Our Routine

There is a lot of free flow for the children during their time at the pre-school, giving them the opportunity to explore, learn and make choices as they play. With this is mind, we also have a basic routine within the morning and afternoon sessions in order to provide an inclusive care that promotes confidence and develops on all seven areas of development.

Our Routine

*TimeAM/PMSession*	*Planned Activity*
9.00am 1.00pm	We arrive, collect our names and are off to free play.
9.00am - 9.30am	We brush our teeth with our own toothbrushes in small groups
9.30am 1.30pm	Carpet Time for the 3 - 5 year old children; free play for the 2 year old children.
10.00am 2.00pm	We wash our hands and have our snack time in groups of around 12, whilst the other children free play until we swap for their turn.
11.15am 3.00pm	We go outside to play. (Weather permitting)

Alongside with this routine we have staff deployed around the room to interact with the children, developing their social skills, communication and general development whilst they play. The pre-school is equipped with a range of resources to develop on all seven areas of development, which is regularly changed over to keep interesting, including:

Drawing table
Maths table
Puzzle table
Painting
Sand play
Book corner
Home corner
Dolls house
Train set
Cars matt
Interest table
Variety table
Variety matt
Special two year old area

There is also the craft table which runs throughout each sesson where the children come and create something in line with the current topic in small groups.

We also have regular group games and activities being led by a member of staff, such as board games, story times and activities such as ICT and Science; all aimed to stimulate the children and develop their skills, understanding and attention.

Carpet Time
We hold a short carpet time in the morning and afternoon sessions where children aged 3 - 5 years are encouraged to join in with the large group activity. During carpet time we talk about the day, e.g the date, day of the week, month of the year, the season we are in and the weather.
We then look at a certain letter each week, numbers, colours and shapes.
We finish carpet time with songs and rhymes.
Through out the activity children take turns to come to the front, answering questions, carrying out tasks (such as going to find 3 pencils) and singing songs and rhymes. This is an invaluable part of the activity, building on children's confidence and social skills whilst having fun with their friends and picking up all the knowledge that is put across.

Snack Time
At Our Lady's Pre-School we are big promoters of healthy eating. The children are provided with a healthy snack during both morning and afternoon sessions.
The children are taken in groups of around 12 to wash their hands before snack, talking about good hygiene and why we wash our hands before eating; the children then sit with their friends around tables.
Through all activities in the pre-school we like to promote choice and independence, snack time is no different; a child is chosen from each table to give out the plates and another to give out the cups. They are then provided with a range of different prepared fruits and vegetables (a selection of 5 different fruits/vegetables each session) for them to choose and put onto their plates. They then also choose from a drink of either milk or water and assisted them to pour the drink themselves.
During snack time we promote good manners, asking for please and thank you's to staff and other children who are handing out the plates, cups and fruits. When the children are finished and ready to leave they take their plate and cup up to a tray positioned by the tables.

Outside Play
We have a large outside, secure, area where the children are provided with a wide range of equipment and resources to explore.
We have balls, hoola hoops, bats, bikes, scooters, cars, see-saws, balancing beams, slides and climbing frames to develop the children's co-ordination and other gross motor skills.
We then also have black boards and chalks for the children to mark make with, developing their fine motor skills also. Along with regular other mark making messy play, such as sand, foam, magic snow and water play.