Creating the right environment

• We believe that children thrive when they are in a welcoming, stimulating environment where they have the freedom to make positive choices and learn through active play, both indoors and out.

• Children are helped to develop habits that are important for a happy and healthy lifestyle, playing outdoors in all weathers - equipped with Wellington boots or Sun cream! We enjoy healthy snacks and fruit daily and offer milk to drink.

• Social and emotional development is key to a child's confidence and happiness and we help children to understand their own feelings and those of others. We help them begin to understand the rules of sharing and taking turns and encourage them to "have a go" and experience new things whilst developing their own ideas.

• Our facilities really must be seen to be fully appreciated particularly as the equipment is regularly upgraded.  We enable children to experience everything from stories in the shade of a beautiful veteran oak tree through to collaborative drawing on our interactive white board and everything in between. 

Opening times are

We provide Early years education to funded 3 & 4 year olds and 2 year olds.

All eligible children are offered up between 15 and 30 hours a week over 38 weeks which is a total of 570 (or more) hours for every child in each eligible birthday year.

The children are cared for in either the Acorn Room for 2 year olds or the Oaktree Room for our older children. The activities and curriculum is planned according to their individual needs.

We believe adults play a vital role in supporting children's learning and development.

Our team is dedicated to working with parents and other professionals (where appropriate) to ensure the best care for each individual child.

Key Persons

Each child at Oakwood Community Pre-school is assigned a member of staff as a key person, or special adult to relate to, which can make settling into the group much easier.

A New Starter welcome pack is sent out before each child starts with us, with a photo and personal message to the child from the designated Key Person.  This pack also contains a Parent Booklet about pre-school routines, curriculum information and an 'All about me' book for parents to complete regarding their child's needs and interests and give to the Key person on their first days at pre-school.

The Key Person will maintain links with the child's home setting, working with the parents through shared record keeping to ensure that all children are supported in reaching their full potential. These records are available for parents to read and they are encouraged to take the records home to share with all the family.  We have a Parents evening every term when all the staff are available for one to one discussions regarding the children's current interests and abilities.  We encourage all parents to use 'Tapestry' which is an online tool which can also be used with an 'app' to view pictures and updates of your childs experience at school.  The Tapestry system is how the staff record and share the progress and development of each child on their journey.  

Visit the Tapestry website here to learn more

Please call us on 01252 845924 01252 845924 or use our contact form.