About Teynham Community Pre-School

Teynham Community Pre-school is an independent pre-school providing a high standard of Care & Education for your child. Our staff are qualified to level 4, and are continually updating their skills and knowledge in all areas of childcare and child development.

We cater for children from 2 ½ to school age, and are committed to providing a full & rounded curriculum ensuring that we meet every child’s individual needs, including their preparation for the transition to your chosen school.

We provide 9 sessions each week which last for 2 ½ hours each, morning sessions are for mixed age groups with afternoon sessions being mainly for older children who are preparing for school. These sessions are more structured to meet the age and development needs of each child.

The pre-school team are very reflective and work hard to ensure that each child has the best possible opportunities for their development. Staff work alongside the children to extend and support their learning, with play seen as an important vehicle to achieve this. In order to ensure that this is successful we work with a high staff ratio, and an emphasis on staff training and development.

We take advantage of our village location in Teynham and our proximity to Sittingbourne and Faversham enables parents & carers who live in these areas to choose for their child to attend the Pre-school.

The children are able to visit the local library, fire station and on occasions take a trip to the shops to buy milk and food for their snacks.

The pre-school has a committee of parents/carers who support the setting by involving themselves in policies and procedures and offering opinions and view points.

They are also involved with the Pre-schools fund raising which plays a big part in the academic year with a large Fun Day which is held in the village park and is well supported by everyone from the pre-school and community. A Christmas Bazaar and Nativity Performance which is held in the village Hall and again is well supported by both families and the community.

Teynham Community Pre-school is a Leading Early Years Setting In June 2007 the Pre-school was recognised as a setting which delivered a good and effective practice and was invited to become part of a select number of pre-schools, nurseries, schools (Reception Year) and child minders in Kent, who will  then share their good practice with other providers.

The following comment was made after the selection visit by the advisor from The Advisory Service in Kent.

“An outstanding safe and secure learning environment has been created both inside and outside; where children were given superb opportunities to use a wide range of resources for their learning that fascinated and intrigued them.”

We have a strong partnership with parents and recognise that a child’s development starts in their home environment with direct support from their parents. We provide plenty of opportunities for parents and staff to work together to enhance children's development , offering information to support our curriculum or / and advise in different areas.

We view parent’s comments as a chance to continue to understand the needs and opinions of our families, which in turn helps us to continue to develop our high standards of service to all children, parents and carers.

The following comments have been taken from our most recent parental survey in November 2007.

“I was greeted very well. The lady showed me around the whole pre-school and also showed me how and what the children do”

“I was amazed at how welcoming everybody was. I was feeling unsure about leaving my son, but was so happy, I felt a lot better.”

“We are kept well informed & I always check the board to see what my daughter is up to in sessions”.

 

The start of January 2008 saw us receive our unannounced Ofsted inspection. After a 2 day inspection we were delighted to be informed by the inspector that the Pre-school was judged to be `Outstanding`.

The following comments have been taken from the recent report. For the full report please click this direct link: www.ofsted.gov.uk

The provision is outstanding. Children are happy, relaxed and very confident. Staff are warm and affectionate making children feel very comfortable and valued. Children relate well to the adults and each other and are forming close relationships.

Initially the pre-school concentrates on children's personal, social and emotional development, as they believe that this underpins all children's knowledge and development. At the beginning of each session, children and staff discuss the activities available to participate in, enabling children to make informed choices about what they wish to play with. Children are pleased to see each other, seeking out friends to play with and often uniting in small groups to enjoy imaginative play, working together.