Right from the earliest days of families with young children meeting in the village hall, pooling experience, equipment and time, we have felt passionately about providing childcare for our community, by our community. At a time when many of us may not want or indeed be able to take a break from our careers we know its never been more important to have the facility for comprehensive local daycare.

By creating a service tailored to each family we hope to continue to provide a wonderful social foundation for our children....and often the parents too! Many of us have made friends and provided support for each other that extends far beyond the annual cycle of Birthday teas.

Alongside this is our commitment to provide opportunities for work and training within the setting at a time when jobs in rural areas are few and far between. We also have a programme of special events where we often invite local craftspeople and businesses in ...The Bug Hunter and The Woolly Shepherd to name a couple... to share their knowledge and love for our Area of Outstanding Natural Beauty.

We will provide your child with a caring, friendly, happy environment in which to play and learn, relax and socialize. We take pride in being able to offer each child the time and attention they need. Our small groups of children support each other as they develop in skills and confidence.

Our setting is inspected by Ofsted because we comply with the National Standards, and we use a Key Worker system to allow our staff a greater focus on each child.

We hope to help the children in many ways:

• Learning to share and take turns
• language and listening skills
• Counting and sequencing skills
• Trusting new adults
• Co-operating with others
• Understanding simple rules
• Physical development
• Learning about the world we live in
• Looking at other cultures and beliefs

We sit together to eat and encourage the children to say please and thank you and sit nicely at the table. They are also encouraged to pour their own drinks and take turns to offer the fruit around.

The Curriculum

Following the introduction of the new Foundation Stage of Education and Early Learning Goals, our curriculum will help the children to start to work through this first stage of their education.

The Foundation Stage starts when a child reaches the age of three, and finishes at the end of their reception year at school, when they will have either achieved or be working towards the Early Learning Goals in the following areas:

• Personal, Social and Emotional Development
• Language and Literacy
• Mathematics
• Physical Development
• Knowledge and Understanding of the World
• Creative Development

The Early Years Foundation Stage (EYFS) is made up of six areas of learning and development. All six areas are connected to one another and are equally important. All areas of learning and development are underpinned by the principles of the EYFS, which are:

• A Unique Child
• Positive Relationships
• Enabling Environments
• Learnng and Development

Home Links

Your child will bring home an activity to do at home and then bring back into pre school to show. This a very important, as it encourages the children to link what happens at pre school with their home environment, and you never know, it could be fun for you too!