“learning through play”
Welcome to our pre-school. We are a small and friendly village based pre-school, with dedicated staff and excellent purpose built facilities, including a large outside space.
We welcome children aged 2-4, during term time with various flexible sessions from 9am to 3.15pm. We also offer wrap around care, in the form of a breakfast club starting at 7.45am, and an after-school club until 6pm.
We are OFSTED registered and anon-profit making community charity and work closely with the parents’ committee (which you are welcome to join).
This pack is designed to give you all the information that you and your child may need to feel at home as quickly as possible at our pre-school. If you have any further questions, please do not hesitate to contact a member of our staff.
Settling in
The first time at pre-school can seem daunting (for both parent and child). With this in mind we welcome you and your child to stay on your first informal visit for as long as you wish. If desired your child could then take a free trial where you would leave your child for a morning session. This would need to be agreed in advance and a registration form completed.
Drop off and collection procedure
As we are on the Ickford Combined School site, we need to take care allowing visitors onsite. Consequently, the gate into the school playground is locked during daytime sessions and opened by a member of pre-school staff at the usual session start and end times. Should you need to enter at another time, please call the pre-school number which is shown on the gate. We appreciate this is not ideal, but the safety of the children is uppermost. A doorbell is also in operation at the gate.
The wooden climbing apparatus belongs to the school and we ask that children attending the pre-school do not climb on this.
Drop off routine
- A member of staff will open the gate and welcome you at the front door
- Parent/carer to sign the child’s arrival in the register – this is a legal requirement
- Place coat etc on child’s peg, and if staying for lunch, place lunch box in cabinet under register
- Child to find their name on the table in the main room and place on the side with their ‘show and tell’
- Parent leaves and child settles into free play, shortly followed by registration
Registered Charity No. 1036452 Registered with OFSTED Members of the Pre-School Learning Alliance
Ickford Pre-school, Sheldon Road, Ickford, Buckinghamshire. HP18 9HY
Telephone: 01844 338785 E-mail: Web:
1
Collection routine
- A member of staff will open the gate and welcome you at the front door
- Parent/carer to sign the child’s departure in the register
- Collect child and all belongings, including show and tell item
- Please take a moment to read the whiteboard (opposite register) to see the day’s activities
Show and tell
Our children are encouraged to bring an item from home each day they attend pre-school. This can be anything of their choice, and we like to link this into the letter, colour, number or shape of the week which you will be informed of at the start of each term. Each child shows their show and tell after registration.
Hours and fees
Our sessions are Monday to Friday, term time only.
Breakfast club7.45am to 9am£4 (breakfast provided) or
8.15am to 9am£2 (no breakfast)
Pre-school - AM9am to 12£13.20 or
9am to 1pm£17.60 (lunch not provided)
Pre-school - PM12 to 3.15pm£14.30
Pre-School all day 9am to 3.15pm£27.50
After-school club3.30pm to 4.30pm£4 or
3.30pm to 6pm£10
Snacks are provided at 10.30am, 2.30pm, 4pm.
We offer a hot meal at 5pm for £2.50 (booked in advance please)
Government Funding
All children are entitled to 15 hours freeearly education per week from the term after their third birthday until they start school. We will help you complete the necessary paperwork for this. These hours can be split between providers, e.g. pre-school and a nursery.Please be aware that the government funding cannot be used to pay for attendance at breakfast or after-school club.
Childcare Vouchers
If you work in a company that subscribes to the Childcare vouchers scheme, this is a great way to help reduce the cost of childcare. We are pleased to confirm that we do accept childcare vouchers. Please ask for details.
Invoicing
You will receive an invoice for your child’s attendance on a monthly basis. Any amount outstanding can be paid via online banking, cheque (payable to Ickford Pre-school Playgroup), cash, direct debit or Childcare Vouchers. Invoice payment should be received no later than 30 days from invoice date.
Sickness and holiday policy
If your child is off sick, please call the pre-school to let us know not to expect them. If the illness is contagious (such as chicken pox), please let us know so that we may inform other parents.Where possible we require 24 hours notice otherwise normal charges will apply.
If you are going on holiday during term time and your child will not be attending as usual, please give us at least one week’s notice. You will not be charged as long as we are given adequate notice.
If you need to change a breakfast or after-school club session, we require 24 hours notice otherwise normal charges will still apply.
Whilst we will always try to accommodate changes to your child’s attendance needs, we hope you can understand our need for planning and maintaining staff/child ratio with safety being paramount.
Snack time
A variety of healthy snacks are provided and offered mid-morning and mid-afternoon, along with a drink. The snack varies from day to day.
Lunch
If your child is staying during lunch time (at 12 noon), please provide a packed lunch. The children all sit together and are supervised. We ask that the lunch does not contain nuts or other items that can cause allergic reactions.
Clothing
Please ensure your child is appropriately dressed for the weather, and wherever possible we like to include outside play – so coat, boots, hat and gloves for winter, sunhat and sunscreen for summer.
We ask that each child brings a bottle of high factor sunscreen (labelled with their name) which is to be kept at the pre-school in readiness for the hotter days. You will need to sign a consent form to allow our staff to apply sunscreen to your child.
Please also be aware that all our sessions include some ‘messy play’, so ‘Sunday best’ clothes may not be appropriate! We regularly do painting – inside and out!
If you wish, we do stock our own pre-school T-shirts for sale in a variety of colours – please ask a member of staff.
Pegs
Each child is assigned their own peg which will have their photo and name on it. Please place their coat and bag on this peg.
Child’s tray
Each child is assigned a tray with their name on it. This is where the child’s personal profile can be found. Drawings and paintings will also be kept here. You are welcome to look in your child’s tray at any time.
Key worker
Your child will have a dedicated key worker assigned to them when they start, with the aim that this person is someone they feel they are able to connect with if and when they feel the need.
White board
When collecting your child, please take a moment to read the white board (opposite register). This will tell you what exciting adventures the children have been up to during that day.
Parents evening
A parents evening will be held once a term, giving you 10 minutes with your child’s key worker. This enables us to keep you up to date with what they are doing, and gives you the opportunity to ask any questions and go through the child’s tray. This is a great opportunity to get involved with their learning! Of course you are always welcome to have a chat with any member of staff – please just ask.
Incidents
If your child has an accident and is hurt in anyway, we will of course do everything to comfort the child. In the unlikely event this is of a serious nature, we will contact you immediately (please always ensure we have your up-to-date contact details). Every incident is recorded in the Accident book and you will be informed about it when collecting your child and asked to sign to confirm you have been told. There is always at least one staff member on duty that has paediatric First Aid training.
Medication
If you child requires medication of any kind whilst at pre-school, it is a legal requirement to complete the relevant paperwork with us. We can then administer the medication if necessary. All medicines are kept in a locked cabinet. The medicine should be in the original packaging with the child’s details on it.
Donations
Being a charity, we rely heavily on fund-raising and donations. We request that any contribution be in good condition! Please mention to a member of staff if there is something you have in mind.
Committee
The pre-school is a committee led charity, with the committee made up of volunteering parents and carers. If you feel this is something you would like to get involved with please ask (no experience necessary!).
Help!
Whether it be joining the committee, helping with fundraisingor spending some time at the pre-school doing reading or another activity with the children, please get involved - it is rewarding and fun! Even if you can only give ½ an hour of your time, it is appreciated. A DBS check will need to be done if joining the committee or helping out during a session. This is a straight forward procedure which we can assist with.
Events
We are keen to celebrate all the usual events throughout the year and the children love getting involved. Examples are Easter, sports day, Christmas fayre, nativity play, plus lots, lots more... We will keep you informed of dates for your diary.
We like to take children out and about around the village (autumn walks etc) and request written permission from parents to allow this - we use high visibility jackets when out and about and have a high ratio of staff to children for these outings. We also do a 'trip' each summer. Recent years have included a visit to the local PYO farm, and Tiggywinkles Wildlife Hospital.
Ballet classes
We offer ballet lessons (20 mins) for 3 and 4 year olds on a Monday just before lunch. This is provided by a dance school based in Aylesbury (£2 per session) and is a good introduction to music and movement – it is very popular!
Term dates
The pre-school is open during term time only, in line with Ickford Combined School. Please check the school website for up to date details look at the Information heading - Term Dates can be found here.
Our team
Helen Harris – pre-school manager
Suzanne Prior – deputy manager
Ellen Chapman - assistant
Sarah Chatterton – assistant
Beth Boardman - assistant
Beth Chapman– assistant
Sharon Fake – assistant
Sarah Munn - assistant
Ginevra Sproat – finance and administrator
Committee members
Rebecca Light – chair
Danny Green - treasurer
Louise Arnold - secretary
Crystal Betteley
Lucy Harding
Lisa Wehbe
Nigel Hargreaves
Anna O’Kennedy
We look forward to welcoming you and your family
to the pre-school very soon!
Registered Charity No. 1036452 Registered with OFSTED Members of the Pre-School Learning Alliance
Ickford Pre-school, Sheldon Road, Ickford, Buckinghamshire. HP18 9HY
Telephone: 01844 338785 E-mail: Web: