Little Learners Chelmsford

The Friary Pre-school is a small friendly pre-school located in the heart of Maldon. It is part of Adult Community Learning and we give priority for spaces to the children of parents/carers attending courses.

The pre-school is run by fully qualified staff and provides care for children aged 2-5. The maximum number of children at any session is 15 with a minimum of 3 members of staff. The small number in our group enables us to build close relationships with the children and their families.

We have a large enclosed garden which the children access daily.

We use an online record keeping system called ‘Tapestry’, which gives parents/carers instant access to their child’s learning journey and the opportunity to add observations from home. It is also a great tool for parents to keep in contact with their child’s keyperson.

Rated Outstanding by Ofsted in October 2017

The inspector said ‘Children’s learning is meticulously planned. Staff share what they know about each child and work exceptionally well as a team. They have a very clear understanding of how they can help each child to flourish. Children make excellent progress’.

We are also one of the only settings in Essex to achieve a Good beginnings Early years gold award as an Autism Friendly Setting.

A Typical Session

Everyone waits outside the Pre-school until it’s time for the session to start.

Each child has their own named peg for their coats. They also have a ‘flower’ with their name on which they ‘plant’ in a numbered pot in the playroom as a means of self-registration

A typical morning session is generally given over to free play, inside and out, and includes a ‘rolling’ snack time, which we start around 9.45am. At some point during the morning, most typically at about 11.30, the children are asked to ‘stop’ what they are doing so that we can have a short period of adult led activities. At this time we call the register and then introduce the children to the ‘word of the week’, which they will learn to ‘sound out’ phonetically and sign. This group time is also used to sing songs, have stories and play games.

The afternoon session starts with lunch. Shortly after 12.30 we sit down together to eat. The children are encouraged to sit at the table until they have finished. After a reasonable amount of time we put a timer on and when the timer runs out they can ask to get down from the table.

Although there is a planned structure to our sessions they are always flexible, taking into account what we are doing that day and the individual needs of the children at each session.