Why choose us? ...

A day spent at Gorran Pre-School Hoglets will be full of fun!

We never have more than twenty children in the setting at one time, so your child will benefit from plenty of attention from our staff, whilst socialising and exploring with their new found friends in a safe environment and within the parameters set by the Early Years Foundation Stage.

First thing in the morning is registration time, where your child will sit in a circle on the bumblebee cushions, say "Good Morning", and put their own name up on the board. We talk about the weather outside and what it is doing today, then it is time for Letters and Sounds, using songs like 'Bertha the Bus' to explore the different sounds we can make. Afterwards the children will explore the activities that have been set out, both inside and in our outdoor play area. Our 'free flow' system enables the children to gain access to the outdoors all through the year where possible and we have wet weather suits to keep them dry on rainy days.

Our mid-morning snack is highly nutritious, using the Nippers Nutrition programme, and is offered in a café style, so that the children can choose to eat when they feel hungry. At lunchtime we cross the playground to Gorran School, where we have our school dinner or packed lunch. This helps greatly with the transition from Pre-School to ‘Big’ School, and the children enjoy seeing siblings and older friends and getting to know the other teachers. After lunch the children who are staying on for the afternoon enjoy a story and some children may benefit from some quiet time. Then the exploring begins again and they have free range to choose to do some drawing, or painting, play in the house, read a book, try some puzzles or ride the toy tractor outside...

Pre-School is divided into different areas, where your child will find and explore a wide range of different resources. Inside we have areas like the jigsaw table, the messy play area, the role play area, book corner and the mathematical area - the book area is where we can sit in a comfy chair and look at picture books, the Mathematics area is where we can count, look at shapes and explore weight etc. Outside resources include a building area where children can use ‘bricks’ and tools to build their own structures, a mud kitchen where they can make mud pies and concoctions and an obstacle course for climbing and swinging.