Vision Statement

At Collingwood Pre-school the children, staff, management committee and parents/carers work together to provide a happy, healthy, safe, secure, exciting environment where everyone feels valued.

We all have high expectations and ensure that our children learn and develop through quality play experiences, develop their individual strengths and fulfil their aspirations while at our pre-school.

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Our Ethos

The ethos of our pre-school is 'learning through play' and to provide an environment where children feel safe and secure.

Children learn best when they are safe, happy, healthy and secure. When their individual needs are met and when they have positive relationships with the adults caring for them.

 

At Collingwood Pre-school we always aim to meet the safeguarding and welfare requirements specified in the Statutory Framework for the EYFS as these are designed to help providers create high-quality settings which are welcoming, safe and stimulating, and where children are able to enjoy learning and grow in confidence.

 

The safety, health and welfare of the children in our care are paramount to the staff team and management committee.

 

The activities we provide are appropriate to the age and stage of the learning and development of every child.

They are planned very carefully to cover all seven areas of learning and all children have the opportunity to access them fully.

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Our Aims

Our setting aims to:

• provide high-quality care and education for children below statutory school age

• work in partnership with parents to help children to learn and develop

• add to the life and well-being of the local community​

• offer children and their parents a service that is inclusive, promotes equality and values diversity.

 

We aim to ensure that each child:

  * is in a safe and stimulating environment

 

  * is given generous care and attention, because of our ratio of qualified staff to children, as well as volunteer helpers

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  * has the chance to join with other children and adults to live play, work and learn together

 

  * is helped to take forward his/her learning and development by being helped to build on what he/she already knows and can do

 

  * has a personal key person who makes sure each child fulfils their potential

 

  * is in a setting that sees parents as partners in helping each child to learn and develop

 

  * is in a setting in which parents help to shape the service it offers.

 

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Children should mostly develop the 3 prime areas first. These are:

• Communication and language;

• Physical development; and

• Personal, social and emotional development.

 

These prime areas are those most essential for your child’s healthy development and future learning.

 

As children grow, the prime areas will help them to develop skills in 4 specific areas. These are:

• Literacy;

• Mathematics;

• Understanding the world

• Expressive arts and design.

 

These 7 areas are used to plan your child’s learning and activities. In our pre-school the staff are teaching and supporting your child and will make sure that the activities are suited to your child’s unique needs. Our curriculum is designed to be flexible so that staff can follow your child's unique needs and interests.

Our children in pre-school learn by playing and exploring, being active, and through creative and critical thinking which takes place both indoors and outside.

Inclusion is always at the forefront of our planning and activities are adapted to meet the needs of all children within our pre-school.

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Promoting Positive Behaviour

Our pre-school believes that children flourish best when their personal, social and emotional needs are met and where there are clear and developmentally appropriate expectations for their behaviour. Children need to learn to consider the views and feelings, needs and rights, of others and the impact that their behaviour has on people, places and objects. This is a developmental task that requires support, encouragement, teaching and setting the correct example. The principles that underpin how we achieve positive and considerate behaviour exist within the programme for promoting personal, social and emotional development.

 

All our children are taught about positive behaviour with regard to their age and stage of their individual development. 

 

We work in partnership with children's parents and carers.  Parents are regularly informed about their children's behaviour by their key person. Key persons and staff work with parents to address recurring inconsiderate behaviour, using our observation records to help us to understand the cause and to decide jointly how to respond appropriately.

All staff acknowledge considerate behaviours such as kindness and willingness to share and this is often rewarded with a thumbs up, verbal praise, a sticker or certificate and these are shared at circle time with their peers.

In pre-school all staff support each child in developing self-esteem, confidence and feelings of competence.

We support each child in developing a sense of belonging in our group so that they feel valued and welcomed.

Staff avoid creating situations in which children receive adult attention only in return for inconsiderate behaviour and when children behave in inconsiderate ways, we help them to understand the outcomes of their actions and support them in learning how to cope more appropriately.

Within our curriculum planning, we include teaching our Golden Rules and Golden Words. 

 

 

 

 

 

 

We recognise that young children require help in understanding the range of feelings they experience. We help them recognise their feelings by naming them and helping children to express them, making a connection verbally between the event and the feeling.

“Adam took your car, didn’t he, and you were enjoying playing with it. You didn’t like it when he took it, did you? Did it make you feel angry?

Is that why you hit him?”

Older children will be able to verbalise their feelings better, talking through themselves about the feelings that motivated the behaviour.

We help our children in pre-school to learn to empathise with others, understanding that they have feelings too and that their actions impact on others’ feelings. “When you hit Adam, it hurt him and he didn’t like that and it made him cry.”

The staff help young children develop pro-social behaviour, such as resolving a conflict over who has the toy. “I can see you are feeling better now and Adam isn’t crying anymore. Let’s see if we can be friends and find another car, so you can both play with one.”

We support social skills through modelling behaviour, through activities, drama and stories. We build self-esteem and confidence in children, recognising their emotional needs through close and committed relationships with them.

We help a child to understand the effect that their hurtful behaviour has had on another child; we do not force children to say sorry but encourage this where it is clear that they are genuinely sorry and wish to show this to the person they have hurt.

 

The staff team have regular training on behaviour management. 

 

Our member of staff responsible for Behaviour Management is the SENCo, Vicky Benefield.

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