Great Shefford Under Fives

  Welcome to "Great Shefford Under Fives".

We are the umbrella organisation for the

Great Shefford Mother and Toddler Group and

Great Shefford Pre-School

 We provide social and educational opportunities for children up to 5 years old during term time. All our activities are based at Great Shefford Village Hall.

The group is an educational charity and a member of the Pre-School Learning Alliance. Our ethos is to provide excellent early years education whilst cherishing the importance of the parental role in that children’s education and, as such, we encourage parents to be involved as much as they wish to. We are run by a committee of volunteer parents but staffed by experienced and qualified staff. We hope both the children and the parents have fun and get to know each other.

The Pre-School is regularly inspected by Ofsted who in their December 2009 Report commented that, “The children are very happy and settled in the setting...children behave well...children are beginning to develop skills they will need in the future...the group is very effective in welcoming and valuing all children and routinely meeting their individual needs."

Please see the link below for a full copy of the Report.

About us

Location

All our activities are based at Great Shefford Village Hall situated in the heart of the village.

The Village Hall

Station Road.

Great Shefford.

Mother and Toddler Group

The Toddler group runs on Monday mornings from 10am to 12noon during term time. All carers, mums, dads, grandparents and childminders are welcomed with their babies and toddlers.

This is a “turn-up” session where we provide an opportunity for adults to meet and for children to have play and social opportunities with the security of their carer beside them.

The session is led by Alison Denton and Lisa Boswell who set out an excellent range of resources and fun activities. Coffee and refreshments are offered to the adults and the children have a range of tempting and healthy snacks.

Pre-School 

The Pre-School runs sessions, during the six school terms, on

• Tuesday, Wednesday, Thursday mornings from 9.30am to 12 noon and
• Tuesday, Wednesday, Thursday afternoons from 12 to 2.30pm.

The Pre-School is available to children from the term in which they are 3, to 5 years, and provides a warm and friendly atmosphere for the children to learn and progress in. We provide a wide range of fun activities which enables the children to develop confidence, independence, social skills and concentration alongside skills in numeracy and literacy which prepare children for school. We are extremely well staffed, generally with a staff ratio of 1 adult to every 4 children which enables us to know and provide for our children very well. 

The Pre-School has a fantastic range of quality resources and has space indoors for physical activities, such as bikes, balls and a climbing frame, every day. Additionally, we make use of the wonderful outdoor learning environment on our doorstep by exploring the adjacent countryside, park and village. The children pull on their wellies and coats each day and off we go across the fields to learn about the natural world.

The children are encouraged to develop a healthy lifestyle by having healthy snacks including fresh fruit and savoury choices, milk or water to drink and plenty of exercise. 

Every day the children have free access to painting, modelling, jigsaws and puzzles, books, role play, sand or water, imaginary small world play such as Lego, Playmobil, Brio, mark making activities including chalk, felt tips, stencilling, and cutting and sticking crafts. The children have long periods of free choice, supported by the staff, during which they learn to persevere and practise new skills in an unhurried environment. We play board games each day through which the children learn to take turns, follow instructions, join in, concentrate as well as develop early mathematical or literary skills. The children come together as a group for a welcoming register time, singing and dancing time and a story at the end of the morning.

In addition to these daily activities the children regularly cook and bake, borrow books from the West Berkshire Library Van, learn how to cross the roads safely with the "Footsteps" Road Safety Team, join in local community events such as Spring services at St. Mary's church and the village Country Fayre, visit local farms and even go on a bus ride to Lambourn and back!

The Pre-school has good contacts with all local schools. Children from our setting move onto a variety of schools; Shefford and Chaddleworth, Welford and Wickham, Brightwalton, Baydon, Ramsbury, Hungerford.

Fees

Children are entitled to Nursery Funding from the term after their 3^rd birthday which means that attending the Pre-School is free of charge from that term.

In the term of the child’s 3^rd birthday we charge £8.60 per session.

Financial assistance is available.

How to enrol at the Pre-School

We operate an “Open Door” policy which means we welcome parents to visit the Pre-School at any time. Alternatively parents can contact the Chairperson, Mrs Alison Denton, for information, an enrolment form and full prospectus.

Ofsted Report

Please look at the following link to our December 2009 Ofsted Report which gives an excellent summary of our provision. Please enter our Unique Reference Number (URN) 507899 in the relevant box on the Ofsted page to be directed to our Report.

Contact Us