Offwell Under Fives Pre-School Prospectus

Offwell Under Fives Pre-School Wilmington Village Hall Wilmington Honiton Devon EX14 9JR
Telephone: 07842 162879 Email: contactus@offwellunderfives.com Website: www.offwellunderfives.com Registered Charity No: 1029606 Pre-School Learning Alliance membership No: 21405 Ofsted Reference No: EY465721

Our aim is to provide a thriving learning environment for children aged 2 yrs 9 months to 4 years living in Offwell, Cotleigh, Wilmington and the surrounding area. We can accommodate up to 16 children per session and operate from Wilmington Village Hall. We have a close relationship with Offwell Church of England Primary School and as a registered charity we keep our fees low to ensure that Offwell Under Fives is accessible to everyone. Our Operational Plan, which details our day to day running, policies, procedures, termly self-evaluation and most recent Ofsted report, is available on request. We offer your child: A specially tailored curriculum to meet their needs and abilities. A supportive learning environment. Fun and friendship with other children. A smooth transition from Pre-school to Primary School. The opportunity to develop children's potential by learning through play. Qualified staff who will offer individual care and attention. The chance to increase their independence skills in preparation for school.

The curriculum provided by Offwell Under Fives Pre-school:

Children

start to learn about the world around them from the moment they are born. The care and education offered by Offwell Under Fives Pre-school helps children to
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continue to do this by providing all of the children with interesting activities that are right for their age and stage of development. For children aged 2 yrs 9 months to 4 years, the pre-school provides a curriculum for the foundation stage of education. This curriculum is set out in a document, published by The Department for Education and Skills, and is called The Early Years Foundation Stage (EYFS) Framework. The guidance divides children's learning and development into seven areas: There are seven areas of learning and development that shape educational programmes in early years settings. All areas of learning and development are important and inter-connected. Three areas are particularly crucial for igniting childrens curiosity and enthusiasm for learning and for building their capacity to learn, form relationships and thrive. These three prime areas are: Communication and Language Physical development Personal, Social and Emotional development The remaining four areas are specific areas, through which the three prime areas are strengthened and applied: Literacy Mathematics Understanding the World Expressive Arts and Design For each area, the guidance sets out early learning goals. These goals state what it is expected that children will know and be able to do by the end of the reception year of their education. For each early learning goal, the guidance sets out stepping stones, which describe the stages through which children are likely to pass as they move to achievement of the goal. Offwell Under Fives Pre-school uses the early learning goals and their stepping stones to help us to trace each child's progress and to enable us to provide the right activities to help all of the children move towards achievement of the early learning goals. Communication and Language: Communication and Language development involves giving children opportunities to experience a rich learning environment; to develop their confidence and skills in expressing themselves and to speak and listen in a range of situations.

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This area of the childrens development covers: Listening and Attention: Children listen attentively in a range of situations. They listen to stories, accurately anticipating key events and respond to what they hear with relevant comments, questions or actions. They give their attention to what others say and respond appropriately, while engaged in another activity. Understanding: Children follow instructions involving several ideas or actions. They answer how and why questions about their experiences and in response to stories and events. Speaking: Children express themselves effectively, showing awareness of the listeners needs. They use past, present and future forms accurately when talking about events that have happened or are to happen in the future. They develop their own narratives and explanations by connecting ideas or events. Physical development: Physical development involves providing opportunities for young children to be active and interactive; and to develop their coordination, control and movement. Children must also be helped to understand the importance of physical activity and to make healthy choices in relation to food. This area of the childrens development covers: Moving and Handling: Children show good control and coordination in small and large movements. They move confidently in a range of ways, safely negotiating space. They handle equipment and tools effectively, including pencils for writing. Health and Self-Care: Children know the importance for good health of physical exercise and a healthy diet; talking about ways to keep healthy and safe. They manage their own basic hygiene and personal needs successfully, including dressing and going to the toilet independently. Personal, Social and Emotional development: Personal, social and emotional development involves helping children to develop a positive sense of themselves and others; to form positive relationships and develop respect for others; to develop social skills and learn how to manage their feelings; to understand appropriate behaviour in groups and to have confidence in their own abilities. This area of the childrens development covers:

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Self-confidence and Self-awareness: Children are confident to try new activities and say why they like some activities more than others. They are confident to speak in a familiar group, will talk about their ideas and will choose the resources they need for their chosen activity. They say when they do or dont need help. Managing feelings and behaviour: Children talk about how they and others show feelings, talk about their own and others behaviour and its consequences; and know that some behaviour is unacceptable. They work as part of a group or class and understand and follow the rules. They adjust their behaviour to different situations and take changes of routine in their stride. Making relationships: Children play co-operatively, taking turns with others. They take account of one anothers ideas about how to organise their activity. They show sensitivity to others needs and feelings and form positive relationships with adults and other children. Literacy: Literacy development involves encouraging children to link sounds and letters and to begin to read and write. Children must be given access to a wide range of reading materials (books, poems and other written materials) to ignite their interest. This area of the childrens development covers: Reading: Children read and understand simple sentences. They use phonic knowledge to decode regular words and read them aloud accurately. They also read some common irregular words. They demonstrate understanding when talking with others about what they have read. Writing: Children use their phonic knowledge to write words in ways which match their spoken sounds. They also write some common irregular words. They write simple sentences which can be read by themselves and others. Some words are spelt correctly and others are phonetically plausible. Mathematics: Mathematics involves providing the children with opportunities to develop and improve their skills in counting, understanding and using numbers, calculating simple addition and subtraction problems and to describe shapes, spaces and measures. This area of the childrens development covers:

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Numbers: Children count reliably with numbers from 1 to 20, place them in order and say which number is one more or one less than a given number. Using quantities and objects, they add and subtract two single digit numbers and count on or back to find the answer. They solve problems, including doubling, halving and sharing. Shape, Space and Measure: Children use everyday language to talk about size, weight, capacity, position, distance, time and money to compare quantities and objects and to solve problems. They recognize, create and describe patterns. They explore characteristics of everyday objects and shapes and use mathematical language to describe them. Understanding of the World: Understanding of the World involves guiding children to make sense of their physical world and their community through opportunities to explore, observe and find out about people, places, technology and the environment. This area of childrens development covers: People and Communities: Children can talk about past and present events in their own lives and in the lives of family members. They know that other children dont always enjoy the same things and, are sensitive to this. They know about similarities and differences between themselves and others and, among families, communities and traditions. The World: Children know about similarities and differences in relation to places, objects, materials and living things. They talk about the features of their own immediate environment and how environments might vary from one another. They make observations of animals and plants and explain why some things occur and, talk about changes. Technology: Children recognise that a range of technology is used in places such as homes and schools. They select and use technology for particular purposes. Expressive Arts and Design: Expressive Arts and Design involves enabling children to explore and play with a wide range of media and materials, as well as providing opportunities and encouragement for sharing their thoughts, ideas and feelings through a variety of activities in art, music, movement, dance, role-play and design and technology. This area of the childrens development covers: Exploring and using media and materials: Children sing songs, make music and dance and, experiment with ways of changing them. They safely use and explore a variety of
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materials, tools and techniques, experimenting with colour, design, texture, form and function. Being Imaginative: Children use what they have learnt regarding media and materials in original ways, now thinking about uses and purposes. They represent their own ideas, thoughts and feelings through design and technology, art, music, dance, role-play and stories.

Play helps young children to learn and develop through doing and talking, which research has shown to be the means by which young children think. Offwell Under Fives Pre-school uses the early learning goals and their stepping stones to plan and provide a range of play activities which help children to make progress in each of the areas of learning and development. In some of these activities children decide how they will use the activity and, in others, an adult takes the lead in helping the children to take part in the activity. In all activities information from the early learning goals and stepping-stones has been used to decide what equipment to provide and how to provide it. The following are just some of the activities and equipment available at Pre-School. Regular use of the play-dough, water, sand, dressing up and make believe play. Jigsaws and board games. Outside play in a safe enclosed area, with ride-ons, ball-games, small world play and exploratory play. Creative work - painting, gluing and sticking, cutting, making things. An interest table. Songs/rhymes/movement. Story-time and a book corner. Emphasis on colour/shape/number. Quiet/special time with a member of staff doing work tailored to suit their age and ability. Pre-school Workers: Our Pre-school leader, Kay George, is a qualified primary school teacher with 6 years experience in the Foundation Stage; her deputy, Michelle Mellon is qualified to NVQ Level 3. She worked previously in a setting in Surrey for seven years where she began as a parent volunteer working her way through various early years training courses and completing her certificate in Preschool Practice Level 2 and Diploma in Preschool Practice Level 3. Our preschool assistant, Kim Hancock has a Supporting Teaching and Learning in Schools qualification and has just completed her level 3 diploma in Childrens Care, Learning and Development.
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We provide a minimum staff ratio of 1:8 for 3 and 4 year olds and 1:6 for 2 year olds. The staff will ensure your child is happy during sessions and that regular contact is made with you. Our Pre-school leader works closely with the KS1 co-ordinator at Offwell Primary School with regard to the curriculum. Kay, Michele and Kim are qualified in paediatric first aid. As well as gaining qualifications in early years care and education, the pre-school staff take part in further training to help them to keep up-to-date with current thinking about early years care and education. The pre-school also keeps itself up-to-date with best practice in early years care and education.

Session times: Sessions are held school term time from 9.00am to 3.00pm on Monday, Tuesday and Thursday and 9.00am to 12 noon on wednesdays (term time only) at Wilmington Village Hall. Kay & Michelle will arrange "visits" with you and your child prior to starting preschool full-time. In order to assist with familiarisation and in accordance with our Settling In Policy we recommend that your child attends for a minimum of two sessions per week. All sessions provide a structured learning environment with an emphasis on preparation for school. How parents take part in the pre-school: Offwell Under Fives Pre-school recognises parents as the first and most important educators of their children. All of the staff see themselves as co-workers with you in providing care and education for your child. There are many ways in which parents take part in making the pre-school a welcoming and stimulating place for children and parents, such as: Exchanging knowledge about their children's needs, activities, interests and progress with the staff; Helping at sessions of the pre-school; Sharing their own special interests with the children; Helping to provide, make and look after the equipment and materials used in the children's play activities; Being part of the management of the pre-school; Taking part in events and informal discussions about the activities and curriculum provided by the pre-school; Joining in community activities in which the pre-school takes part; and Building friendships with other parents in the pre-school.

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Parent/Carer Helpers: In order to help maintain a high ratio of adults to children and to enable parents/carers to see how the pre-school works we operate a 'parent helper' system. This involves parents/carers helping with as many sessions as you are able to. If some days are more convenient for you than others, please speak to the Pre-school Leader, who will make the necessary arrangements. If you are unable to help please let us know. Joining in: Joining the rota is not the only means of taking part in the life of the pre-school. You can offer to take part in a session by sharing your own interests and skills with the children. Parents have visited the pre-school to: play the clarinet for the children; show pictures of the local carnival held in their childhood; and show the children their collection of shells. Do feel free to arrange to drop into the pre-school, if you would like to see it at work or to speak with the staff. Records of achievement: The staff keep a Personal Development Folder for each child. Staff and parents working together on these records is one of the ways in which Pre-school and parents work in partnership. Your child's Personal Development Folder helps us to celebrate together her/his achievements and to work together to provide what your child needs for her/his well-being and to make progress. Our staff will work with you to keep this record. To do this you and she/he will collect information about your child's needs, activities, interests and achievements. This information will enable them to identify your child's stage of progress. You and our staff will then decide on how to help your child to move on to the next stage. These folders are available for you to view at any point however; we do hold an open session to view these during each term. The management of Pre-school: A parent management committee - whose members are elected by the parents of the children who attend the pre-school - manages the pre-school. The elections take place at the pre-school's Annual General Meeting, which is held in each year. The committee is responsible for: Managing the pre-school's finances; Employing and managing the staff; Making sure that the pre-school has - and works to - policies which help it to provide a high quality service; and Making sure that the pre-school works in partnership with the children's parents.
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The Annual General Meeting is open to the parents of all of the children who attend the pre-school. It is their forum for looking back over the previous year's activities and shaping the coming year's activities. Offwell Primary School teachers support the committee. Policies: Copies of the pre-school's policies are available for inspection at Pre-school and on their website www.offwellunderfives.com The pre-school's policies help us to make sure that the service provided by the preschool is a high quality one and that being a member of the pre-school is an enjoyable and beneficial experience for each child and her/his parents. The staff and parents of the pre-school work together to adopt the policies and they all have the opportunity to take part in the annual review of the policies. This review helps us to make sure that the policies are enabling the pre-school to provide a quality service for its members and the local community. Special needs: As part of the pre-school's policy to make sure that its provision meets the needs of each individual child, we take account of any special needs, which a child may have. The pre-school works to the requirements of Part IV of the 1996 Education Act and The special Educational Needs Code of Practice (2002) and keeps staff updated on current practice through continual professional development. Fees: Government funding is available for pre-school education for all children from the term following their 3rd birthday. This funding covers up to 15 hours per week up to a maximum of 38 weeks per year. Please see www.devon.gov.uk/free_entitlement_faqs19.5.10.pdf for confirmation. The charge for children who are not yet eligible for funding is 4.00 per hour from January 2014. Parents are responsible for the payment of the whole session fee for children who are not funded at Offwell Under Fives. Invoices will be sent out once a term, within two weeks of the head count week. The invoice can be paid in two instalments if you wish. If so, please speak to the Treasurer or Kay George. Payments are required within 14 days of receiving the invoice and can be
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paid by cash, bank transfer or cheque, made payable to Offwell Under Fives. Please see Terms and Conditions for more information As places are limited however, if a child fails to attend for a half a term, they may have their right to a place removed Please note that 1 terms written notice must be given to remove a child from the preschool; (for non-funded children) and as much notice as is reasonably possible please, for funded children. The Pre-School reserve the right to charge for this period if sufficient notice is not given. Absence: An absence form must be completed for all missed sessions. Forms are available from the Pre-School staff. Should your child fail to attend the pre-school for the required number of sessions claimed i.e. if they are withdrawn, or the failure of any child to meet county requirements through prolonged periods of absence etc, the difference has to be declared by Offwell Under Fives and refunded to Devon County Council. See DCC website for details. Parents/Carers should be aware that they are directly liable for these shortfalls in payment. Starting at Offwell Under Fives Pre-school: The first days: We want your child to feel happy and safe at the pre-school. To make sure that this is the case, the staff will work with you to decide on how to help your child to settle into the pre-school. The pre-school has a policy about helping children to settle into the preschool: a copy is enclosed in this prospectus. Clothing: It is best to send children in clothes which are easily washable and which they can remove themselves. Pre-school sweatshirts, T-shirts and book bags are available for 8.00, 4.50 and 5.00 respectively (please ask the pre-school staff). We also have activities outside, so please send a coat if cold and sun hats if hot. Please apply sun cream at home prior to arriving at pre-school and please ensure that your child is appropriately dressed at all other times.

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Parking: Parking is available at the Village Hall. Please take care when bringing or collecting your child from pre-school.

Current Committee and Staff:

Chairperson: Marina Hodder 21 Badger Close Honiton EX14 1XG 01404 46012 chairperson@offwellunderfives.com Secretary: Mary Vanneck Bramley House Combe Raleigh Honiton EX14 4TW 01404 43977 luke.vanneck@btinternet.com Vice Chairperson: Tara Andrews 11 Mount Close Honiton Devon EX14 1QZ Rtandrews11@btinternet.com

Treasurer: Nicola Brake 8 Fouracres Close Offwell Honiton EX14 9SX 01404 831620 nicolabrake75@hotmail.co.uk Pre-school Leader: Kay George Three Mariners Farm Cotleigh, Honiton EX14 9HP (01404) 831091 kay@offwellunderfives.com

There are also 5 other ordinary committee members who are: Karen Saunders Karen Shaw Angie Triner Evonne Pavey Sarah Sloman

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Deputy Pre-school Leader Michelle Mellon

Pre-School Assistant Kim Hancock

Please note that the committee members are subject to change after each AGM in September. If you would like your child to attend Offwell Under Fives Pre-school please contact Kay George (details given above) or visit our website www.offwellunderfives.com You are welcome to come along to any session of Pre-school to see how we operate without prior arrangement. However, please note that occasionally Pre-school operates off-site on outings or on school visits, so you may wish to telephone beforehand to avoid disappointment. We look forward to welcoming you to our Pre-school. This prospectus is subject to change.

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