ABOUT US
History
Christ Church Clifton Pre-school is a community-based pre-school, that has been open since 1976. Our aim has always been to provide the children with a creative and stimulating environment where they can learn and explore. The children are surrounded by warmth, encouragement and care as they learn through play. It is our hope that Christ Church Pre-School provides a first step into education and a wonderful introduction to a structured play environment outside the home.
Learning
Everything we do operates within the Early Years Foundation Stage (EYFS) and we are regularly monitored and assessed by Ofsted. Our aim is to encourage the children to learn through their play experiences. We closely follow the children’s interests because we believe these provide the best tools for their learning.
​
The EYFS guidance divides children’s learning and development into seven areas (three prime areas and four specific areas:
​
Personal, social and emotional development
Communication and Language
Physical development
Literacy
Mathematics
Understanding the World
Expressive Arts and Design
The Early Years Foundation Stage
Personal, social and emotional development
We aim to build the children’s confidence and emotional well-being so that they learn to respect others and develop a positive image of themselves and their own abilities.
Communication and language
We help children develop their communication skills through speaking, listening and understanding. We encourage children to talk about what they are interested in, give them thinking time and help them by introducing new words during play.
Physical
development
We give the children opportunities to develop their fine and large motor skills by providing a variety of equipment and experiences both indoors and outside in the garden and the forest.
Literacy
We encourage an interest in books as a source of enjoyment and information. We also support children’s early writing and give them a variety of opportunities to experiment with mark-making and letter-formation.
Mathematics
We encourage the use of mathematical language and provide the children with opportunities to experience mathematical concepts (including numbers, shape, space and measure).
Understanding the world
We encourage the children to investigate the wider world through observation, critical thinking and problem solving. Together they learn about nature and the environment, science, our local community, and other countries and cultures.
Expressive arts and design
We give children opportunities to be imaginative and inquisitive learners through art and design, music, dance, role play and stories and to respond to ideas and express themselves using a variety of media.
Outdoor learning
Over the years we have worked hard on the development of our outdoor play. We have a versatile outdoor area for the children with a mud kitchen, outdoor classroom, giant planters, bushes for climbing, a wooden playhouse, and space to run and scoot. We also have weekly forest school sessions, run by our qualified forest school leader. In addition, we run a more extensive outdoor program in the summer term which includes Beach School.
Partnership with parents
At Christ Church Pre-School we really value the input and support of parents. Feedback is strongly encouraged and welcome at any time. If you would like to speak in private to a member of staff this is always possible and we hope you will ask for this if and when you need it.
​
We also recognise that you know your child best, so we would love parents and carers to share any ideas or areas of interest from home. We encourage parents and carers to bring their own skills and interests in to share with the children e.g. Doctors come and talk about what they do, artists who can run an activity for the children, etc.
​
In order to help the children to experience the diversity within the group and better understand different cultures, we also welcome parents to come and share their traditions and practices.
​
Every Friday we hold a Coffee Morning, which is a great way to get to know other parents and carers and the staff team. It also provides a good opportunity for discussion. We welcome any ideas or suggestions from parents and sometimes run workshops or put on special talks about specific topics, eg forest school, healthy diet, transition to school.
