Barkham Pre-school
"Sharing, Caring and Having Fun!"
Sessions
Our 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. Please do get in touch to book your place.
We are registered for up to 24 children, aged 2 to 5 years old. Every session children are provided with a drink of milk or water, and a healthy snack of fresh fruit/vegetables and a cracker bread of some description.
Our current fees per morning session is £22.50 and our afternoon session is £10.50, which equates to £6 per hour (with 15 or 30 hours funding free from the term after your child turns 3 years, subject to Wokingham District council notification).
Fees are currently calculated per session and you will be charged in advance before the start of each half term. Fees should be paid before the term commences to secure your sessions. Childcare vouchers are accepted.
If there are any difficulties in making payments, please speak to either the Treasurer or Supervisor. Arrangements can be made for weekly payments if necessary. We accept 2 year funding, and free entitlement funding is available for the term after your child has turned 3 years old, subject to Wokingham Borough Council notification.
Unfortunately we operate on a tight budget and are obliged to charge the usual fee if your child is absent for any reason. We hope you understand our policy, as our basic costs remain the same, regardless of the number of children attending a session. 1 full terms notice is required should you wish to withdraw your child from Barkham Preschool.
30 hour funding
Currently we offer 20.50 hours a week, spread over 4 days, with the new addition of Wednesday, Thursday and Friday afternoons opening until 2.30pm. We are able to use 30 hour funding codes to cover the cost of these hours therefore with no addtional 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 are then encouraged to wash their hands. The children find their name card for self-registration and 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.
10.15am: Snack time is called. 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.
11.30am: 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.
11.40am: We all 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.
11.50am: Keyworker group time - all children join their key worker in a small adult led activity. These activities are planned using the children's next steps and insterests.
12.00pm: Everyone washes their hands and sit down for lunch (children bring their own packed lunch which are placed on the lunchbox trolley outside at the beginning of the session). 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 childern have finished their lunch and have washed their hands and faces, it is back into the big 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 brush their teeth and they are called once their parent arrives to collect them.
12.45pm: Children who are going home now are encouraged and supported to put on their coats and bags from their pegs. Parents wait outside preschool and the children are brought one by one to the door to be greeted by their parents.
2.00pm: All children help to tidy up the areas they have been playing in. We sing a song to help us and make games of it to keep it fun for the children; for example seeing how many items can they find, who can find the missing item, or if they can work in pairs to tidy together.
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.