Big Top Pre-School - Bedgrove

It is with a heavy heart that we have to notify parents old and new, that the pre-school will be closing its doors for the last time on Friday 21st July.
After over 20 years providing love, support and education to hundreds of families, it has broken me to make this decision.
I will be in contact with those who were due to join in September today.
Thank you so much to everyone who has been a part of Big Top Bedgrove # # #

A wonderful woodwork session today for our older children.
After a safety talk, the children popped on their safety goggles and gloves and went to work to create a wooden cat.

They used drills, hammers and a screwdriver. They all listened to the instructions and were very keen to have a go. It was lovely to see the children try something they had perhaps not experienced before. 🔨🪛🔩

To finish our ‘people who help us’ topic, our older children went on an outing to the local shops this morning to learn about people who work in shops.

Before we left, we had a discussion about what we could buy from the shops to eat for snack time.
The children drew pictures and created a shopping list.

Once we arrived at the shops the children took their shopping baskets and shopping lists and looked out for the items to buy. We looked at the prices and spoke about how we would pay for the shopping.

When the children returned, they shared their experiences in our role-play area, which was set up as a shop today.

The children enjoyed the crumpets and fruit at snack time.

We had a special visitor this week to support our topic ‘people who help us’
The children were shown some of the things used in an ambulance. They watched as one of our staff had a sling put on.
One of the children drew a picture of an ambulance driver and gave it to our visitor.
Afterwards the children played in the role play area, which was set up as a hospital. Wonderful to observe the children using bandages on the dolls and pretending to be doctors and nurses.

We were so sad that vandals decided to destroy the pre-school children’s outdoor kitchen over the half term week. Not sure why people felt the need to do this 😔😔 We are getting the council to review the CCTV to get images of who was responsible.

We are on the hunt for 2 very special people to take on the roles of Manager and Deputy Manager at our long established pre-school.
Set in the beautiful Bedgrove Park, Aylesbury our Big Top Bedgrove, setting has been running for over 20 years and has supported 1000’s of children during that time. Both our current Managers originally started their journey with us as parents and have been a part of the Big Top family for over 10 years, but now feel it is time to hand over the reigns to someone new.
The setting is a pack away, term time only pre-school.
You will be required to work:

Mondays and Tuesdays 8:15 - 3:30
Wednesday, Thursday Friday 8:15 - 12:30

For the manager role, you will need to hold a minimum of Level 3 in Early Years and experience in a senior management role.

For the Deputy Manager, you will also need to hold a Level 3 in Early Years and have experience in a senior role.

You will need to have experience within the Development Matters framework, be able to support your team in the implementation of the setting curriculum and ensure the children in our care are given the best opportunities to support their learning and well-being.

To request an application form, please email:

[email protected]

Our garden is coming on really well now the warmer weather is here🌱
The children have been planting herbs today. 🙂

What a busy week we’ve had.
Lots of learning about the Coronation 👑 The children made their own castle to play in. They dressed up as Kings and Queens. Made royal cakes and learnt some new vocabulary. 🇬🇧

The Big Top Pre-School based in the beautiful surroundings of Bedgrove Park is looking for a new member to join our setting. Main role is of course working with and supporting our wonderful children aged 2 - 4 years. As a pack-away setting you will need to help set up the room and tidy away at the end of the session. You will be a key person to a small group of children and will be planning activities on offer to them, carry out observations, write up their progress and plan next steps. We have a brilliant team and would love to find the right person to join us.

This is a term time only position, initially for the Summer term.

The hours are:

Monday and Tuesday 8:30 - 3:30
Wednesday, Thursday and Friday 8:30 - 12:30

If you would like to know more and ask for an application form, please email
[email protected]

We look forward to hearing from you 👍

So many benefits from playdough... today we rolled, stretched and flattened the dough. We described the dough as sticky, cold and smooth.