If you are interested in a place at Woodlanders for your child; please watch the video on the homepage of our website and have a read through the other pages to get a feel of our setting.

Then; please use our contact page or email admin@woodlanderspreschool.co.uk to get in touch with our Administrator. We will need to know your child’s date of birth and when you are looking for them to start. It would also be useful to know if you have specific days and hours in mind. We will be in touch regarding our availability and to answer any questions you have.

Open days

We do not offer individual visits but we have a short ‘open day’ when families can visit the setting once every half term. It is not essential that you attend an open day but it is an opportunity to see the site if you have not been here before. We do not show people inside the rooms during an open day because our existing children are in session and it can be unsettling for them if there are visitors.

If you would like to come along; please email admin@woodlanderspreschool.co.uk to ask when the next open day is scheduled for and so that we will know to expect you.

Registering

To register your child we will need to send you an electronic registration form to complete and return and there will be a £30 registration fee to pay.

We can claim funding for your child and we also accept tax free childcare payments and childcare voucher payments.

If we cannot offer you the sessions you need we can add your details to our waiting list so that we can offer these to you as soon as possible.

Please check the other pages of our website for our session times, prices and other activities that we offer.

Food

We provide healthy snacks every morning but we do not provide lunches. You will need to provide a healthy lunch for your child if they are going to attend this session. We have a NO NUTS policy across the setting.

We offer children a choice of water or milk at snack time and at lunch time. If they bring their own water bottle that is fine too. No squash or juice please. This is very bad for their oral health and so we avoid this at Woodlanders.

Toilet training

Your child does NOT need to be toilet trained to come to Woodlanders. Send nappies/changes of clothes as needed and when the time comes we will be happy to support with toilet training.

Bookbags

It is really important to us that we help foster a love of books. Your child will be given their own Woodlanders bookbag when they join us and they can chose a book each day and take it home to enjoy with you. Then they can bring it back and swap it for another. Our pre-school children may visit the local library with us from time to time too.

Clothes

There isn’t a uniform for our children at Woodlanders. They should wear something comfortable and have sensible shoes which they will also wear indoors. No ‘best’ clothes please as we will be exploring lots of messy play and craft activities. We spend a lot of time outdoors, whatever the weather. Waterproofs, wellies, suncream will be needed as the weather dictates. They will need to bring a full change of clothes too please.

When your child starts

We will schedule 2 settling in sessions. The first will be for half an hour for you to come along with your child. We will complete any paperwork and you will meet your child’s key person. A key person is a member of staff who is allocated to be the main point of contact for you in relation to your child’s journey at Woodlanders and their development. Within the next day or so your child will have their 2 nd visit. This will be a one hour settling in session and they will stay on their own. You will sign them in on the register and after a quick goodbye you will leave them in our capable hands. This can be tricky but we are very skilled in distraction and settling young children who have never been away from their parent or carer before. We will send you photos of their hour via Tapestry which we will explain and set up for you before this day. A short settling in session helps to reassure children that they can relax and enjoy their time at Woodlanders and their parent or carer will be back soon. After these 2 settling in sessions your usual booked sessions will commence. When we have a lot of new children starting for the first time; we stagger the visits so that sessions are quieter and more settled for the children.

Support

There are lots of ways we can offer you the parent or carer support. Usually this starts in the form of understanding and good communication to help you with anxiety about leaving your child for the first time.

If you need any help with providing what your child needs; please talk to us about this. We can lend waterproofs/wellies. We can support with providing food and we can signpost you to other services if this is useful and relevant.

We will do what we can to help but you must talk to us so that we can understand your needs.

If you have any concerns about your child’s development you can discuss this with your child’s key person, or with our SENDCO. A SENDCO is a special educational needs and disabilities coordinator.

We can support with any concerns, however low level or complicated, such as with your child’s speech and language, behaviour, or anything else too.