Mission statement
At Windacre Pre-School we aim to provide a happy, secure and stimulating environment by employing qualified, committed and experienced staff. We follow the Early Years Foundation Stage (EYFS) when planning for your child. We understand children are born ready, able and eager to learn. We believe every child deserves the best possible start in life and support that enables them to fulfil their potential. Children develop quickly in their early years and a child’s experience between birth and five has a major impact on their future.
In addition we also aim to provide:
- equal opportunities
- partnership with parents and carers
- opportunities to explore the local environment
- a fun learning environment
Ownership
Windacre Pre-School was registered in December 2013 by Chris and Dawn Balfe who have 5 children of their own. Dawn is a qualified Nursery Nurse and together they converted part of their home into a nursery. Chris and Dawn’s involvement in the nursery ensures support is given to the managers from just a stone throw away.
From the beginning, Windacre Pre-School has been supported by a good family friend, Sue Hodgkinson, who is a qualified Childcare tutor at Bury College and has been for many years. Sue’s support and wealth of childcare knowledge ensures the structure and practice of the nursery is consistent and to a high standard. Sue continues to support the management team as a consultant.
Our Team
Windacre Pre-School employs experienced managers, deputy managers, room leaders and nursery nurses. Together we form a strong team with a wealth of qualifications including NVQs, NNEB, CACHE, a BA Honours degree and HLTA. The management team have many years of experience working within a nursery setting and are supernumerary which is key to ensure a smooth day to day running of the nursery and support for team members.
Our staff commitment is the key to ensuring consistency for the children and they always put the children’s needs before their own.
All staff hold the relevant safeguarding training, food hygiene and paediatric first aid qualifications.
Nursery Rooms
Windacre Pre-School operates from two main rooms and accommodates for children from birth to five years. There is also two large outdoor play areas and the nursery owns two pet donkeys, Bob and Brian, who the children love to care for.
In our under two’s room the children are aged up to two years. Windacre Pre-School aims to provide new experiences for all the children to ensure they are kept stimulated, engaged and learn through play. The room is set up into continuous provision areas; Home corner, Sand, Water, Construction, Reading and Heuristic/Sensory including regular enhancements to meet individual interests. Through partnership with parents we observe and plan for the individual child to ensure their needs are met. Independence skills from a young age are introduced and children are encouraged to self-serve and pour their own drinks. At this age children learn to socialise and become confident and there are opportunities like singing and dancing to support this. Children also enjoy a variety of exploratory experiences.
Our over two’s room is for children aged two to four years. Continuing to implement the EYFS and continuous provision we help children be ready for school and promote their learning and development further. Continuing with encouraging independence skills, children are also encouraged to put on their own shoes and coats. The letters and sounds programme is introduced for children starting school the following year and opportunities to explore ICT and join in PE are created. Additional to this messy play, music and movement and role play are just a few of things offered on a daily basis. When children approach the age to move onto reception, teachers visit our setting and transition reports are completed to ensure a smooth transition for the children leaving to go to school.
The nursery has its own mascot, Rainbow Ted. He lives at nursery during the week and at the weekend he goes home with the children. This gives opportunity for the children to discuss with their friends what they have done with Rainbow Ted at the weekend when they return to nursery.
Outdoors
Windacre Pre-School has two spacious outdoor areas which the children make the most of everyday. Fresh air and exercise is extremely important for a child’s well-being. We focus a lot of our day around outdoor learning and the children have opportunity to dig, explore in the mud kitchen and minibeast area, ride bikes, role play in our two Wendy houses, climb, mark make and much more. Exploring the fantastic surroundings is also a huge part of a child’s learning and at Windacre Pre-School the children regularly go on trips out and about to explore the local environment, park and shops.
Curriculum
We believe partnership with parents is key therefore each child is assigned a key person. Each key person ensures they are meeting the individual needs of the child and are the first point of call to give feed back to the parents on a daily basis.
We implement the Early Years Foundation Stage (EYFS). This is designed to focus on care, learning and development for children from birth to five years and is mandatory for all childcare settings. It ensures children learn through play and is also implemented throughout the reception class when your child first starts school.
The EYFS consists of seven areas of learning for children. These are communication and language, personal, social and emotional development, physical development, literacy, understanding of the world, mathematics and expressive art and design.
Staff deliver the EYFS by observing, planning, delivering activities and implementing their next steps. We have devised tracking systems to ensure that staff have an excellent understanding of each child’s stage of development and can focus on any gaps in their learning.
Staff complete termly reports to inform parents of how their child is progressing and parents evenings are offered to give specific time for parents to come into the nursery and have one to one discussions with the key person about their child’s learning and development.
Letters and sounds
During their last year with us before they start school, our children take part in the Letters and Sounds programme. The programme supports children’s speaking and listening skills which helps give them a good start on reading and writing when they begin the reception class.
