St Thomas' Pre School

St Thomas' Pre School This preschool is permanently closed Frequently asked questions

What age group do you cater for? We accept children from 2years 9months to 4years.

When will my child receive early years funding? Children are generally funded the term after their 3rd birthday. Do you accept 2year funding? We do accept 2year funded children as long as they are showing some signs of independence, although we are limited to how many 2year olds we can accept. Do you accept 30 hours funding? Yes we do accept 30 hours funding, not everybody is entitled to 30hrs, to see if you are eligible follow this link. https://www.gov.uk/30-hours-free-childcare

Are you open term time only? Yes we open to correspond with the local schools, this means that we are open for 39 weeks an academic year, please be aware that the early years funding only covers 38 weeks. Are there any additional fees? The only time we charge additional fees is if your child attends more than their entitled hours i.e. 15 or 30, our hourly rate for unfunded hour is Β£6.00 Please be aware that if a child is absent due to illness or holiday, fees are still applied. Do you accept children still in nappies? We do but we expect you to be working towards potty training, we are happy to work with you, for further information on potty training follow this link: https://www.nhs.uk/conditions/baby/babys-development/potty-training-and-bedwetting/how-to-potty-train/

How can I prepare my child for preschool? It is important that you teach your child to be as independent as possible, this includes trying to toilet themselves, washing and drying their own hands, sneezing/coughing into their elbow, drinking from an open cup, putting their own coats on etc. What should my child wear? To avoid spoiling new clothes, it is best to send them in older clothes as we do lots of messy craft and play. It is important that your child can toilet themselves, so lose clothing is best, avoid lots of buttons and dungarees, easy to wash clothes are best. Do you allow dummies in preschool? We feel it best that children don't use dummies, we do accept other types of comforter for example a toy or cloth, we only use these if we are unable to settle your child without it. The use of dummies should be discouraged in this age group, as it can lead to misshaped teeth and tooth decay. For advice use this link:https://www.gov.im/media/1364628/ditch-the-dummy-v2.pdf

How do children learn at preschool? Children learn through play, we follow your child's interest by getting to know their interests, observing them, it is also important that parents communicate their child's interest, things they are doing at home. How do you track children's progress? We use Tapestry an online learning journey for information follow the link: https://tapestry.info/parents-carers.html

What is The Early Years Foundation Stage? The early years foundation stage (EYFS) sets standards for the learning, development and care of your child from birth to 5 years old. All schools and Ofsted-registered early years providers must follow the EYFS, including childminders, preschools, nurseries and school reception classes.https://www.foundationyears.org.uk/files/2014/08/EYFS_Parents_Guide-amended.pdf

Do you have an outside area? Yes, we have a large garden area, with lots of resources. It is extremely important that children have a good amount of exercise daily, for this reason we have outside play whatever the weather, so please ensure your child has appropriate outdoor wear for sunshine or rain. How are parents updated as to what is happening in preschool? We have a closed page for current parents only, we also send out a half termly newsletter. What are your opening hours? We are currently open Monday, Wednesday, Thursday, Friday 9.00 - 14.30

Are prospective parents able to view the preschool? Yes, by appointment only. To arrange a viewing please call 07876045521

For your information:-
We continuously run activities around the NSPCC's PANTS underwear rule, for more information follow the link:
https://www.nspcc.org.uk/keeping-children-safe/support-for-parents/pants-underwear-rule/

01/03/2024
19/02/2024

Unfortunately the preschool will be closing at the end of March this year. Myself and the team would like to thank you all for your support. We've had a great time but due to lack of funds it is no longer viable.

Chinese New year πŸ‰πŸ²
15/01/2024

Chinese New year πŸ‰πŸ²

02/01/2024

Happy new year everyone πŸŽ‰πŸ₯³πŸ˜

Preschool Christmas party time πŸ₯³πŸŽ…πŸŽ„ merry Christmas everyone x x
15/12/2023

Preschool Christmas party time πŸ₯³πŸŽ…πŸŽ„ merry Christmas everyone x x

We will be at the church fair on Saturday, please pop in and say hi 😊 β˜ƒοΈπŸ‘‹
20/11/2023

We will be at the church fair on Saturday, please pop in and say hi 😊 β˜ƒοΈπŸ‘‹

Some recent activities x
17/11/2023

Some recent activities x

Some of this weeks activities. Thank you for completing the autumn walk half term homework,  after the children shared t...
02/11/2023

Some of this weeks activities. Thank you for completing the autumn walk half term homework, after the children shared their own finds with us we put them all together on a discovery tray for everyone to investigate. We've also been talking about diwali ✨️ the festival of light so today the staff put up lots of fairy lights, one child said 'it's so beautiful in here' another said 'it's Christmas '!! We've looked at how ice melts and discovered the shiny sequins within πŸ˜€ and have also been talking about firework safety as well as making some firework paintings πŸ‘

Some of this weeks activities in  which the children have been learning through play. Autumn is definitely in the air an...
13/10/2023

Some of this weeks activities in which the children have been learning through play. Autumn is definitely in the air and the children have been investigating leaves and conkers discussing their sizes, colours and textures. They showed good control in scooping conkers out of paint and tipping the trays in different directions to make the conkers roll across the paper. In the home corner we have been playing with real vegetables and today we asked the children to think about what they thought they looked like inside and cut them open to see if they were right! Today's tuff tray was based on the prickly hedgehog book πŸ¦”

A busy few weeks settling in our new children (so not many posts  or photos taken!!) finding out about their home lives ...
22/09/2023

A busy few weeks settling in our new children (so not many posts or photos taken!!) finding out about their home lives and what they are interested in doing. Just some of our recent activities have been 'all about me bags ' where the children bring in favourite items or family photos to share with us, we've been exploring paint with our hands, used pipettes to suck up the different colored and scented water from flavoured tea bags then squirted it into a range of different sized pots, exploring frozen cornflour and even caught the escaped dinosaurs in the garden!
We have a few spaces available from January 2024 so give us a call if you would like to come and have a look around πŸ˜€

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Bournemouth
BH105BN

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