& Forest School
& Forest School
Wray Pre-School
Wray Pre-School
Etc...
Settling In
Starting at pre-school is obviously a big step in a child’s life and the way in which each child responds varies. Some will feel at home immediately, whereas for others it may take some time until they feel comfortable. We understand this and therefore recommend that you bring your child along for settling in sessions before he/she starts. You should stay for these visits to help your child become familiar with the environment, staff and general routine. You are also welcome to stay as long as you feel necessary after your child has started. For each child we make this a very special time and every child receives a book bag, a message book and lots and lots of attention. Staff will provide support and guidance where a child is having difficulties adjusting.
We tailor settling-in for each child and so have employed various methods including: transitional objects such as a special thing from home or a treasure box, talking photo albums to make a link between home and pre-school, home visits or even shortened sessions. It is very individual and so can be slightly different each time.
Welcome Room
Should you arrive before 9am we have a Welcome Room for you to wait in. This is set up as an inviting and welcoming space that you and your child can get ready in. You can hang coats up, change into slippers, post your name, put your lunch box on the lunch box table, put special things on the table and change your library book. We leave a small selection of activities set out for you and your child to engage in whilst waiting for the session to begin. There might be jigsaws, a story sack, number game or puzzle. At 9am staff will come into the Welcome Room and greet everyone and you can them come straight into pre-school and settle in, talk to your key person and say goodbye. We find that both parents and children enjoy this gradual transition time from home to pre-school.
What should your child wear?
Exploration and experimentation are powerful methods of learning. We go to great lengths to provide your children with as wide a range of materials, including messy ones, with which to stimulate your child’s learning by encouraging exploration and experimentation. They will have fun exploring with paints, glue, cooking and other activities for which aprons are provided. We do try our best to ensure your children leave pre-school looking as smart as when they arrived, however accidents do happen and aprons can’t always cover all so we would ask that children wear hardwearing clothes that are easily washable. Simple clothing with fastenings such as pull on trousers, Velcro shoe tabs and large zips enable us to help children to develop the independence they need before they go to school. This skill acquisition in turn, boosts their self esteem and fosters a positive learning disposition.
The children enjoy time outside throughout the year and also regularly go for walks or to play in the nearby school field. For colder days, therefore, it is helpful if parents ensure children have (labeled) coats, gloves and hats as appropriate and bring in wellington boots/ a change of shoes or slippers to prevent the floor that children spend much of their time playing on, becoming muddy. Also, don’t forget hats and sun cream in the summer months.
A named bag containing a change of clothes is also desirable, though we are able to provide changes of clothing in emergencies! We also ask that children bring a pair of slippers to change into when they arrive – this keeps the outside dirt outside and not on the rugs and areas the children are playing in. Thanks.
Toileting
We accept all children, from the age of 2, regardless of whether they are toilet trained. So don’t worry if your child is not yet ready for toilet training since we have facilities for nappy changing. We do ask that the children wear ‘pull ups’. We ask that you provide a named bag equipped with ‘pull ups’, wipes and a change of clothes. When you decide your child is ready then we will do whatever we can to help your child in this process.
Pick-up
To ensure the security of your child please inform us verbally as you come into pre-school in the morning if anyone other than yourself or the regular named carer is to collect your child. Children will not be released to any unknown persons. Children will not be released to anyone who is not on your named list of persons authorized to collect your child without your permission. We recommend that in the case of someone else needing to collect your child that we do not know please provide both them and us with a password so that we may be able to confirm identity upon collection of your child.
Sickness and Holidays
If your child cannot attend pre-school due to illness or holiday, we ask that you please let the pre-school manager know as soon as possible. Once your child has been given a place you are liable for payment of fees whether your child attends or not. We are unable to make up missed sessions.
Please do not bring your child to pre-school if they are ill. Children taking prescribed medication must be well enough to attend the setting. We will only administer medication that has been prescribed by a doctor. It must be brought to pre-school in the original packaging and given to your key person. Your key person will complete a medication form with you ensuring your consent and instructions, adding to it when the medication is administered and upon collection of the medication at the end of the session. In the case of your child being prescribed antibiotics please note that they may only return to pre-school 48 hours after beginning the course. Please also note that we will not administer calpol or any other children’s paracetamol at pre-school. Please do not send your child if he/she has had sickness and/or diarrhoea within the last forty-eight hours. This is for the wellbeing of your child and also the others in the group. Also, please inform staff of any infectious conditions or diseases your child may have been in contact with, (especially German Measles, Chicken Pox, impetigo or anything else you think we should be aware of) or of allergies which may affect them.
Communicating
Please call the pre-school mobile: 07909797861 Pre-School email: wraypre-school@hotmail.co.uk
You can also contact the pre-school manager via email or our CONTACT FORM on this site. This is an effective and easy way to communicate. During term time the pre-school manager checks emails daily and will endeavour to answer all emails that day.
Also, please let staff know if you have a change of address or contact telephone number so that we can update our information enabling us to be able to contact you -in the event of your child becoming ill at pre-school, for instance.