Curriculum
Why is pre-school good for your child?
The Effective Pre-School, Primary and Secondary Education project (EPPSE), found that children who had early years education:
- achieved higher grades at school
- were better behaved in school
- were more likely to continue into further or higher education
Pre-School provides an important step towards building relationships and helping your child to integrate well at primary school.
Our approach to learning
We are proud to deliver the Early Years Foundation Stage (EYFS) curriculum around Maths, Literacy, Communication and Language, Understanding of the World, Expressive Arts, Physical and Personal, Social and Emotional Development.
Our focus begins with these three prime areas:
Communication and language
To support the children in developing their communication and language skills, we carry out a wide range of activities from story-telling to role play, encouraging children to share their ideas with support and modelling from us.
Physical development
To aid the development of children’s fine and gross motor skills, we plan a variety of opportunities to explore and play with small world activities, puzzles available at the Pre-school. We also regularly carry out arts and crafts and the practice of using small tools.
Personal, social and emotional development
The Early Years are a crucial time for building the foundations for healthy and happy lives. At St Andrew’s Pre-school, children are immersed into
The three prime areas are strengthened and applied through these four specific areas:
Literacy
We encourage the foundations of reading and writing through regular storytelling, reading of books and mark making with various mediums.
Mathematics
Developing positive attitudes and interests in mathematics, is crucial in the Early Years. At St Andrew’s, we implement maths in just about every area of the pre-school, to help children understand mathematical concepts.
Understanding the world
To broaden personal experiences we organise trips to educational places and meetings with important members of society. We also read a broad selection of stories, non-fiction, rhymes and poems.
Expressive arts and design
Children at St Andrew’s regularly engage with arts and crafts, enabling them to explore and play with a wide range of media and materials.
Click here to find out what a typical day is like at St Andrew’s….
Additional activities
Extra literacy and numeracy sessions
We have access to “Reading Eggs” literacy and numeracy software, which we use with all children but we also offer additional one-to-one sessions (0.30 hours, twice weekly) for a modest fee of £5 per week. Children who use the Reading Eggs programme have improved literacy and numeracy skills and a head start at primary school.
Super Star Sports sessions
We are fortunate to have a qualified physical training coach from the Super Star Sport, North West London attend the Pre-School on a monthly basis. These sessions are mostly paid for from the fees we receive but we ask for a small additional fee of £10 per term per child to contribute towards the cost of running these sessions. The sessions are held in the main church hall.
Special festivities throughout the year
Although we have a close relationship with St. Andrew’s Church, we are non-denominational and accommodate children from all backgrounds and religions. We teach respect for others and as part of this we commemorate various special days throughout the year, for example, Christmas, Easter, Mother’s Day, Father’s Day, International Day. In celebration of Christmas the children perform a nativity show, which is followed by a buffet. We also employ entertainers occasionally before the Easter Holiday. In July we hold a graduation ceremony for children moving into Reception class followed by a buffet.
We also hold one external trip (usually to a local children’s farm, the RAF museum or similar) each summer term and we visit Mill Hill Fire Station and the library opposite, or the local Fire Brigade sends a fire engine to the pre-school to teach the children about this emergency service and about fire safety.
Contact information
St Andrew's Church, Lynford Gardens, Edgware HA8 8TZ
Email: standrewspreschool@
hotmail.co.uk
Phone:
020 8958 1279 / 07914 683581
Monday – Friday:
8:00am – 4:00pm
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