Children start their learning journey at Sleights in our onsite Pre-School. The setting is led by Mrs Marsay, who is supported by Mrs Bland, Miss Idle and Mrs Kipling. Pre-School children enjoy activities that stimulate and engage children’s interests and lead to spontaneous play.
Practitioners know the children and their strengths and areas for development. It is this excellent knowledge that enables children to establish excellent foundations for their time at Sleights.
Our Pre-School is open from 8.50am to 3.00pm Monday to Friday during term time. We are very flexible at accommodating sessions to suit all families. This can include mornings, afternoons, or all day. Lunch is also offered for children.
The term after their 3rd birthday, all children become eligible for government funding, this allows them to access 15 hours free childcare a week, or 30 hours for qualifying working families. It is possible to share funding between two different childcare settings and if you would like to do so please inform a member of Pre-School staff.
Wherever possible, we are happy to admit children after their 3rd birthday prior to the funding commencing. However, this is dependent on the availability of spaces at the time.
Clothes
We hope that children in Pre-School will enjoy a variety of play – some of it messy! With this in mind, we ask families to consider the clothes that children in Pre-School wear during sessions.
We have recently begun wearing slippers in our Pre-School class in order to encourage a calmer learning environment and increased behaviour for learning. This is having a positive impact on children’s learning.
Snack
Children in Pre-School enjoy a range of health snacks, ranging from fruit/vegetables, pasta/rice dishes, sandwiches/ toast, yoghurts/cheese and crackers. We ask for a contribution of 30p per session towards your child’s snack.
Key Worker
Each child in Pre-School is allocated a key worker. The aim of this role is to oversee your child’s learning and development journey throughout their time in Pre-School. This key worker will share key learning activities with children and report strengths and target areas to parents and families.