Our Playgroup specialises in looking after two year olds. We are virtually a "pre-nursery school playgroup" not just a pre-school playgroup! Most of our children stay for 1 to 3 terms, attending 2 days a week (although there is occasionally the opportunity to do up to 4 days a week) and then go on to one of the local nursery classes or nursery schools in the term after they are three years old.

We concentrate on teaching the children social skills - taking turns, making friends, being kind and polite to each other and learning to be without their parent/carer, building good relationships with other caring adults.

All this helps the children when they go on to Nursery.

Children of this age learn through Play and we ensure that there is always a variety of toys and activities in our lower hall, which we vary every day in order to give all our children lots of new experiences.

We have a large hall upstairs where we often go for physical play - running, riding trikes, dancing to music and playing ring games and ball games. As we don't have an outside play area this hall is invaluable and can be used in all weathers!

We won't be formally teaching the children their numbers or the alphabet but we will be reading them stories, to help develop a love of books and their communication skills. They'll be doing painting, gluing, drawing, threading and other activities which help their "fine motor skills" leading to good pencil control and singing songs such as "5 little ducks" and doing jigsaws which all help with pre-maths skills.

We have an excellent team of professional, caring and, in most cases, qualified, staff, all of whom (at present) are mothers themselves, who work a rota system so that they get variety and the chance to take part in all the children's activities. Each child has a "key worker" who builds a good relationship with the child and the parents and helps with settling them into the playgroup. The staff observe their "key children" and use their observations to plan activities around the individual needs and interests of each child, in accordance with the Government's Early Years Foundation Stage. We have a team of regular volunteers and also occasionally use parent volunteer helpers in order to maintain our ratio of 1 adult to 4 children which is a requirement set by the Government. We also work closely with the Local Authority Early Years Advisory Team and Childcare Development Advisors.

We want your child to be happy at our playgroup and we encourage you to visit - with your child - before deciding whether or not you wish him/her to attend. We also draw your attention to our Policies and Procedures File which has more information about the running of our playgroup and the ways in which parents can get involved (see 'Parental Involvement Policy')