Session Routine

When you arrive at Pre-School, you are asked to wait outside the entrance until 9.00am or 12.30pm, when the main session starts.  Although these are our opening times, and we prefer all children to arrive on time, we recognize and accept that this is not always possible.  Should you arrive after ‘show and tell’ has started you will be asked to say goodbye to your child in the lobby and not enter the main area, so as to keep disruption to main group to a minimum.

There are named coat pegs inside for your child’s outside clothing.  This can be a very congested time and we would ask you at these times to move fully into the area, where you can remove your child’s coat, please do not block the entrance way.  To assist your child accessing and replacing their own coats, we would ask you to ensure that their bags are placed on the floor below their coats and NOT hung on their pegs, as they find it very very difficult to hang coats on their pegs when their bags are there

Due to health and safety requirements, all buggies must remain outside.  Please park these adjacent the stairs, not on the entrance door landing, as this and the ramp is for disabled access and emergency exit and should remain clear at all times.  A member of staff stands outside at main session opening and closing times and remains there until parents return to any unattended babies in buggies.

9.00 am or 12.30 pm: The Pre-School is set up with various activities, i.e. jigsaws, play dough, small world, animals, home corner, construction toys, sand/water, etc. and we also make use of our outside area for activities (weather permitting).  From the beginning, children are encouraged to make free choices with regard to their activities, with only minimal intervention from the staff - if required.  During this time the children also self register themselves, by placing their name on the kitchen door.

9.05 am or 12.35 pm: We then break for a 10 minute show and tell time, where date, weather, letter and number of the week and weekly theme are all discussed. We also look at the items the children have brought in from home, relating to the theme, which they have placed in our ‘Chatter Box’

9.15 am or 12.45 pm: The children then return to free play, accessing both indoor and outdoor play areas.  This lasts for approximately another 1½ hours.

During this time, the children’s snack bar is open.  The children are free to come and have their drink (milk or water) and their snack, which, in line with our Under 5’s Healthy Eating Award, is a Healthy Option, with varied fruits and vegetables, breads, cheeses, etc that is accessed when they wish (under adult supervision). 

10.50 am or 2.20 pm: The children help clear away and then sit with three members of staff in a large group for song time.

11.05 am or 2.35 pm: Group activity. 

At the end of the session, the Pre-school song is sung.  You may wish to teach it to your child, so they are familiar with it when they start Pre-School.

Thank you for our place to play
Bricks and sand and paint and clay
Picture books and songs to sing
Thank you all for everything

11.30 am or 3pm, parents are let in to collect children.

Any work the children have done or information for parents is left out on the tables to be taken home.

11.30 am. Children staying for lunch will toilet and wash their hands before commencing lunch. 

11.35 am.  If your child is arriving for lunch, we ask you to wait at the bottom of the stairs until all the leavers have left, you will then be invited into the setting to sign your child into lunch.

12.20 pm Last collection for children leaving after lunch.

All times are approximate and liable to change, due to unforeseen opportunities, e.g. snow, frost, etc.