Play Planet Pre-School
Prospectus
Play Planet William Pre-School
Within the grounds of
William Read Primary School
Canvey Island
Essex, SS8 0JE
Telephone: 07505 171431
www.playplanetpreschool.co.uk
Like our Facebook page “Play Planet Pre-School”
Operating hours Monday – Friday 8.30am – 11.30am/12.00pm-3.00pm
Ofsted Registration Number: EY396620
Welcome
We are delighted that you have chosen Play Planet William Read for the care and education of your child. We hope this prospectus will be a useful guide to help you settle your child into the preschool and to act as a reference document for the future. Our management and staff will also be happy to answer your questions or to explain anything that is unclear. You are always welcome to speak to a member of staff/committee for further details or please feel free to call us. We look forward to building a strong and positive relationship with you and your family.
Vision Statement
At Play Planet William Read Pre-School it is our aim to provide a setting in which children are happy and secure and in which there is an atmosphere of mutual trust; where children know they are valued and respected. We aim to provide a setting where learning is exciting and an intrinsic part of their play and all that they enjoy. It is our intention to instil in each child a lifelong love of learning and to give each child the social skills needed to contribute to the wider community as well as prepare them for their transition to Primary education.
Aims and objectives
Play Planet William Read Pre-School aims and objectives are to:
ü Provide high quality care and education for children below statutory school age.
ü Work in partnership with parents to help children to learn and develop.
ü Offer children and their parents a service, which promotes equality and values
diversity.
ü Provide a safe and stimulating environment.
ü Give generous care and attention due to our ratio of adults to children.
ü Join with children and adults to live, play, work and learn together.
ü Help take forward a child’s individual learning and development by being helped to build upon what that child already knows and can do.
ü Provide a key person for every child, who ensures that each individual child progresses and achieves, considering their age and stage of learning and development, when planning activities.
ü See the parent/carer as a partner in helping the individual child, to learn and
develop.
ü Provide a setting in which parents help to shape the service it offers.
ü Add to the life and wellbeing of its local community.
How the setting is managed
Play Planet Pre-School operates under the umbrella of Play Planet Family Project, a registered charity.Play Planet Family Project are registered with the Pre-School Learning Alliance who provide specialist support for pre-school settings.
The pre-school is managed by a committee who are responsible for managing the finances of Play Planet Pre-School, employing and managing staff, ensuring adherence to policies and legislation and ensuring high quality care and education for children aged 2-4 years.
Play Planet Pre-School are registered with the Office for Standards in Education (OFSTED) whose main aim is to improve the quality and standards of education and childcare through inspection and regulation. Reports of inspections are available on our parent notice board and on the website as well as through the OFSTED website.
Along with OFSTED, we are registered with the Local Education Authority, Essex County Council to receive the Early Education Entitlement for two, three and four year olds.
Staff at Play Planet William Read Pre-School and their relevant qualification
Emma Webb – Pre-School Manager – Early Years Foundation Degree
Sarah De’ath – Pre-School Manager – Early Years Foundation Degree
Lindsey Brittain –Deputy Manager & Special Educational Needs Co-ordinator - Early Years Foundation Degree
Becky Saville – Session leader & Equality Named Co-ordinator – CACHE Level 3 in Child Education and Development
Ruth Collins – Special Educational Needs Co-ordinator
Francesca Rizzo – Early Years Practitioner – CACHE Level 3 in Children’s Care, Learning and Development
Kathleen Millward – Early Years Practitioner – CACHE Level 3 in Children’s Care, Learning and Development
Ami Goulbourn – SENCO assistant & Early Years Practitioner – BA Hons in Early Childhood Education
Nicola Manderson – Early Years Practitioner – BTEC National Certificate in Children’s Care, Learning and Development (Level 3)
Josephine Shoulder – Pre-School Assistant - Level 3 Diploma in Pre-School Practice
In addition to relevant Early Years and childcare qualifications, all staff hold a Criminal Records Bureau Check. Safeguarding and Child Protection training is completed by all staff every three years at least to group 3. However, designated safeguarding officers (Emma Webb & Sarah De’ath) hold group 4 safeguarding qualifications approved by the Essex Safeguarding Children Board. Staff who are responsible for food preparation hold a level 2 food hygiene certificate which is renewed every three years.
As part of our philosophy to support and nurture the children both developmentally and personally, staff wish to be called by their first names, thus allowing the children to form stronger partnerships with them.
Our staff are encouraged to attend regular training and continuous professional development programmes to benefit themselves personally and to benefit the children attending. Our staff hold training certificates in many different areas for which we are proud of their achievements. Please refer to our “Staff Qualifications Folder” at the front desk.
We encourage volunteers and support young people pursue training in the education sector and so at times you may see trainees and volunteers within the session.
Timetable and Daily Routine at Pre-School
Our pre-school believes that care and education are equally important in the experience we offer children. The routine and activities that make up the session are provided to ensure children feel safe, secure, valued and excited to learn.
Our morning and afternoon routine is as follows
8.30am – Arrival and free play
(Parents are asked to bring children into the playroom and settle their children before leaving)
8.50am – whole group registration
8.50am – 10.00am – Free Play and outside area opened
10.00am – Snack bar opens. Focused activities in addition to free play and outdoor play
11.10am – Tidy up time
11.15am – 11.30am Whole group time and getting ready to go home
(parents are asked to wait outside the pre-school and children will be brought to you as they leave)
12.00pm – Arrival and free play
(Parents are asked to bring children into the playroom and settle their children before leaving)
12.20pm –whole group registration
12.20pm – 1.30pm – Free play and outside play area opened
1.30pm – Snack bar open. Focused activities in addition to free play and outdoor play
2.40pm – Tidy up time
2.45pm – Whole group time and getting ready to go home
(parents are asked to wait outside the pre-school and children will be brought to you as they leave)
Upon arrival at pre-school please encourage your child to hang up their belongings on the pegs to the back of the playroom. Children do not have pegs designated to them so you are welcome to make use of any peg.
We ask that parents/carers bring their children into the pre-school and not to drop children at the front gate or door.
We organise our sessions so that children can choose from and work at a range of activities to support their ability to select and work through tasks of their choosing. Children are also encouraged to participate in adult-led small and large group activities which encourage children to explore new aspects of play and learning. We encourage independent learning by allowing children to choose resources that they need as well as encouraging children to tidy away when they have finished playing.
Play Planet ensure that children have access to free flow indoor/outdoor play contributing to the health, physical development and their knowledge of the world around them. Children have the opportunity to, and are encouraged, to participate in outdoor activities throughout free play sessions. We are fortunate to have a grass and concrete outdoor play for sole use by the pre-school. Please may we ask that children are equipped accordingly for the weather to participate in outdoor play whatever the weather.
Snacks at Pre-School
We operate an open snack bar during morning and afternoon sessions which enables children to choose when to have their snack within a given time frame. Children are encouraged to be independent in washing their hands but the snack bar is always supervised by a member of staff. Independently, children choose at snack they would like. Choices include fruits and vegetables in addition to sandwich, toast, crackers and cereals. Children can pour their own drinks from a choice of milk or water. Any children with specific dietary requirements or allergies should mark this on their child’s registration form. This information shall be passed onto all staff responsible for preparing snacks to ensure your child’s needs are maintained.
Settling in
New children and their parent/carer will be invited into pre-school for two settling in sessions before they officially start at pre-school. The visit can be as short or as long as your child is happy to stay. During the first visit, the manager or key person shall provide you with the necessary written documentation including this prospectus and registration documentation. At the first visit we ask that parent/carers stay with their child. We encourage your child to freely explore the pre-school environment and staff will actively engage with your child.
As part of the second visit, if parents/carer are comfortable, we ask that your child is left for a short period of time in our care. A designated person, usually your child’s keyperson, will be responsible for ensuring your child feels safe and secure. If a child becomes upset by the absence of their parent/carer, we will call you and request that you return to collect your child. We must have a completed registration form for your child before they are left in our care.
Play Planet appreciates that each child is an individual and some children can become distressed by the separation from their parent/carer. We will liaise with you as to a plan and time frame for separating from your child. We do ask that parents/carers say goodbye to their children before leaving.
The Early Years Foundation Stage Curriculum (DfE 2012)
The provision for children’s learning and development is underpinned by the Early Years Foundation Stage. The curriculum is a play based learning programme with four guiding themes and principles:
A unique Child – Every Child is a unique child who is constantly learning to be resilient, capable, confident and self assured.
Positive Relationships – Children learn to be strong and independent through positive relationships
Enabling Environments – Children learn and develop well in enabling environments, in which their experiences respond to their individual needs and there is a strong partnership between practitioners, parents and carers.
Learning and Development – Children develop and learn in different ways. The framework covers the education and care of all children in early years provisions including children with special educational needs and disabilities.
How we provide for development and learning
Children start to learn about the world around them from the moment they are born. The care and education offered by our pre-school helps children to continue to do this by providing children with interesting activities that are appropriate for their age and stage of development. The curriculum is divided into seven areas of learning and development which are:
3 Prime Areas of development and learning
ü Personal, Social and Emotional Development
ü Physical Development
ü Communication and Language
4 Specific Areas of development and learning
ü Literacy
ü Mathematics
ü Understanding the World
ü Expressive Arts and Design
As part of the curriculum, the Development Matters guidance sets out likely stages of progress a child makes along their learning journey. Our setting uses this guidance to assess children and plan for their learning through play.
Learning Journals
As of September 2015, Play Planet are delighted to be using a new system for recording children’s learning and development. New software, called Tapestry will be utilised by the practitioners to capture your child’s achievements in the time they are with us. Learning Journals and special books have grown in popularity in recent years, offering the pre-school a way to record the special moments of their children, and to keep parents involved in a partnership as their children blossom and grow. More recently they have been used in conjunction with the EYFS developmental stages to assess more formally how children are progressing.
Traditionally these individual records have been collected in scrapbooks or binders, building up into a treasured memoir that children can take with them when they leave for the next stages of their journey through life - each entry forming a thread in the warp and weft of the tapestry that is their life. Key features of the Tapestry software include:
· Journals created for each child, with full control over who can view and edit
them.
· Each observation or page can include notes, photographs and EYFS assessments, characteristics of learning and videos. They can be enhanced by comments from other staff and parents.
· Each child's journey can have individual accounts set up for parents and
relatives to access.
· Parents can comment on new entries and even add their own.
· Mobile apps allow new entries to be made from iPhones,iPads and Android
devices.
· Automatic emails generated for parents when new entries are made.
Learning through Play
Play helps young children to learn and develop through doing and talking. Our setting uses the Development Matters guidance to plan and provide a range of play activities which help children to make progress in each of the areas of learning and development. Short term, weekly planners and focused activity plans are prepared for children and are displayed within the pre-school. These are flexible and adaptable to the needs of the children. Information about what we are learning is also distributed through newsletters and wall displays.