Welcome to Pips Pre-Nursery

GOVERNMENT ANNOUNCEMENT The Government has announced that from April 2024, working parents of two-year-olds will be able to access 15 hours of free childcare.  From September 2024, 15 hours of free childcare will be extended down to the age of nine months, for working parents.  From September 2025, working parents of children aged nine months and upwards will be entitled to 30 hours free childcare per week, until their child starts school. Frequently Asked Questions for Parents

Pips Lead Teaching Assistant - Miss Natalia Carrasco Gonzalvo

Pips Teaching Assistant - Mrs Wendy French

Here in our Pips classroom, we have a huge range of toys and resources to make your child’s time with us as fun and exciting as possible. We provide a variety of table top and floor-based games and activities that are easily accessible for the children to explore freely. In the classroom there is a lovely home corner, dramatic play area, an arts and craft area, a small world play corner, an exploration tray and a calm corner - filled with books, teddies and cushions. We vary the toys weekly to keep learning exciting and to tie in with our topics. Every week there are also planned activities within the seven areas of learning in the EYFS. If you’d like more information on the Early Years Curriculum for two-year-olds, please feel free to ask. 

In Pips, we have a strong focus on communication and language skills. We work closely with our speech and language therapist Philippa, who provides us with lots of tips for encouraging your little ones to talk. Throughout the day we constantly model language, as well as using Makaton signs to encourage communication and understanding skills. As part of our circle time sessions, we love to sing songs and recite our favourite nursery rhymes. 

We are fortunate to have a designated garden for our two to four-year-olds, which is filled with exciting equipment, including monkey bars, balance beams and climbing apparatus. These provide the children with great ways to develop their gross motor skills. There is time outside every day for enjoying the use of bikes and scooters, exploring the outdoor kitchen and playing ball games. We also draw attention to the features of the natural world such as seasonal changes, growing plants together and investigating the insects and other creatures we encounter. We are able to use the other classes’ playground from time to time, which gives children great opportunity to play with different outdoor toys. 

Throughout your child’s time with us in Pips, we provide the children with many opportunities to develop their fine motor skills. This includes mark making activities, cutting, tracing, threading and exploring sensory trays.

Each day we enjoy group time activities including artwork, baking, ring games. This encourages the children to share, take turns and develop relationships.

We encourage the children to be as independent as possible and involve them in tasks such pouring drinks, setting the table for snack-time or lunch, washing up and contributing to planning ideas. We also help the children learn to dress themselves, wash their own hands and put on their shoes.  

Lots of children at pre-nursery age start to show signs of being ready for potty training. We can support you and your child through this change in their lives and have facilities for nappy changing, potty training and toilet training.

The children have a daily routine. However, we are extremely flexible and cater for children on a day-to-day basis. Many of our activities are child-led so may change throughout the day. We use a visual timetable to help the children understand our routine.