Pre-School

Where children grow in independence . . .

What do we do?

The Pre-School Room is always buzzing with energy as the children continue on their journey to achieving the Early Learning goals, which will happen at the end of the Reception year.

In the Pre-School Room, we build upon the three prime areas of learning – 1. Physical Development; 2. Personal, Social and Emotional Development and 3. Communication and Language. We add the specific areas: 4. Literacy, 5. Mathematics, 6. Understanding of the World and 7. Expressive Arts and Design.

The EYFS Curriculum is followed by your child until they finish their Reception Year at school. In Pre-School, activities are planned with the EYFS curriculum in mind, providing a little more structure to the day to prepare your child for their first steps into school.

How do we do it?

The children’s day begins with busy learning where the children choose their own activities and the staff support them in their chosen challenges. There are opportunities to learn at every turn, including: early reading, maths skills, mark making, imaginative play and computing. Activities and play experiences are planned to ensure that each child is challenged and given a chance to learn and develop as an individual. They regularly join the Nursery children in the outside area where they act as role-models for the younger ones.

As in the Nursery, the children are encouraged to tidy up their area before story time, when they hear a story read to them. Sometimes they develop their own story through Story Making and parents are invited to join us to hear what we have created.

Then, it is snack time, and the children are encouraged to help prepare their food. They pour their own drinks, butter their own crackers and cut up their own fruit and vegetables. Their next activity is small group time when their keyperson will have planned a more focused activity for each child to improve their understanding of one of the specific areas of learning. On Thursdays, the children are taught Mandarin by a native speaker who uses songs and games to help the children acquire another language. At the end of each session the children and staff join in a prayer.

The children are encouraged to contribute to the running of the Pre-School Room and help out by setting up activities, watering the plants, feeding the fish or tidying up after themselves.

Pre-School

 

 

Key Contact

Pre-School

The Pre-School team of Early Years Practitioners will work with you and your child to plan how to encourage their development.

The child’s development is observed by their key worker who will feed back to you regularly at the three termly parents’ meetings. These observations help both you and the team to think about the next steps in your child’s learning journey. We can then build their next activities around their individual development.

As always, we warmly welcome parents and grandparents to help in the setting. If you would like to share a special interest or talent with us all, please let the staff know so that the staff can include it in the session planning.

If your child has toys or pictures they would like to share with their friends, please bring them in for the staff to introduce it at an appropriate moment.

Contact

Enquiry

To make an enquiry about a place at the pre-school please click this button.

Important Information
Funding

Visit

If you would like to see the Pre-School Room at work, please ring us to arrange a visit.

School Meals Menu
If your child will stay for lunch, please ask for a menu and price list from the office.
Clothes
We ask that children don’t wear their ‘best’ clothes. We want our children to enjoy themselves without needing to worry about getting dirty. Please label all clothing. If you would like your child to wear a Childcare Trust polo shirt, please ask Caroline in the office for an order form. This can be a good way of getting them used to wearing uniform before they begin at school. We also encourage all children to brush their teeth after lunch in accordance with our healthy eating policy.
Photographs
All children will have the opportunity to have their photograph taken during the year by a professional photographer.
Class Outing
They will also be invited to go on their ‘class outing’ each Summer Term. Details of these outings are posted on the notice board and your permission is required to allow them to go on the trip.
Drama
Your child will also participate in the drama productions at Christmas and during the Summer Term to help them build confidence. We welcome families to come to watch.

Moving on to School

After the Easter holiday, we begin preparing the children for their transition into the reception class in the primary school you have chosen.

Each keyperson in Pre-School aims to instil and encourage self-confidence and a real enjoyment of learning in every child so that when they leave us, they are ready to make their first steps into formal education. Keypersons liaise closely with all schools to ensure a smooth transition. At the final meeting in the Pre-School (which occurs at the end of June), the keyperson will have prepared a transition document which will be shared with you and which will also be sent on to the school your child will be attending.

Our closest working relationships are with St Gregory’s Primary School, with whom we share a site. This enables us to use the school dining hall for lunchtime, the small hall for physical development sessions and the outdoor play area where our children come into contact with Reception-aged children. We also attend some school assemblies, and we share Sports Day and liturgies with the Reception class. We have visits from the Reception staff who visit our setting to develop relationships with the children and their families. All of these things help make the move into school an easier one. For those children moving to St Gregory’s Primary School in September, we arrange visits during the Summer Term so that your child becomes familiar with the classroom. These visits have proven to be a great success in familiarising the children and are warmly welcomed by the school.

While we share very close links with St Gregory’s primary school, having a place at our Pre-School does not automatically entitle you to a place at the Primary School. School places are allocated through the Local Authority.

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Location:

St James' Square, Cheltenham, Gloucestershire, GL50 3QG

Telephone:

01242 515387

Email:

childcare@st-gregorygreat.gloucs.sch.uk

Office Hours: Mon-Fri: 8.30am - 4.00pm

Our Organisation

St. Gregory’s Childcare Trust is a registered charity (nr. 1099491) and is registered with Ofsted (URN: EY267801).

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