We receive a monthly magazine offering practical advice and up to date information and have access to a range of professionally produced publications. Parents may ask to see any of these. In addition, on-going training is available through PLA courses, which welcome both staff and parents. Informal training is available through local meetings and conferences, and parents will always be informed about these.

Complaints

The committee recognises that problems do arise and are always happy to discuss any concerns you may have regarding the pre-school and will endeavour to find a solution. For further details please find attached the complaints policy. Your first point of contact is the Pre-school Chairman.

Parent Helper Duties

Research has shown that children learn better when parents/carers are involved. Our parent/carer rota system gives the parent/carer the opportunity to take an active part in their children’s learning within the setting. It also gives the parent/carer the opportunity to see how their child is progressing through the areas of learning. Unfortunately through Covid times we are unable to have parent helpers.

In addition to this, the rota system provides a valuable opportunity for the children to see their parents/carers in a new role.

The Duties of the Helper is as Follows:

1. During the session, circulate around the various activities, helping if required, washing hands, and generally having fun with the children, as we believe that the children learn best when they are enjoying themselves.

2. Support the staff assisting with any topic activities planned for the day as may be requested. Playing with the children may involve reading with them, talking, and listening to them, becoming involved in role-play/imaginary games, painting, construction/building and play dough shaping.

3. Support the children in any of the areas of learning available to them on the day, for instance number work, letter recognition and puzzle activities.

4. Please prepare the children’s snacks and drinks ready for break time and wash up afterwards, using playgroup equipment kept in the toy cupboard. The staff will advise you of the timing of this break.

It is not expected that the helpers clear up during or after the session unless there are staff shortages. Staff would then appreciate the helper assisting them to clear away the toys at the end of the session.

Also, please be aware that there must always be at least two members of staff in the room plus one other staff member or adult (depending on our child: adult ratio for any given day), so please check with staff the there are enough people in the room before leaving it.

Please remember that the play staff greatly appreciates the parent helper’s assistance as it ensures the smooth running of the session. If there is anything you are unsure of DO ASK!

The Benefits of Parental Involvement in Pre-school

The Pre-School Learning Alliance recognises parents as the first and most important educators of their young children. Our pre-school aims to support parents. Parents are welcomed:

§ To work in the group with the children.

§ To work with pre-school staff to record information about their child’s progress and achievements.

§ To assist with fund-raising.

§ To take part in the management of the pre-school.

§ To attend open meetings of the PLA.

§ To attend training courses, workshops and conferences organised by the PLA.

There are long term benefits of parental involvement which starts within the pre-school setting – the early participation may encourage the parent to continue actively taking part in primary and secondary schools, where it is equally beneficial to all concerned.

SAFEGUARDING

The Pre- school takes safeguarding children very seriously and follows rigid procedures when employing staff and dealing with the health and safety of all its pupils.

DSB Checks All members of staff are subjected to a full criminal record check as well as verification of their qualifications and identity. The committee members are also subject to full criminal record checks. ALL volunteers in school who work with children for more than 3 days per month must undergo a full DBS check.

Parents who volunteer to help on school trips or to provide transportation to events and activities are NOT subject to a DBS check. They cannot however be left with children alone.

Allegations of Abuse Any allegation of abuse is taken directly to the Designated Safeguarding Lead who is the manager. These allegations are investigated immediately through the appropriate channels. All members of staff are trained in child protection and the manager has also undergone child protection and safer recruitment training. The chair is responsible for Safeguarding and she and the manager review the policies and procedures regularly. A clear policy is in place for dealing with allegations of abuse.

We at Newbottle and Charlton Pre-school very much appreciate and hope to keep your continued support.

We hope that your child’s time in pre-school will be an incredibly happy and productive one. If you have any queries or if we can be of any help, please contact the staff/committee at any time.

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