Toybox Preschool Group is a happy busy preschool to the West of Ipswich’s town centre, and is part of Suffolk County Council’s List of Providers. We offer Grant Funded Spaces for 3 and 4 year olds (up to 15 hours per week) and limited free spaces for 2 year olds on low income through application to Suffolk County Council (up to 15 hours per week).
Our OFSTED inspection of October 2014 gave us a ‘good’ rating. The inspector said:
“A rich learning environment, both indoors and outdoors, creates a wide range of exciting opportunities for all children. This means that children are keen, enthusiastic and independent learners.
All staff fully understand their role in safeguarding children. They provide a high quality pre-school which is welcoming, safe and stimulating. All necessary steps are taken to protect children’s welfare.
Good leadership ensures that professional development enables practitioners to improve their knowledge, understanding and practice. Strong team work and partnership with parents and other agencies is evidence that all staff are committed to improve the pre-school provision for all children.”
Parents can choose to have more than 15 hours but will then pay, for example £3.30 for staying through the lunch club or £9.90 for an extra session. (Please note that fees will increase each September.) From September 2015, we will no longer be offering lunch club or all day care for 2 year olds as we have recognised that their needs are better met when they have the shorter sessions. We work to support you having your child here for the times that meet your and your child’s needs while helping your child make the most of the sessions and what happens throughout the sessions, so please talk to us if you wish for times other than the usual session times.
Our children go onto various schools, including Handford Hall County Primary, St Matthew’s Church of England Primary, St Mark’s Roman Catholic Primary and Springfield Infants School.
Our aim is to provide free or low cost early education to the children. If your child is using their 15 hours free entitlement, you do not have to pay any more money to access this. However, you can choose to pay for additional spaces if you need more childcare; buy uniform with the Toybox logo, donate to our snack for the children (suggested donation 20p per session). If you are late to collect your child, we charge for late collection as we have to ensure enough staff to be with your child. (Please see our Charging Policy for more details.)
We have been on the site of Handford Hall since 1997, initially in a mobile classroom, but in a purpose built brick building since April 2010. Before Toybox came onto the Handford Hall site, we were Burlington Preschool at the Burlington Baptist Church on London Road. We welcome children from all across Ipswich and the surrounding villages.
Our well-qualified and trained staff have quality experience in a variety of childcare settings which contributes to the friendly and loving quality of care the children are given.
We provide a range of stimulating learning opportunities, recognising that children learn best through playing and doing. We have a diverse intake, covering a wide range of religions and languages, which enhances the environment for us all.
We are here to serve children and families. We will listen, and keep private what you say to us. However, we have to inform the appropriate agencies if we are concerned about the care a child is receiving.
Our staff are trained in Makaton, which we use to help the children develop their communication and language. We have been awarded an ECAT certificate by Suffolk County Council, which means we are a setting which helps Every Child become A Talker.
We follow the Revised Early Years Foundation Stage with the 7 areas of learning:
Communication and Language;
Personal, Social and Emotional Development;
Physical Development;
Literacy;
Maths;
Expressive Arts and Design;
Understanding the World.
Sometimes children need support to achieve at the level their chronological age suggests they should be able to achieve at – our Special Needs Coordinator will work with their Key Person and parents and carers to make sure they have the specific support they need to help them develop holistically. We also work with outside agencies such as Speech and Language Therapists, Physiotherapists, Specialist Teachers for children with Hearing Impairments or Visual Impairments.
We know that children develop best when their parents and carers and preschool work in partnership to best meet their needs, as the parents are the child’s first and key teachers.
Each child is given a Key Person, who will be the child’s first carer and teacher in the preschool. Our Key Persons work in small buddy groups so that if your child’s Key Person is absent, they will still have someone who is familiar with them. We use online Learning Journeys called Tapestry to record your child’s learning and development, and you can access this from home to see what your child has done and add your own photos and comments.
We do pass this onto the school when your child goes to Reception or a nursery class, but you will get it back from the school when your child goes into Year One. We invite the schools our children are going onto, to come and meet the children here before they start Reception, and are always happy to go and meet the teachers with the children and parents and carers.
Children can start Toybox when they are 2 years old, and can stay until they go into full time school, although some parents choose for their child to go into a nursery class to start to become familiar with the school their parents will apply for them to go onto. We work with parents and carers to find the best childcare arrangements, and can offer collection from Handford Hall Nursery class for children who share their care with Handford Hall and Toybox.
We accept children into Toybox throughout the year as we have spaces, although our main time for new starters is September. Children are put on our waiting list in date of birth order, and we offer spaces taking into account your child’s age, helping make sure as many children as possible access their 15 hours funded spaces, and any recommendations from Portage Workers, Family Support Workers, etc. (Full details are in our admissions policy.)
We have an open session at the end of the Summer Term, when we invite all the children and families who are going to start Toybox in the September to come and meet the teachers, especially the child’s Key Person.
We have a uniform available for the children of green polo shirts and sweatshirts with the preschool logo. This is optional to buy but helps when we are out on visits!
We recommend leggings or jogging trousers for the children and trainers or shoes with Velcro fastening to make it easy for the children to manage their own clothes when going to the toilet and changing shoes.
We recognise that not all children are toilet trained when they start preschool, and work with their parents and carers to help the children learn when they need to use the toilet or potty. We work with the Health Visitors, who have given us advice and guidance we can share with you to help your child gain bladder and bowel control. We ask you to provide nappies and wipes if your child still uses nappies. We will check the children’s nappies after the snack time and change wet nappies then; if your child soils their nappy it will be changed straight away.
Please supply a named bag of named spare clothes in case your child is so busy learning and having fun with their friends they forget to get to the toilet in time!
We use our garden every day with the canopy to shelter us from rain, artificial grass so we can run on the grass all year round, and large planters to dig and plant in. Your child will need sensible shoes and outside clothes – coats, hats and gloves in winter, sun hats in summer.
Please make sure you put your child’s name in their clothes so they do not get lost!
Many children start preschool having a comfort item such as a dummy or favourite teddy – bringing the comforting ‘transitional’ item will help your child to feel more settled in the preschool. Please make sure you tell your child’s Key Person about any comforting item your child likes to bring to Toybox.
We provide a healthy snack each day, when the children choose from milk or water, and a range of snacks. Breadsticks and cream cheese and cucumber are a popular choice as is apples, carrots and unsalted popcorn. If your child has any food intolerances or allergies, it is very important you tell us about them, so we can make sure they have a suitable and nutritious snack.
We do know that the prolonged use of dummies or bottles can affect the development of children’s teeth and their speech, so work with you to help children give up their dummies when they are ready to do so. We have fresh drinking water available at all times, so your child will not need to bring a drink with them. If they cannot drink from an open cup yet, please talk to their key person about what they can drink from so we can meet their needs.
Some children aged 3 or 4 stay for the lunch club at an additional cost of £3.30 as well as the preschool sessions and their parents/carers will provide a healthy packed lunch for your child. Please avoid nuts and peanuts in the lunch boxes as these are a choking hazard as well as an allergy risk. Note that there is a limit to how many children we take for lunch club, so please speak to Lyanne or Mel if you are interested.
The childcare staff at Toybox are:
Playroom Manager and Safeguarding Officer: Lyanne Brendt
Lyanne has 19 years of experience of working with children and has two sons. She has a Diploma in Preschool Practice, Advanced Diploma in Childcare and Education, Foundation Degree in Children’s Care, Learning and Development, and BA in Early Years.
Early Years Practitioners:
Julie Thompson is our deputy manager as well as our deputy safeguarding officer, and she has 14 years of experience of working with children and has a daughter and 2 sons and had her first grandchild last year. Julie has the PLA Diploma in Childcare and Education Level 3.
Courtney Walters joined us last year for her first job after qualifying with her Level 3 in Childcare; she will be going on maternity leave at the end of the Summer Term to have her first child.
Debbie Craig joined us last year to come back to working in preschools after working in primary schools. Debbie is a qualified teacher and has worked in different primary schools in Suffolk as well as preschools in Staffordshire.
Diana Sinkuniene has her Level 3 teaching assistant qualification and her Level 3 for the Children’s and Young People’s Workforce. Diana has two sons in primary school and speaks Lithuanian, Russian and English.
Kara Smith is an Early Years Practitioner and came to us in January 2016 from Wigwams Ipswich. Kara has a total of 8 years’ experience of working with children and has completed her Level 6 Bab Hons in Early Years.
Kim Markwell is an Early Years Practitioner and has 6 years of experience of working with children. Kim has CACHE Diploma Level 3 in Childcare and Education, and has one son, and is currently on maternity leave with her second child.
Kirsty Harvey is our Early Years Apprentice. She is undertaking her Level 2 in Early Years for the Children’s and Young People’s Workforce and this is her first job in childcare after leaving secondary school.
Laura Francis is our Special Needs Coordinator and came to us from Robins Childcare in Capel St Mary. Laura has 7 years childcare experience and a young son and is doing her Foundation Degree in Children’s Care Learning and Development.
Shanti Kaur is our Positive Behaviour Officer and has an NVQ 3 in Childcare and had 2 years experience in childcare before taking a break to have her 3 children. This is her first childcare job in Suffolk.
Shelley Nixon came to us from Grundisburgh Playgroup and is doing her Foundation Degree in Early Years Practice at UCS. Shelley has her Level 3 Diploma in the Children and Young People’s Workforce.
The Office staff at Toybox are:
Office Manager - Mel Clear is our super efficient admin office manager – you will see her in the office and she is the best person to talk to about your child’s fees as she will know exactly what you have paid! Mel has a daughter and a son.
Michelle Pelling has a CACHE Level 2 Certificate in Preschool Practice and 5 years experience in childcare. She has 2 children of her own and this was her first childcare job since she had her younger child, but she has recently moved across to provide office support to the preschool.
Toybox Preschool Group is a charity run company, with a board of directors responsible for the overall running of the group.
Our Chair of Directors is Bronwen Adeoye. Bronwen has 2 children in primary school, both of whom came to Toybox.
Bronwen welcomes parents to join her in helping to run Toybox for the benefit of the children, families and community using the preschool. Please ask to be put in contact with her if you would like to know more about this important way of helping your child’s preschool.
We rely on the fees you pay for your child to run the preschool so you do need to pay even when your child is off sick or on holiday. Fees should be paid at the beginning of the week for the whole week, or for a longer period if this is more convenient. We accept cash, cheques or direct debit, but do not have facilities for card payment. If you are having a problem paying fees, please speak to the managers or Bursar as soon as possible. Children are able to receive ‘free’ spaces from the term after their 3rd birthday, and some children may be eligible for ‘free’ spaces while still aged 2, if the family is on low income. Please speak to your Children’s Centre or the managers to find out more information.
The preschool is open Monday to Friday, term time only.
The morning session is 8.30am to 11.30am.
Lunch club is 11.30am to 12.30pm.
Afternoon session is 12.30pm to 3.30pm.
For a visit to the preschool or to find out more information, please telephone us on 01473 216477, or email
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