Sandford Pre School

To complement the home, by providing a secure and loving, high quality, flexible, individualised developmentally appropriate educare programme to children, whilst empowering the child and family, to continue learning and develop beyond their years at Sandford.

Our setting aims to:

 provide high quality care and education for children below statutory school age;

 work in partnership with parents to help children to learn and develop;

 add to the life and well-being of the local community; and

 offer children and their parents a service that promotes equality and values diversity.

Working together for your children

We maintain and on most occasions exceed the ratio of adults to children in the setting that is set by the Safeguarding and Welfare Requirements: 

1 practitioner: 4 two year olds

1 practitioner: 8 three and four year olds

1 Graduate Leader: 12 three and four year olds

This helps us to:

 give time and attention to each child;

 talk with the children about their interests and activities;

 help children to experience and benefit from the activities we provide; and

 Allow the children to explore and be adventurous in safety.

Parental Partnerships

Our setting recognises parents as the first and most important educators of their children. All of our staff sees themselves as partners with parents in providing care and education for their children. There are many ways in which parents take part in making our setting a welcoming and stimulating place for children and parents, such as:

 exchanging knowledge about their children's needs, activities, interests and progress with our staff;

 contributing to the progress check at age two;

 helping at sessions of the setting;

 sharing their own special interests with the children;

 taking part in events and informal discussions about the activities and curriculum provided by the setting;

 joining in community activities, in which the setting takes part; and

 Building friendships with other parents in the setting.

 

Fees and registration fee

For up to date session fees, please contact the setting.

A registration fee (deposit) of £50 is required to secure a place for your child at Sandford. This deposit covers the cost of preparing for your child attending and is refundable after your child has been attending for 3 months. Please note that we need four weeks written notice when leaving. 

We are in receipt of free nursery education funding which is awarded to all children from the term after their third birthday for 15 hours per week. We also accept children who are entitled to the 30 hours per week scheme directed at working families. Please visit https://www.gov.uk/help-with-childcare-costs/free-childcare-and-education-for-2-to-4-year-olds  for information or speak to a member of staff who can assist.

We also apply for the Early Years Pupil Premium which provides additional funding for children whose parents are in receipt of certain benefits.

You may also be eligible for 15 hours free nursery education funding for 2 year olds if you meet the requirements. For more information and to apply see Sefton Council website at www.sefton.gov.uk/2yearolds

Home Visit

We want your child to feel happy and safe with us. To make sure that this is the case, we will work with you to decide on how to help your child to settle into the setting. It is recommended that parents bring their child for a couple of visits before their official start date in order for them to familiarise themselves with the surroundings and begin to form a relationship with their key person.  

Toilet training

We understand that some children may still be in nappies when starting preschool especially the younger children. When you feel you child is reading to start toilet training we will support him/her the best we can. Just remember to bring lots of spare pants during this process. 

Snack and Packed Lunch

As part of the session fees, a healthy snack and milk is provided in the morning and fresh water is available throughout the session.

If your child is attending all day or afternoon session, please bring a packed lunch as we are unable to provide a hot lunch.

If your child is having a packed lunch with us, it can be an exciting time. Staff sit with the children whilst they are eating and it is a very social occasion. We recommend that you do not overwhelm your child with too much choice and keep it simple with maybe a sandwich, drink, piece of fruit and an occasional treat. Please be aware of the government guidelines of salt, sugar and ‘five a day’.

Please be advised that we do not accept any products containing nuts.

We hope that you and your child enjoy being part of our setting. We appreciate that starting preschool can also be an anxious time for parents, our staff are always ready and willing to talk with you about any anxiety’s, views or questions you may have.