Welcome to Howden Preschool

 We are taking registrations for children aged 9 months + 

click here NOW to register your child.

We are currently accepting registrations for admissions in 2025

 

Begin your child's learning journey in a safe and happy environment that is full of fun!

Howden Pre-School and Out of School Club are part of the umbrella charity Early Explorers Community Pre-Schools. We offer all year round childcare and education to children aged 9 months to 5 years. We also provide wrap around care and holiday club for primary school aged children up to the age of 11. We drop off and collect children from Howden Infants School and Howden Junior School. 

The Pre-School is in two halves. The Church Hall is where your child can begin their journey at 9 months, situated in a secure, woodland location in the Ashes Park. Here we have a room for our Chicks, aged 9 months - 2 years, and a seperate space for our Robins, aged 2-3. When they turn 3 they will transition over to the Sparrows at Bishops Manor where they will continue to grow with us as we prepare them for full time school. They can then return to us for before and after school club and holiday club up until the end of year 6.

Our settings are in the heart of Howden, easy to walk to or reach from the local car parks. We have excellent indoor and outdoor facilities, including free-flow garden areas and seperate spaces to explore and play in or simply chill out and relax.

Give your child the opportunity to play, learn and explore by `Sowing the seeds` in this outstanding, community setting.

 

What do we do and how do we do it?

We believe children are unique, each one has their own interests and personalities, each one their own wants and needs. We recognise this, we spend time getting to know children, their families and environments. We use this as a strong foundation when building a rich curriculum that is inclusive, balanced and broad.

 

Our curriculum, 

• Builds relationships , learns tolerance, kindness and respect towards themselves, others and the natural world.

• Celebrates diversity, respects individuality and understands the importance of feeling valued and having a sense of belonging.

• Provides an environment that is safe and welcoming, fun, exciting and gives the freedom to investigate and explore.

• Focuses on well-being, how to express feelings and self regulate in a way that is safe and understood.

• Includes and extends a child's cultural capital.

• Allows curiosity and own thinking, encourages ideas, gives time to test them out and develop their own strategies.

• Widens knowledge and understanding.

• Teaches new skills and provides activities to practise and master these.

• Gives opportunities for new learning experiences.

• Encourages children to be involved, creative and imaginative.

• Sows the seed for future growth and learning

How do we teach?

 

Staff

Our Staff are our most valuable resource, they model the skills we want our children to develop, they respond in the moment supporting further thinking, teaching the ability to adapt to meet challenges and encouraging to develop resilience in order to become successful at tasks. 

• Staff join in with the children, sharing their interests, being inquisitive and motivated to find out about them. We ask “What would you like to find out about today?”

• Staff realise all types of behaviour are a form of communication. We work together, recognising over-stimulated children, helping them to find their own methods to rest, calm down and reset, and we provide safe spaces for them to go to if they need to. 

• Staff encourage children to learn together and from each other, they praise for specific achievements often using stickers that can be written on so parents can celebrate with them at home. 

• Staff provide a language rich environment that matches each child's needs and level of understanding. They encourage children to describe, share and talk about problems they encounter, they promote shared thinking and give time for them to process information and explore ideas together. As a result, our children feel listened to, valued and respected.

 

Environment

Our environment both indoor and outdoor provides a wide range of continuous provision which we adapt and change as necessary to meet the needs of the children accessing it.  We believe children should have access to both open ended resources as well as the familiar character toys which we have found are of comfort to them. Resources are relevant to children's individual needs, interests and levels of development. 

• We create inviting spaces in which to explore, play and learn. 

• We provide a range of adult and child led activities, based on interests that will challenge children and allow them to take the lead in their learning. 

• We spark off new interests to inspire and motivate children to have an awe of wonder. 

• We ensure children have uninterrupted time to play, giving the opportunity to repeat and consolidate learning.

• We follow a routine that includes free play, group times, meal times and tidy up times.

• We develop pre-school rules with the children and embed these on a daily basis.

• We include our local community and have strong links with the amenities in the town, visiting the shops, the library, the schools and the Minster. We often take part in the town's events and the local businesses and groups will support us with fundraising and advertising.

• We include parents, offering them opportunities to become involved in their child’s learning through settling in sessions, informal chats, end of term phone calls, questionnaires, stay and play sessions, newsletters, EYLOG, emails and texts. We share our news on our website, facebook and Instagram.

• We ensure we meet legal requirements.

 

How do we reflect and improve?

 

We reflect regularly on our service taking into account the views of our users. We always welcome feedback from parents and children. We are always striving to be better.

• We hold monthly staff meetings to discuss and reflect as a whole team. 

• We have regular conversations about children's progress and our daily practice, any issues are discussed as they arise and acted on promptly. We do not wait for the next meeting.

• We follow the observation cycle of observe, plan, do , review and we track our children half termly to ensure progress is being made.

• Our managers observe staff interactions during free play and more focused group times. They give feedback during meetings and supervisions and set targets with staff both individually and as a team.

• We recognise the importance of staff well-being, we encourage them to develop their own skills and knowledge and make time for them to complete and attend training. We welcome their feedback and ideas. We want our staff to feel happy and valued at work.

 

Curriculum Statements

Our children are at the heart of our curriculum which intertwines the 7 areas of learning and the Characteristics of Effective Learning set out in the Early Years Foundation Stage. We include British values and our local culture within our curriculum.

• Our children will develop the confidence, tolerance and kindness needed to build positive relationships with adults and peers.

• Our children will learn to look after their own well being, recognising and managing their emotions and develop techniques to keep themselves happy.

• Our children will become skillful communicators, they will listen and respond, ask questions, understand and develop a range of vocabulary and/or other communication methods that enable them to be understood.

• Our children will have the energy and determination to develop their physical skills, they will become independent risk takers and problem solvers.

• Our children will know the parts of their body, they will begin to learn how to keep healthy and make healthy choices.

• Our children will have a love for reading stories and a knowledge that print has meaning.

• Our children will have an interest in words linking sounds to letters and making marks to represent them.

• Our children will have an interest in number names and symbols

• Our children will enjoy exploring shapes, spaces, sizes ,patterns, measure, and weight.

• Our children will be excited to explore the world around them.

• Our children will take care of their environment and the creatures in it.

• Our children will be creative and imaginative.

We believe that in providing an interesting, exciting environment with thoughtful resources, carefully planned activities and experiences, and knowledgeable, passionate staff, our children will flourish and develop a love for learning that sows the seeds for a future of growth in our ever changing world.

 

 

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