Setting Information 

Term Dates

SPRING TERM 2024
Term Opens: Thursday 4th January
Half Term: 19th – 23rd February
Term Ends: Thursday 28th March

SUMMER TERM 2024
Term Opens: Monday 15th April
May Bank Holiday: Monday 6th May
Half Term: 27th – 31st May
Term Ends: Friday 19th July

Autumn Term 2024
Term Opens: Thursday 5th September
Half Term: Friday 25th October – Monday 4th November
Term Ends: Friday 20th December

*Please not that these are the latest available dates and may be subject to change. All dates are based on school term dates in accordance with Peterborough City Council’s Department of Education.
* We also follow training days taken at Werrington Primary School 

Opening Hours

The Village Playgroup is open Monday to Friday 9.00 am – 3.00 pm (Term time only).

Our ‘Lunch Club’ also provides optional childcare facilities for an extra 60 mins, until 1.00 pm. Children should bring their own packed lunch for Lunch Club, although a drink will be provided.  

Session Fees 

Session fees
Our latest Session fees are available on request.
Please contact us or call 07884 151226 or 07411 208317

Snack donation
Snacks and a drink will be provided during the sessions. To help with the costs of providing healthy snacks we kindly ask for a £2.00 donation per child each half term (Sept 2023).

Lunch Club fees
Currently, our lunch club fee is £5.00 per session (Sept 2023). This is subject to potential annual increases, it is therefore advisable to contact us to ascertain the projected fee for lunch club in forthcoming academic years.

Registration Fee
There will be a one-off registration fee of £15.00 to be paid before your child(ren) attends Playgroup. As this covers all administration costs, should you then decide not to take your child’s place, after payment has been made, this fee will be not be refunded.

Funding
Most playgroups like ours are funded only by charged session fees. We do accept the Nursery Education Funding for all eligible 2, 3 and 4 year olds. There are set criteria to claim funding for 2-year olds. Any child that is 3 or 4-years of age qualifies for funding the first full term after their 3rd birthday. One session at playgroup consists of 3-hours excluding lunch club. You are entitled to 5 sessions per week, equivalent to up to 15 hours, or 30 hours if you are entitled.

We have provision for use of extended hours entitlements for up to 30 hours a week. To see if you are entitled please check https://www.childcarechoices.gov.uk/

These hours can be split and used in whichever setting you choose e.g. 2 sessions at Nursery and 3 sessions at Playgroup. For more information on this please speak to our Playgroup Manager

Notice Period
A notice period of 3-weeks is required if you intend to leave The Village Playgroup or full payment will be required.

Payments
Cheques should be made payable to ‘The Village Playgroup’.

Outside Play

Natural Play Area
In Summer 2009 we secured a grant through “enabling environments” to turn our ‘plastic fantastic’ outside play area into a natural play environment for the children. This outside area consists of an area with sand, and large motor toys such as ride-ons and trikes. We also provide the children with raised beds in which they can dig and plant seeds, an insect friendly log pile, a water butt for watering plants and a large black board to encourage outside mark making. This area was refurbished (April 2014), following a generous donation from BGL Group Ltd.

Large Grassy Play Area
A large outside gated grassy area is also available for us to use during term time, the children have access to play houses, balls, ride-ons, pedal vehicles, prams, pushchairs and dolls. All of this enables the children to engage with others and play independently in a large secure open space. In the Autumn Term of 2017 we were fortunate to secure funding through The Co-op’s Local Community Fund to upgrade our landscaped and barked area of field. With the funding we were able to purchase play equipment to allow the children to climb, balance and explore. This new addition would not have been possible without the support of The Co-op’s members, Revamp for the construction and installation of the equipment and Playgroup’s Committee.

Daily Timetable 

The typical daily timetable is detailed below as a general guide. Every effort is made to ensure that all children get a period of outdoor play at some point during each session.

8:15am Staff arrive to set up the room and to plan for the day
9:00am Parents/carers arrive with their children, payment of fees/trips, handing over letters etc.
9:10am Child registration
9:20am Children settle into free play activities or Key worker groups (adult led 1/1). The group is sometimes split into two for indoor/outdoor play
9:45am Snack time and toilet reminder
10:45am Continuous play provision
10:55am Five minute reminder to finish
11:00am Tidy up time and toilet reminder
11:15am Singing, sharing news, story time
11:30am Ready to go out to play or play indoors if bad weather
12:00pm Morning session children collected by Parents/Carers / Afternoon session begins

12:00pm Lunch Club children and staff have their lunch with free play when finished
1:00pm Lunch Club children collected by Parents/Carers / Afternoon session continues with adult led 1/1 activities and free play / Drink provision available
1:00pm Staff go home if not on rota
2:25pm Five-minute warning to pack away and toilet reminder
2:30pm Pack away time for adults and children
2:40pm Afternoon story and rhyme time, circle time, singing whilst adults continue to pack away
3:00pm All children collected by Parents/Carers whilst adults continue to pack away
3.15pm Remaining staff go home and setting closed

Mission Statement 

It is our firm belief that every child and adult that walks through the doors of our Playgroup be greeted, accepted and treated in the same manner in which we ourselves would expect to receive. Every child has different needs and family circumstances. Child Development is individual as they all develop in different ways and at varying rates, making each and every one of them “A Unique Child“. Our aim is to recognise the differences in our individual children and remember that they are all equally as important. We have an Equal Opportunities Policy in place that sets out the importance of this inclusive practice. We recognise the importance of keeping young children safe and the fact that they are vulnerable, therefore rigorous checks are taken upon all staff. Disclosure and Barring Service checks are made before they are left alone to care for the children. Staff are trained at a high level to recognise and respect the need for children protection and know about children`s health and also their well-being.

In order that we get to know our children and their families it is important to us to build “Positive Relationships” . To do this we encourage our staff to interact with not just the children but also their families too. We respect that parents and carers up until coming to us have been the prime educators to their children but now it is important that we work together to support learning and enhance the children`s development and learning by working in partnership with each other. This to us is more valuable than any amount of resources. To facilitate these relations each child in assigned a Key worker who will have the special responsibilities that will enable them to give reassurance, help them feel safe and cared for and build a good relationship with their parents.

The Key workers aim is to get to know their children as individuals in order to create an “Enabling Environment” . This is done through observation, assessment and then planning an environment that has schedules and routines that flow with the children`s individual needs, current interests, development and learning. Supporting every child through planned experiences and activities that are challenging but achievable in a rich environment helps to support this. Our aim is to give them Learning environments that help to build the confidence to explore and learn in our secure and safe, yet challenging, indoor and outdoor spaces.

In the wider context we do what we can to introduce the children to the areas outside the pre-school setting within the local community by either visiting them or inviting them into our setting to meet us. We feel it is important to the children`s well-being to understand that being involved in community events and knowing their local area and amenities, contributes towards being safe, being healthy, enjoying and achieving and making a positive contribution. Here at The Village Playgroup we recognise that children develop and learn in different ways and at different rates AND…. that areas of “Learning and Development” are equally important and inter-connected.

It is important for us to remember the Principles of the Early Years Foundation Stage (EYFS) and that it is now made up of seven areas of learning and development and that all of these areas are put into practice. Three being classed as “Prime Areas” to include, communication and language, physical development and personal, social and emotional development. The other four areas literacy, mathematics, understanding the world and expressive arts, these are classed as the “Specific Areas” through which the three prime areas are strengthened and applied. Children`s play and exploration reflects their wide ranging and varied interests and pre-occupations. They do and repeat what they see. So it important that Active learning is supported by staff, adults and their peers to promote positive play behaviour for further development. In order to support their creativity and critical thinking, we encourage opportunities for different role play situations and a variety of life like recourses, to enable them to discover connections and come to new and better understandings. Our Staff are trained to understand that their support enhances the children`s ability to think critically and ask questions.

We remember that each day is a new day and not the same as before! We continue with the knowledge that each day we ALL learn something new!

Aims & Objectives

The aim of our Playgroup is to provide a warm, friendly, safe and stimulating environment in which your child can thrive and flourish with enriched learning provided by well trained and caring staff. Our principal approach is to aim to:

i. Set good levels of standards
ii. Provide equality of opportunity
iii. Create a framework for partnership working
iv. Continually improve and reflect upon quality and consistency
v. Assist in laying a secure foundation for future learning

Therefore, the Playgroup will aim to establish relationships with children and their parents through, planning the learning environment and curriculum to support and extend children’s play and learning. This will be done by assessing children’s achievements and then planning their next steps. All our Staff have good knowledge with regard to the Development in the Early Years Foundation Stage (EYFS). The aim is that each child should be working towards or achieving the goals set within this by the time they reach mainstream school.

During our sessions we will provide child centred activities covering all seven areas of learning and development. All areas of learning and development are important and inter-connected. Three areas are particularly crucial for igniting children’s curiosity and enthusiasm for learning, and for building their capacity to learn, form relationships and thrive. The three PRIME areas are:

i. Personal, social and emotional development
ii. Communication and language
iii. Physical development

This leaves four specific areas through which the three prime areas are strengthened and applied. The four SPECIFIC areas are:

i. Literacy
ii. Mathematics
iii. Understanding the world
iv. Expressive arts and design

All of these areas of development will be taught to help each child to progress at a pace suitable to their individual needs. This will be monitored closely by their Key worker who through doing regular observations for each area of development will be able to assess individual’s progress and level of development. The children will be given the opportunity to learn to respect and value all people.

To enable us to meet these aims we very much need and encourage parental involvement. You can help by means of a Stay and Play session and by supporting the fundraising events, which are needed to help run and equip the Playgroup or if you wish, you could become a Committee Member. To help us achieve these Aims and Objectives the Playgroup will ensure that they follow “The Governments National Educational Standards”.

These standards are regulated by the Early Years Directorate within the “Office for Standards in Education” (OFSTED). These National Standards represent a baseline of quality to which we as a playgroup should not falter on. So, their intended aim is to underpin a continuous improvement in the quality care that we aim to provide for the children.

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