Barkham Pre-school was established in 1971 and provides a happy, secure and stimulating environment in which your child can develop, explore and have fun! Our aim is to provide learning experiences through a wide variety of free flow and structured activities, alongside play and to work in partnership with parents to help each child make a cheerful transition from home to school. 

We cater for children aged 2 years to 5 years with a maximum of 24 children per session. The staffing ratio of adults to children will be a minimum of 1:4 for 2 year olds & 1:8 for 3-5 year olds. We are able to accept universal government funding, 2 year old funding, 2 year old working families funding and 30 hour extended funding for three and four year olds. Funding is offered to eligible children in the term following 2nd or 3rd birthday. 

Our large and versatile setting is rurally located and benefits from free flow access to our secure pre-school garden with views over open countryside. We also have full use of the field within our grounds and the secure paito that is accessed through the patio doors of the small hall.  Our proximity to St James's Church, Rooks Nest Country Park and various footpaths enables us to take the children out of setting to explore their surroundings. 

Session Timings

We operate Tuesdays - Fridays term time only, offering hours of 9am - 12.45pm on Tuesday's, and a later finish of 2.30pm on Wednesdays, Thursdays and Fridays for those that wish to stay for the afternoon extended session.  

30 hour funding

Currently we offer 20.50 hours a week, spread over 4 days.  We are able to use 30 hour funding codes to cover the cost of these hours therefore with no additional charge to yourself. 

A typical session

9.00am: Children arrive and enter the small hall, where the children are encouraged to hang up their coats and bags on named pegs. The children then enjoy free play with the activities laid out for them in the big hall. These activities are taken from children's current interests. 

 Our spacious main hall allows us to have a huge variety of toys and equipment at the children’s disposal.  A home corner, reading corner, drawing table, modelling table, and playdough are the staple activities plus a variety of other toys, which again rotate depending on the children's next steps and interests. We change the activities and toys in all the areas regularly, so there is always something new to discover. Outside is open for the children to free flow at their own choosing. 

9.30am: We all come together for registration. We say good morning to one another and we count how many children and grown ups are in setting that day. We also have our show and tell time. The children are encouraged to bring in a small item that relates to our theme or letter of the week. Each child who brings in an item then takes turns to stand up at the front and speak about the item they have brought in. 

 9.40 -10.30am: Rolling snack. All children wash their hands and take a seat in the small hall. All children are encouraged to join us for snack, even if they only want to have a drink. Parents are asked to provide their children with a healthy snack such a fruit, bread sticks, rice cake or non sweet popcorn etc.  

11.40am:  All children are involved in the tidying up of the large hall, taking responsibility for where they have played and helping the staff and each other.

11.50am: Once tidy up time is done we split into 2 groups. Our older children remain in the large hall have a story time followed by some comprehension questions relating to the story. This helps the children to begin to understand and absorb what is being read to them. The younger children go into the small hall and sing songs or say rhymes together. As well as it being a lot of fun, we find this invaluable to our children in building confidence, developing listening and communication skills and learning about rhythm and rhyme. 

 12-12.10pm:  Everyone washes their hands and sit down for lunch (children bring their own packed lunch).  Children sit at tables with a member of staff who discusses what they have done that morning, and talks about days of the week, seasons, weather, counting etc.

12.30pm:  Once the children have finished their lunch, it is back into the large hall for free flow play.  Activities are refreshed from the morning and toys are changed if the children request so. The children leaving at 12.45pm get their belongings together and they are called once their parent arrives to collect them. 

12.45pm:  Parents wait outside pre-school and the children are brought one by one to the door to be greeted by their parents. 

12.50pm: Free flow is continued through the large hall and garden.  

2.00pm: All children help to tidy up the areas they have been playing in. We sing a song to help us keep it fun for the children.

2.20pm: We use the end of the day for another story and to talk about what we've been doing at preschool and what have we learned. We encourage children to share their happy moments, and any sad moments they may have had. We reflect on them as a group and discuss how we can make them better. The afternoon children and also taken in small groups at this time to brush their teeth and collect their belongings from their peg. 

2.30pm: Parents arrive and the children are called one by one to the door where there parents are waiting.

 For more information or to contact Barkham Pre-School click here.