Well, it’s the end of an era as tomorrow we say our fond farewells to our wonderful Cesca!  Cesca originally started with us about five years ago as a newly qualified practitioner working towards a level III in childcare and after much determination and a lot of hard work mixed in with a few sparkles along the way she will leave us tomorrow as a graduate, ready to spread her magic with a large helping of the Pollington Preschool way in her next adventures.

At Pollington Preschool, we are committed to providing the very best early years start for all of the children that come through our door but this all depends on the experiences that they are given from the wonderful adults who they come into contact with here.

This is where we invest, this is where we provide the opportunities for our tribe in setting to expand upon knowledge bases and encourage self-development to support our vision and ethos.

Read more: A Fond Farewell to Our Sparkly Francesca

 Today is a day that we at preschool dread.  Every year it gets harder and harder to let our ‘Adventurer’s’ leave our place to belong.  We spend all year having the MOST exciting adventures together in anticipation of this transition time. We grow and learn together as we prepare to ultimately watch them get ready to set sail ‘into the unknown’ and their next set of adventures.  Each and every-one of them leaving an imprint on our hearts.   

As a staff team we work tirelessly to ensure that every day is a new adventure and then worry that ‘we’ are not ready to wave our goodbyes. Usually this final term is jam packed full of events to cement everlasting memories for our children that will hopefully last a lifetime…
…this year it is particularly difficult as our tribe feel cheated by all the missed time together that the last few months has brought and with it worries- are the children ready?

As a lead and manager,  I am passionate about legacy and ensuring that we leave the right ‘footprints’ in the heart of our children, it does sound a little contrived but the simple fact is that WE as early years educators have one of the most important jobs alongside our children’s parents. 
It is usually at this time of year that we get to see the impact of our work through the reams of data, the transition meetings with local schools and most importantly from the children themselves as we measure their developmental changes and the impact that we have had.
However, as I watch these amazing Adventurer’s confidently walk through our doors for their final sessions, even after having such a large gap in their time spent with us- I realize the true impact that we have had. 

Read More...Into the Unknown?

A well-thought out children's environment is always lovely to see, whether it is colourful and organised or natural and calm it doesn't matter as long as the children can make their choices of play, to build upon what's there as instruments of their learning fascinations.  Walking into our preschool is always filled with joy and delight for so many and today, it was lovely to see that some of the tribe had been in over the weekend and had transformed some of their cosy spaces. 

Once upon a time, early years trainers used to say that a change in the environment was all very distracting and confusing for the children. Often using the example of how frustrating it is when you go to the supermarket and the products on the aisles have changed, dismayed at the amount of time it takes to complete your shop after this transformation until you get to know the 'new' layout- this is what the children would feel also. For many years, thoughts about truths of this in the preschool environment and the negative impact have been considered however, what about the positive effects? After years of reflecting with our tribe it has forced considerations of this frustration and enable us to find a positive shift in opinions for us.

Read more: Environmental Changes and Cosy Spaces

At Pollington Preschool, we are all about community. We are always totally absorbed in teaching our children how to just ‘be’. Yes we do all the twiddly bits that our early years curriculum requires but essentially a large focus for us here is supporting the children to- 'be' resilient, 'be' kind, 'be' confident, 'be' themselves. We aim to support strong values (supported by parents at home of course) ready for them to conquer the next chapters of their learning.

As we do this we often get consumed in the fun, glitter and general day to day rhythms. We live through the highs and lows of our families with them. We immerse ourselves in preschool events together, we laugh at our performances together and cry at our goodbyes. Sometimes it is honestly so easy to get submerged in our little community bubble that it is easy to forget that there is anything outside of the school boundaries at times.

We work hard to support our own identities and individualities and hold strong beliefs that our children are taught about themselves, their family values and the meaning of our community together and how they fit diversely into this and the world around them in their own unique way.

Read More...A cup of community spirit