Our Learning Ethos
We follow the Early Years Foundation Stage (EYFS). Our ethos of of learning through play uses structured play activities to promote the development of gross and fine motor skills. These skills are a vital stepping stone to children successfully using writing tools.
During playing and communicating, children are also socialising, learning about the world around them, appreciating and using number, shape and size and developing physical and creative skills. Most important of all, however, is that they never stop having fun!
We support an ongoing commitment to staff training to ensure a balance of experience and the very latest approaches to preschool education.
Preschool Sessions
Our Pre School is open during term time from 9am – 3pm Monday to Friday for children from 2-years old.
Prices are £6 per child per hour.
We offer the following daily sessions:
- 9am – 12pm
- 9am – 1pm (bring a packed lunch)
- 12pm – 3pm (bring a packed lunch)
- 9am – 3pm (bring a packed lunch)
Learning Outdoors
We have an emphasis on natural, open ended materials which encourage the childrens’ imagination. For example a stick could become a spoon, a wand, or even a sword! This helps develops a child’s natural curiosity about the world around them and supports other important skills such as problem solving and independent thinking.
We have a strong emphasis on outdoor learning and we have our own dedicated outdoor play area which provides our children with space, places to explore, experiment, discover, be active and healthy, and to develop their physical capabilities.
Prices and Funding
We charge £6 per hour.
For children over the age of 3 (after the term they have turned 3), government funding is available for 15 hours per week of free childcare. We are also a 30 hours Free Childcare Provider and additionally accept most childcare voucher schemes and also offer a government free 2’s funded service.
Rising 5's
Our Tuesday session is primarily geared towards our Rising 5s who are in their final year before school. We have excellent links with Steeple Morden CofE Primary School and use this session to work towards children having all the skills to enable them to transition to school smoothly.
Our Preschool Newsletter
Our preschool newsletter is called The Twinkle which we send out every Friday during term time to our parents and carers. In additional to your personalised learning journal the newsletter provides information updating you on the activities the children have joined in with during the week and a look forward to the week ahead and how you can support your child’s learning. We also introduce you to the members of staff and committee, fundraising events and key term dates. Look out for how we are linking our activities to the EYFS and many other useful resources too!
We are currently updating our prospectus and sign-up forms and these will be available from our website soon.
For all queries please contact office@smartiessteeplemorden.com
or call us on 01763 852888