Playgroup
Aims and Objectives
What goes on at Playgroup?
Morning Timetable
Topics
OfSTED
Registration Form

Playgroup
Penhill Playgroup is registered for 24 children per session aged between two and a half and five years old. The children are cared for by qualified staff with a ratio of one staff member to eight children. The Playgroup is OFSTED inspected and a Registered Provider under the Local Authority's Early Years Development Plan.

At Penhill Playgroup, we aim to make pre-school fun and to equip the children with the necessary skills of caring and sharing, learned through interaction with other children.

A wide range of activities are offered to satisfy curious minds, including painting, water play glueing, playdough, chalking, crayoning, sand pit, role-play, and many creative projects. We aim to encourage children to explore and learn through play and direction using equipment provided. There is a home corner to give children an opportunity for imaginative play and children are encouraged to use the book corner. There is time set aside daily for songs, rhymes and stories, often with percussion instruments and on most fine days the children spend time outside with a variety of tricycles and wheeled toys, to develop gross motor skills.

As your child approaches the time to start school, he or she will be invited to join our group at Freshbrook First School. Here, activities and equipment have the needs of the older child in mind.

Aims and Objectives
At Penhill Playgroup we aim to create a happy and secure environment where the children are provided with a well balanced programme of activities. Our children are encouraged to achieve independence and, with staff support, develop towards required learning outcomes.
We aim to treat each child as an individual; identifying their needs and making them feel secure and valued. Their learning should be a pleasurable and rewarding experience so that they can move confidently on to school with a desire to learn that has been engendered by the playgroup staff.
We operate an equal opportunities policy to ensure that all children, irrespective of race, creed, background or gender, reach the best of their abilities.
The playgroup supervisor ensures that by planning for the term ahead, the children will cover a range of activities that develop their abilities in the six areas of learning.
In conjunction with members of staff, observation and achievement records can be kept to ensure that all aspects of the curriculum have been covered by each individual child. In this way, any child with special needs may be identified and any necessary professional help sought.

What Goes on at Playgroup?
As your child progresses through the education system, you will hear much about the foundation stage, early learning goals, areas of learning, the National Curriculum, Key Stages and SATS. As a pre-school group, we are primarily concerned with the first two of these and hopefully this introduction will shed a glimmer of light onto what actually goes on at Penhill Playgroup in relation to them.

• The Foundation Stage is about developing key learning skills such as listening, speaking, concentration, persistence and learning to work together and co-operate with other children. It is also about developing early communication, literacy, and numeracy skills that will prepare young children for Key Stage One of the National Curriculum.

• Early Learning Goals are the goals for learning for your children to reach by the time they are of compulsory school age. They emphasise early literacy, numeracy and the development of personal and social skills, and contribute to children's knowledge, understanding and skills in other areas.

• As your child approaches compulsory school age and is in receipt of funding from the Local Authority, we prepare a personal folder of your child's work and progress. You will find reports divided into the following sections: Personal and Social Development, Language and Literacy, Mathematics, Knowledge and Understanding of the World, physical development and Creative Development. These are widely referred to as the six areas of learning and they provide a foundation for later achievement.

Here at Penhill Playgroup we have a planned educational programme which ensures equality of opportunity, builds on children's previous experiences and responds to individual needs. All children will progress at different rates and individual achievement will vary. However, all children should be able to follow the curriculum which will lead them to the early learning goals as set out by the Department for Education and Skills.

Morning Timetable

9.00 Registration
This includes the register being taken, exchanges of news and discussion about the weather, our topic, days of the week etc.
9.15 Free Play (Incorporating Drink Time)
During this part of the morning the children are able to choose from a variety of activities provided. Within this setting the children are encouraged to explore their surroundings under supervision. The 4 year olds may sit with a member of staff for an activity that will encourage their reaching of the Early Learning Goals.
10.45 Tidying Session
The children are encouraged to help tidy away the morning’s activities under staff supervision.
11.00 Story Time
The children will sit and listen to a story read by a member of staff. Afterwards they will have the opportunity to discuss what they have heard.
11.15 Physical Activity
This may take the form of tricycles, pedal cars, ring games, an assault course, the parachute etc.
11.45 Circle Time
This may be used for singing, games, discussion and so on.
12.00 Home Time
The children are asked to sit and wait on the mat for their parent/carer to collect them.

Topics
We're starting the Spring term with the topic weather, which will include garden birds in winter, transport, including people who help us and Chinese New Year on February 7th.

OFSTED Inspection Report
We are regularly inspected by OFSTED (The Office for Standards in Education) who judge how successful we have been in the quality of our provision in each of the six areas of learning. They do not assess individual children or their performance. Penhill Playgroup had its last inspection in July 2005 and was rated as "good". Please ask if you would like to see a copy of the latest Inspection Report or you can view it online at www.ofsted.gov.uk and put Penhill Playgroup into the search facility at the top of the page.

Registration Form

Registration Form pdf
Registration Form MS Word

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