"A day in the life of..."

A day in the life of:

At First Steps Pre-School we aim to provide a fun, inclusive safe environment where children feel confident and comfortable to explore and access all the resources available to them, in order to grow and develop during their time with us.

Children are welcomed at the door of pre-school at 9am. Here a teacher will be waiting to have a hand over from the adult dropping off and find out how the child is doing that morning.

After all children have arrived, they are encouraged to self-sign in by finding their name and placing it on the board. Each child has a specific image that begins with the letter of their name. For example, ‘Stanley’ may have an image of a star next to his name. This helps with the letter recognition and phonic sounding out. This image and name are also on their drawer where they can keep some of their bits, or put away their drawings, and also on their pegs.

The children are then given free time to explore what activities and resources are out. Teachers are around at different stations, to help and guide where needed, and to extend learning opportunities.

Each day we have out:

• A mark making table- pens, pencils, paints, chalks etc - a form of media is out daily

• Malleable play table- play dough, gloop, corn flour etc

• Water/ sand play

• Construction play- Lego, stickle bricks etc

• Role play area- a new theme each week that gets reviewed and added to if needed- such as people who help us theme- fire station set up in the home corner and as the week goes on- a home incorporated so they can put fires out within the home

• Small world- happy land, dinosaurs, cars, train tracks etc

• Numeracy- this can be a specific activity or placed throughout the setting

• Book corner- where children can access a range of books daily and also sit in a quieter area

• Books throughout each station- helping to support the theme and communication and language that the children are learning that week

The garden is set up to reflect indoors. With similar stations so that children can learn inside or outside, freely moving between them both.

Each week planning is written up taking into consideration our curriculum and themes and ideas we would like to expose the children to and teach them. For example, ‘all about me’ could involve learning about each other, who we are, where we live and who with etc. We also include a diverse range of festivals and celebrations, such as Chinese New Year, Diwali, bonfire night and Easter. Each key worker is then asked if anything is specifically needed to be added onto the planning in order to help them asses their key child/ren, as well as giving feedback as to what their key children’s specific interests and likes are around that time. This allows us to follow the children’s interests whilst teaching them about different subjects.

After free flow time and snack time, we aim to have key worker-based activities. This could include things such as school prep sessions or smaller group activities for the younger children. All activities are based on the age and stage of the children and this can take place indoors or outdoors.

After this time, group singing, or story time takes place before we say goodbye to the children leaving at 12:00pm.

It’s then time for washing hands and group lunch, where the children sit at a table with an adult and have a social lunch. This is a fabulous time where the children like to talk and eat and learn from one and other.

Between 1:00pm and 3:00pm it is free flow activities, snack and then a story before home time.

Snack each day can be:

• Crackers, cream cheese, fruit or vegetables

• Fruit loaf and fruit or vegetable

• Beans and toast

• Cheese cubes, breadsticks and fruit or vegetables

Fruit and vegetables offered vary with the season but can include bananas, apples, grapes, tomatoes, cucumber, pepper. Milk and water are offered at each snack time throughout the day.

We encourage healthy eating at First Steps Pre-School and advise in children’s lunch packs that a form of carbohydrate is included- sandwich, crackers, savoury muffin etc, as well as some dairy, fruit and veg. If a sweet treat is included, we advise something like an Organix bar or biscuit for example. We ask for no chocolate and water only at Pre-school.

Below is our daily routine timetable.

 

Time	Activity
9.00am	Admission, wash hands and free play
9.45 am	Snack and free play and/or activities inside/outside
10:45am	Set key group activity time
11.45am	Singing/music and movement/circle games/ stories
12.00pm	Home time for children not staying to lunch
12.05pm	Wash hands and sit at table for lunch
12.30pm	Free choice play
1.00pm	Free play/ activities inside/outside
3:00pm	Home time