Mission Statement

Ladybirds Pre-school works to provide a safe, caring and stimulating environment where children learn through play, both in and out of doors.

The curriculum, planning and timetable are planned, using the ‘Early Years Foundation Stage’, ‘Birth to Five Matters Guidance’ and the “Plan, Do, Review” cycle from ‘High Scope’ educational approach to learning. 

The Session

As a team we are committed to an active learning environment so that children are able to follow their interests, and are able to take safe risks and challenges. We provide this through:

• Careful planning of  the environment, materials and experiences with the children’s interests and stages of development in mind
• organising space both in and out of doors into interest areas
• plentiful materials, clearly labelled, we have a book showing what other boxes we have out in the store so children can chose another box if they wish, for the children to use and return
• Adults interact and support children sensitively throughout the session focusing on their strengths as children work on age appropriate experiences.  As children’s confidence grows they are able to form authentic relationships with both adults and children.
• Where conflict arises we use a problem solving approach
•  A consistent daily routine ensuring that children have time to follow through their plans and ideas in a secure, caring and supportive environment.

Our Routine

• Welcome – all staff and children gather together to welcome each other and talk about the day.  Children self register. 
• Small Group Time – the adult selects activities based on the children’s interests and needs from information gained through observations, the seven areas of development learning, and information from parents.
• Plan – to express their interests and intentions, they make decisions and plans
• Choosing Time – carry out their plan with the supportive adult team both in and out of doors.
• Tidy Up Time – children and adults work together to sort and put back the materials used during choosing time.
• Remembering Time – look back at what they did maybe using words, drawing, the work created and use fiddles and photo bags to help with this process
• Large Group Time – where children and adults come together to work together on a group theme e.g. books, music and movement, games, role playing and dancing

Through this consistent, but flexible routine the children have control of their time and they are secure in the knowledge that they can plan, carry out an activity/s and reflect on what they did. Use of a 10 minute warning before snack cafe is closed and 5 minutes warning before tidy up time helps the children manage their own time and choose when to visit the snack cafe for example. Even the newest members of the pre-school quickly develop understanding of the routine secure in that they know what will happen next.

The Pre-School staff team work together as partners, promoting parental involvement.  We strive to support families and parents/carers by:

• Valuing all parents/carers equally
• Working with parents for the best outcomes for each individual child
• Having an open door policy, so that everyone feels welcome to visit at anytime during sessions.
• Welcoming parents into our sessions
• Meeting with parents at times convenient to them to share information
• Keeping all information confidential unless abuse is suspected
• Talking through the possibility of involving outside agencies where appropriate and only with parental consent, unless abuse is suspected
• Having a trained SENCO (Special Educational Needs Co-Coordinator) to work particularly with children with special needs

Key Persons

Each child and their parents/carer are allocated a key person on entry to the pre-school.  The key person will work with their key children on a daily basis through planning, remembering, and small group time and will develop a strong bond with these children getting to know their interests and stages of development well. The team have regular meetings and discussions to ensure that relevant information is shared with everyone, meaning that each child receive the highest quality care and education, unique to them. The key person will work with parents/carers to make sure that the pre-school provides for your child’s particular stage of development and interests. This starts at the home visit and continues at parent consultations to discuss and look through their child’s learning story. The key person also discusses next steps and developments with any other setting a child maybe attending.

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