About Us
Our History
St Andrew’s Pre School was formed in 1973 as families moved into the newly established community. It operates within Church and Community Centre premises. The group serves children from the local housing estate of Dronfield Woodhouse and the surrounding areas. We open term time only.
Our Aim is to:
Offer a happy, safe and caring environment in which all children have equal opportunity to develop to their full potential. We have excellent facilities for your child to mature and develop. The staff has a wealth of experience, which is backed by a variety of qualifications in the childcare field, which include DPP and NVQ Level 3, First Aid Certificates and Food Hygiene Certificates. Staff regularly review and assess their skills and attend training sessions as appropriate. Our ratio of staff to children is high.
Sessions take place in two large rooms, one primarily for physical play. In this room we provide; construction toys, dressing up, a home corner and climbing frame, we also have a well stocked book corner, small world toys and a problem solving unit. The other room is used for more messy activities including malleable materials, model making and painting. Our safe, enclosed outdoor area offers a wide range of activities for the children to access including a mud kitchen, footballs, sand and water.
Sessions are planned according to the EYFS (Early Years Foundation Stage) each individual child’s interests and seasonal events. Children are continually observed and records kept ensuring each child progresses at their own pace. Parents are welcome to come and discuss their child’s progress at any time but we share our observations formally twice a year.
Children are accepted into our setting during the term they reach 2 years old. Fees are payable until the term after the child’s 3rd birthday, after this up to 15 hours of care can be claimed from the local authority.
We are registered with Social Service under the terms of the 1989 Children’s Act. Our membership of the Pre School Learning Alliance ensures we are constantly in touch with new thinking in the field of childcare and education. We also have the support and guidance of an EYIO (Early Years Information Officer).
We are registered with Ofsted to accept a maximum of 30 children each session. We have had successful Ofsted inspections in the past and will continue to be inspected at regular intervals.
We operate a Key person system where each member of staff is responsible for a small group of children to oversee their care and development. This is achieved through observations within the setting and contact between Carer and Key person. We believe that parental involvement is very important as they are the first and most important educators of their young children.
