Dean Pre-school and family group are based at the Kirkstile Hall, adjacent to St. Oswald’s Church, and just a two minute walk from Dean CE School. The group has been established for many years, serving as a social meeting place for families with young children within the local community; as well as providing high quality care and education for children up to the age of 5 years. We work in partnership with parents to help children to learn and develop, and from the earliest days of attending the group all children are valued and encouraged at their own level, so that they grow in confidence and independence. Parents accompany their children to family group sessions until they are around 2 years and 4 months, when they can be left  with our fully qualified assistants and nursery teacher.The group is a registered charity, managed by a committee composed of parents of children who attend the group, is affiliated to the Pre-school Learning Alliance, and registered with and inspected by OFSTED. As of June 2005 we have been accredited to offer free nursery education to children, from the term following their 3^rd birthday, and our first year of offering this service has been a richly rewarding experience for staff and children alike. 

 

Children in the Pre-school and family group enjoy a range of activities, such as painting, playdough, sand and water play, trains and farms, role play, writing, stories and singing, construction activities, computer work, and physical play.  

 

We share a very good relationship with Dean school, and often enjoy use of their facilities.

 

Why not come along and see for yourself? 

Call Sue on 07909883765 for more details.

 

The children in receipt of the nursery grant stay on for an extra half hour after each of the 3 pre-school and family group sessions, and thoroughly enjoy the quality time we share. They enjoy activities which promote early literacy and numeracy skills, amongst a range of other activities. Two sessions each week are exclusively for the 3 year olds and we decided to make these sessions quite different from the other 3 sessions, in order to give the children as wide a range of experiences as possible. On Tuesdays we have a Technology Day with activities such as junk modelling, construction, baking and computer work. Friday is our “Outdoor Day” when we aim to spend at least one hour outside, whatever the weather, exploring the village and surrounding countryside. The children love these mornings of adventure and exploration, and develop physical strength and skills as well as becoming an increasingly cohesive group. The Friday sessions are based at school, which also benefits the children through familiarising them with the larger context of a school environment.

 

 

Times of the 5 morning sessions per week are as follows:

 

Monday 9.30a.m. – 11.30a.m.  Pre-School and family group session

(including children in receipt of the nursery grant)

11.30a.m. – 12.00a.m. Nursery children’s extra time 

 

Tuesday 9.30a.m. -12.00a.m.    Nursery children’s session (Technology day)

 

Wednesday 9.30a.m. – 11.30a.m.  Pre-School and family group session

(including children in receipt of the nursery grant)

11.30a.m. – 12.00a.m. Nursery children’s extra time

 

Thursday 9.30a.m. – 11.30a.m.  Pre-School and family group session

(including children in receipt of the nursery grant)

11.30a.m. – 12.00a.m. Nursery children’s extra time

 

Friday 9.15a.m. -11.45a.m.  Nursery children’s session (Outdoor day)