South Harrow Methodist
Pre-school
REGRETFULLY, THE PRE-SCHOOL CLOSED IN DECEMBER 2017
Roxmead Nursery is now meeting on the premises
The main aim of our Pre-School is to work in partnership with parents/carers to provide quality care in a happy, safe, child centred environment that allows the children to learn through play.
Vision Statement
Our aim is for all children and their families to enjoy and experience a wide range of early years activities in a safe, child centred environment - which meets and supports all their needs - provided by an experienced and well qualified staff.
We want children to learn and develop and enable them to leave us with new skills and happy memories.
General Information
We have now closed
The Pre-School has now closed. It is part of the Harrow Integrated Early Years and Community Services which provides support, information, funding for training and other resources. We work to National standards set out by Ofsted who inspect our setting regularly (graded Good) so that we can offer free nursery education for eligible 2, 3 and 4 year olds. Note that the free places are available from the beginning of the term after your child's third birthday. So your child must be born before September 1st, January 1st or April 1st to have a free place for that term. Some 2 year olds are entitled to a free place. Ask for more details if you think this might apply to your child.
We are members of the Pre-School Learning Alliance and we have been awarded accreditation and re-accreditation for quality assurance and high standards of care.
Our Pre-School curriculum is planned to provide activities, routines and play opportunities to support and encourage children’s emotional, physical, social and intellectual development.
We work to the Early Years Foundation Stage 2014 Curriculum which enables us to offer each child an excellent experience of learning and play to build on their individual skills and development and make sure every child gets a great start in life.
Times and Activities
We are now closed. Our Pre-School is open for 38 weeks each year, for five mornings a week from 9.00 - 12.00. Initially the children are offered two or three sessions but additional sessions may be offered when your child has settled. (Five sessions per week of 3 hours makes up the 15 hours of free education which 3 & 4 year olds are entitled to.)
The main activities are in the hall but we also have facilities for slide, sand and bikes and buggies and an outdoor area. We are committed to our Equal Opportunities policy and this is reflected in the activities and equipment provided for the children.
Our ‘Next Steps’ group, for up to 10 older children, meets four mornings and runs alongside the main group.
The children are enjoy using the outdoor area, especially when the weather is good.
The children are encouraged to bring in fruit for snacks and are provided with a drink and biscuits/fruit, served using a canteen system, mid session.
Drinking water is available at all times.
Dietary, medical and cultural or religious needs are noted daily.
All children are encouraged to bring in a snack for lunchtime.
Staff
We are a multi-cultural Pre-School and our staff reflect this. We have 10 members of staff at present and we are a friendly, motivated team who work well together. The Pre-School Managers are there every session. A variety of languages are spoken, including Gujurati, Tamil, Hindi, Urdu and Arabic.
Pre-School Policy
Our policy at Pre-School is to encourage the children to learn through play. We want them to enjoy all the activities that we offer, learning to share, to make friends, to be comfortable in a group and to care for 
each other and beginning to acquire some of the skills that they will need for school and later life.
We do not smack, shake or slap the children, nor do we use any actions to frighten them. We try always to be positive in our approach, to meet each child's individual needs and to treat the children with respect while they are in our care.
Equal Opportunities - Valuing Diversity and Promoting Equality
We ensure that our service is fully inclusive to meet the needs of all children. We recognise that children and their families are from diverse backgrounds and have needs and values that arise from their social, economic, ethnic and cultural and religious backgrounds.
We do not discriminate against race, religion, sex, class, colour, disability or special need and will take positive action to discourage any discrimination that we find in the Pre-School, using our complaints policy and procedures.
Special / Additional Needs
Our Pre-School is committed to inclusion and works to ensure that children and their families' needs are met on an individual basis. We work in partnership with parents / carers and outside professional agencies to support and promote the welfare and development of each child. We work to the SEND Code of Practice for the Early Years.
Health and Safety
We are registered with Ofsted who inspect the Pre-School regularly (for the latest report see here). They ensure that we follow the guidance set out in the Statutory Framework for the Early Years Foundation Stage (2014) including all areas of Health and Safety. This includes fire procedures, risk assessments, safety of the building and safety of equipment used.
We are required to have a `Safeguarding Policy’, which protects the children and the staff. All accidents and incidents in Pre-School are recorded in a book.
Admissions Policy
We are now closed. We have a continuous waiting list at Pre-School. The waiting list is set out according to date of birth of the child and date of application. We are registered to take children aged from 2-5 years and are allowed to have 8 children aged from 2 years to 3 years in each session.
Our policy is to give priority to all those children whose names have been on the list from 2 years or younger. If the child's name is put down at 2 years or after, the date of application is used to decide priority. We do try to take into account people moving into the area recently, unforeseen family circumstances and individual needs.
At no time do we discriminate between one child and another for any reason. We try to ensure fairness at all times.
We will accept a child in nappies into our Pre-School.
Settling In
We have a graduated settling in policy which tries to ensure the safe, happy start for all children.
Office Address:
Walton Ave
South Harrow
MIDDX
HA2 8QU