PROSPECTUS 2017-2018
What is Bath Opportunity Pre-School (BOP)?
First started in 1979, BOP is an Ofsted registered pre-school catering for children aged 0-5 with additional educational and care needs. We have 14 permanent members of staff and approximately 25 children on our books.Our high ratio of staff to children and regular access to different therapists together with our strong links with Health, Education and Social Care enables us to care for children’s varying needs.We are an independent limited company with charitable status.
Interim Manager/SENCO:Catherine (Cate) Fisher – Qualified Primary Teacher and Psychology Graduate
Cate joined BOP in 2015 as the Deputy Manager and SENCO and is currently the Interim (Acting) Manager.She worked previously for us as a Home Learning Tutor and prior to her return, she gained a wider Early Years experience by working in mainstream settingssupporting children with various additional needs including autism and social, emotional and mental health difficulties.
Management Committee
Julie Dyer – Head Teacher of Three Ways School
Trustees
Julie Dyer – Head Teacher of Three Ways School
Sarah Service
Gill Jordan
Administration
The office is manned by Lucy Eves, who is happy to provide you with more information or pass your query on to the relevant member of our team.
Staff
Jess Rennie – Room Leader / Butterfly Room
Kate Sutton – Room Leader / Caterpillar Room
Lee Dolman – Early Years Practitioner
Rachel Longstreth – Early Years Practitioner
Pauline Smith – Early Years Practitioner
Katie Eames – Early Years Practitioner
Abbie Clarke – Early Years Practitioner
Charlotte Turner – Early Years Practitioner
Lin Perrett – Early Years Practitioner
Rea Hunt – Early Years Assistant
Jo Williams – Speech and Language Therapist
Amanda Yeo – Speech and Language Therapy Assistant
Ruth Bright – Family Support Worker
Fees and Invoicing
BOP fees are charged at £5.50 per hour and days are divided into morning and afternoon sessions, so a 3 hour session is £16.50 or a full 6 hour day is £33.00. School dinners are available to order in advance at £1.60 each. We accept Early Years Entitlement, Two Year Old Funding and childcare vouchers. An invoice will be issued each month in arrears and payment can be made by cash, cheque, childcare voucher or bank transfer.There is a provision for assistance with fees – please speak to Michelle if you have any concerns.
Uniform
We have introduced a relaxed uniform for children attending BOP sessions. Polo shirts or fleeces with our logo embroidered on them are available to order through the office (polo shirts @ £8.05 each, fleeces @ £10.99 each) and we suggest that all children attend pre-school in navy tracksuit bottoms. It will make things quicker and easier for the staff and children during nappy changes and toilet training, ensure that their best clothes don’t get too messy and free up time for playing and learning.
Absences
If your child is ill please let us know before the start of the session he/she is meant to be attending or you will be liable for the fees for that day. You will have to pay for sessions your child misses due to holidays, but will not be charged for sessions missed due to professional appointments as long as advance notice is given.
Settling in Period
A parent/carer is expected to stay on site for the first few sessions whilst the staff get to know the child’s needs and administration forms are filled out. You are the expert on your child so we value your input and welcome you in sessions, particularly at this crucial settling in period. Sessions at BOP will be built up over weeks and months according to your child’s individual needs – this will be discussed with Cateas your child settles in.
Holiday Club Provision
During the school holidays Bath Area Play Project (BAPP) works in partnership with BOP to provide a holiday club playscheme at the pre-school. Children need to be registered with BAPP (visit for a registration form) and booking forms are usually sent out 5-6 weeks before the play provision starts.
Communication between Parents/Carers and BOP
Keyperson
Each child is allocated two Key people who are responsible for providing and overseeing a Targeted Outcomes Plan (TOP) with support from the Speech and LanguageTherapist/Assistant and the SENCO.They will work with your child for part of the session and will be aware of all the activities your child is taking part in.The key people are your first point of contact if you have any questions or information to share regarding your child’s care. He/she will also be available to attend meetings in order to reflect your child’s progress. Please feel free to talk to them at any time.
Progress Reports
At the end of each year parents/carers receive a diary of their children’s work and activities. At other times, particularly during statutory assessment stages, we will be asked to write a report on your child’s strengths and needs to enable appropriate provision to be made for him/her. All reports will be discussed with you, as a parent or carer, before being sent to the agency involved.
Home-BOP Communication Link Book
Each child will bring home a book you can use for writing bits of information in such as anything special your child has done, or anything we need to know to enable us to care for them better e.g. that they are teething, bad nights sleep or they didn’t have any breakfast. A key person will write in the book anything special that they have done that session or tell you about planned events and activities.
Newsletter
Every term a newsletter is produced for parents to keep up to date with events at BOP.It contains details of new members of staff, important dates and events and other snippets of information.
Complaints (and Praise!)
Our Manager has an open door policy and is available to listen to you if you have any concerns or joy you wish to share.We also have a formal complaints procedure. Details are available on the Parent/Carer Notice board.
We see communication with you as very important and value your comments at all times.
Pre-School Set Up
Hours – option of a morning session or full day
Monday – 8.30am - 11.30am / 8.30am - 2.30pm
Tuesday – 8.30am - 11.30am / 8.30am - 2.30pm
Wednesday – Butterfly Room Only 8.30am - 11.30am / 8.30am - 2.30pm
Stay and Play 9.30am - 11.00am
Thursday –8.30am - 11.30am/ 8.30am - 2.30pm
Friday – 8.30am - 11.30am/ 8.30am - 2.30pm
The Pre-School is divided into two classrooms:
Caterpillars
Primarily for children aged 0 till their third birthday. We provide a peaceful environment for very young children to explore, develop and interact with the other children and staff.
Butterflies
When a child outgrows Caterpillars, which is generally around their third birthday, staff and parents will decide that he/she is ready for a more structured environment enabling preparation for school.We recognise that some children benefit from staying in Caterpillars until they are older and others are ready at an earlier age.
Additional Rooms
We also have a Speech & Language Therapy Room and we have access to a Soft Play room and Sensory rooms which we share with Three Ways School. We also access the dining hall at Three Ways for physical education.
Parent/Carer Room
Parents and carers are welcome to stay on site during session time. There are refreshment making facilities and information on services relating to additional needs. It is a good base for exchanging information and support within the parent network – and a good place to relax and read or chat.
Therapies
Where appropriate our children receive in house Speech and Language Therapy from our therapist and her assistant.Children who attend BOP have a wide range of communication difficulties and staff are experienced in responding to their needs. Each child has a speech and language therapy programme devised by the speech and language therapist and carried out by BOP’s speech and language therapy assistant and key workers. Speech therapy targets are shared with parents and staff at any other setting that the child attends.
The aim is for children to be supported in developing communication skills throughout their time at BOP as well as in individual practice sessions. Specific activities that develop children’s language skills are included in the timetable and others are adapted to take account of their communication needs. Staff use Makaton signing and visual strategies such as the Picture Exchange Communication System (PECS) where appropriate to ensure that every child is included and can take part in activities.
The speech therapist is trained to assess and support children with eating and drinking difficulties associated with their disabilities and will offer advice to parents and staff when needed.
In order to ensure that the speech and language therapist has as much contact time with the children as possible she does not attend every meeting about each child but she is always happy to speak to parents informally when at BOP and will arrange a meeting with parents on request.
Music Therapy is provided by Adrian Snell – Music Therapist who is based with Three Ways School.
Occupational Therapy & Physiotherapy
We have regular visits from the NHS therapists who work individually with specific children, recommending programmes and specialised equipment.
Other Professionals
We also have regular visits from Health Visitors, Social Workers, Educational Psychologists and other link workers from Health, Education and Social Care to see individual parents/children or to support parents in general.
A Typical Session in the Classrooms
Butterfly RoomMorning / Caterpillar Room
Morning
Hello Time
Story / Hello Time
Story
Music and Movement / Music and Movement
FREE PLAY / FREE PLAY
Snack / Snack
Food is Fun / Physical activity in community
FREE PLAY / FREE PLAY
Attention group
Narrative group / Physical activities in the community
TAC PAC®
Natural Outdoor play
FREE PLAY / FREE PLAY
Natural Outdoor play
Free Play / Natural Outdoor play
TAC PAC®
FREE PLAY / FREE PLAY
Children changeover
Story/singing / Children changeover
Story/singing
Butterfly Room
Afternoon / Caterpillar Room
Afternoon
LUNCH / LUNCH
Healthy Early Years Project
Colour schedule activities/joint attention / Healthy Early Years Project
Listening
Lotto
FREE PLAY / FREE PLAY
Narrative group
Sensory craft activity / Narrative group
FREE PLAY / FREE PLAY
Natural Outdoor Play / TAC PAC®
Natural Outdoor Play
Learning Programme
Our learning programmes are carefully planned to follow the Early Years Foundation Stage Curriculum.In addition Targeted Outcomes Plans are devised by staff, together with parents and therapists, to meet specific developmental needs of each child.
Trips
In the past we have taken our children on trips to Bristol Zoo, Westonbirt Arboretum, the Theatre Royal, Warleigh Lodge Farm and Weston Super-Mare, as well as more local trips to the park or woodland.
Quality Assurance
To continually improve our services all staff are involved in quality assurance schemes and we have been awarded The Director of Public Health Award, The Bristol Standard and The Children’s Rights Charter over the last few years. We have also participated in an Early Childhood Environment Rating Scale and taken part in the Well-being and Involvement Project.
Staff Training
Our staff regularly attend training sessions for curriculum development, health and safety and special educational needs information. All staff complete Mandatory training courses such as First Aid, Child Protection, Manual Handling and Food Hygiene.
Early Support Stay & Play
Early Support Stay and Play is an informal session for parents/carers to stay with their children at BOP and play, learn and explore together. It is a useful opportunity to discuss any concerns about a child’s development with experienced and knowledgeable staff in a non judgemental environment. It is also an opportunity to meet other families and their children. Sessions are weekly and it is advisable to call beforehand to ensure space available.Once children start attending day sessions then we advise that attendance at Stay and Play ceases after one full term. This is because it can cause confusion for the child and we have to allow other families the opportunity to attend.
Fundraising
As we have to find most of our running costs ourselves fundraising is very important. Management are always happy to receive help, ideas and contributions, however small.
We have a ‘Friends of BOP’ group who are committed to fundraising and supporting the team and school with fantastic ideas and contacts.
Volunteers and Students
We welcome volunteers to support our team. We also welcome childcare students from NorlandCollege, The City of Bath College and BathSpaUniversity who work with the children under the careful supervision of staff members.
Policies
BOP has written policies as required by Ofsted – these are available in the office or in the literature stand by the front door.A selection are available to view on our website.
Address
Bath Opportunity Pre-School
180 Frome Road
Bath
BA2 5RF
Telephone
01225 830972
We are constantly updating our service so items in the prospectus are subject to change at any time – if in doubt please ask a staff member.