Pre-School

Edith Moorhouse Pre-School: Sparks Class

Welcome to our Pre-School webpage. We hope you enjoy learning about our environment.

Please watch our video:

https://youtu.be/EoB69jw_-4M

We would love for you to come and take a look for yourself. To arrange a visit, please contact the office: office@edithmoorhouse.org

Nadine Lewis and Fiona Clarke, who are qualified teachers, lead the Pre-School. They are supported by Jo Kinch - EYFS lead, and a fantastic team of teaching assistants comprising Maddie Little and Amy McCutcheon

Structure of the day

• Morning session: 8:50am – 11:50am
• Afternoon session 11:50am – 2:50pm
• Full day: 8:50am – 2:50pm

Your child will need:

• A water bottle
• A spare change of clothes, as we love messy play!
• Wellies for rainy days, our trips to the Wild Area and our Pre-School garden mud
• kitchen
• If your child is in the afternoon session, you will either need to bring a packed lunch or book a school dinner through School Grid at a cost of £2.85 per meal. During the morning session, we provide children with a healthy snack and milk.
• A warm outdoor coat for the winter months.

Please name all of your child’s belongings.

Learning

We have a creative and ambitious curriculum for our Pre-School children, which is engaging and exciting, helping them to develop into confident and inquisitive learners whilst supporting them in preparation for transition into Reception. Children participate in wild area activities, sensory play, fine motor activities, outdoor play, cooking and art activities along with maths and phonics sessions. Singing, rhymes and stories form an integral part of every session as we seek to increase imagination and language development. Each term, we will post a topic web on Class Dojo, which will give you an insight into what we will be learning.

We have morning and afternoon carpet time, which consists of our daily calendar and weather chart, story time, singing nursery rhymes and discussions around our topic. During the day, children have ‘explorer time’ where they investigate our different areas of learningboth indoors and outdoors. During these periods, staff are timetabled to work in turn, in different areas of the Pre-School and with different children. There are independent, group and adult-led activities taking place during this time.

Areas of Learning:

Personal, Social and Emotional Development – self-confidence, independence, forming relationships, collaborating, respect for others and the environment, positive attitudes towards learning and concentration.
 
Communication and Language – speaking and listening, understanding questions and instructions, singing a range of songs, initiating conversation and using longer sentences.
 
Mathematical Development – counting, calculating, recognising numerals, shape, space and measurement, pattern and problem solving.
 
Literacy – developing a love for reading, phonological awareness e.g., rhythm and rhyme, mark making and early writing.

Understanding the World – observing, questioning and experimenting, testing and interpreting through work on processes, forces and the living world, constructing, designing, planning, using tools and materials, ICT, a sense of history and a sense of place, learning about religions.
 
Physical Development – control of large muscle movements through running, climbing, balancing, kicking, throwing; developing fine manipulative control through using tools, scissors, brushes; learning to take care of yourself and about what you need to do and eat to stay healthy and safe, and facing challenges.
 
Expressive arts & design - drawing, painting, making models, using playdough, appreciating the work of others, music, dance, imaginative and fantasy play.

Uniform

We ask that children come in appropriately dressed for the weather, as we use our outdoor garden all year round.

Children can wear school uniform, which can be purchased here: www.pmgschoolwear.co.uk
However, uniform is not compulsory for Pre-School children.

Behaviour

We follow the school behaviour policy and have adopted a restorative approach to behaviour management.

We promote the use of kind hands and kind words.

Communication

As a school, we use Class Dojo. When your child starts, you will receive an invitation via email or text inviting you to join. You will receive weekly updates via Class Dojo of all the fun activities and learning that we do throughout the week.

Whilst we ask for written communication for most of the school to go through the office, our Early Years Teachers recognise the need for more direct contact between parents/carers and teachers during this early phase of school. We are therefore very happy to communicate with parents via the messaging system on Class Dojo.

We feel this is a valuable tool and we will endeavour to respond as quickly as possible to any messages. However, please understand that your children are our priority throughout the school day, and we may not always pick up messages during school hours. If you have any urgent messages, please call the office and they will be able to notify us straight away.

Mrs Lowry issues a school newsletter fortnightly on Fridays. Have a look at the newsletter for more updates to see what we have been up to.

Progress Evenings with Mrs Lewis and Mrs Clarke are held twice a year in the Autumn and Spring Term. 

We look forward to welcoming new families to our Pre-School.