Pre School

There has been a pre-school at Christ church since the 1970’s, held in the church hall. We also have use of the church building and currently go into church once a fortnight to have a singing session.

Sue Reilly manages Christ church pre-school. The registered person is Christine Sewell who along with the vicar Sue Brewer and the church committee has overall say on employing staff and setting the fees.

Our pre-school takes children from the age of 2 ½ - 5 years, and we are registered to receive the government funding which currently starts for children the term after they are 3 years of age. We employ 7 highly trained members of staff, and are registered for 26 children per session.

We maintain a high ratio of adults to children – one adult to five children at each session. We also actively encourage parent and grandparents to come and help us during the morning.

We operate in a light, large hall, kitchen and lobby, and we have access to a large garden which we use daily.  In it we have planted vegetables and colourful plants. We have use of an outside water tap so our plants don’t get thirsty, and a large sand pit for play. We strongly believe in outdoor play and believe children learn through it. We make monthly trips to Shorne Country Park, where we spent the morning in the forest. The children also enjoy visiting the local library and surrounding areas.

In 2011 we gained an outstanding Ofsted report. To read the Ofsted report please click on the image below:

Parents play an important role in supporting their child during their time at Christ church. Parents’ are children’s first and most enduring educators. When parents and practitioners work closely together during their early years the results have a positive impact on children’s development and learning.

Each child is designated a member of staff as a key person. Each key person has a special responsibility for working with a small number of children, giving them the reassurance to feel safe and cared for. The key person will liaise closely with the parents in supporting their child and helping them to reach their full potential. We also use a buddy system so that if your child’s key person is not at pre-school during the session then a designated person will take their place.

Each child works at his/her own rate of development. With our experience we are able to work closely with outside professionals across a range of special educational needs. If at any time you wish to discuss any special needs of your child please talk to either your child’s key person or the manager/deputy supervisor.

We were put forward and inspected by KCC (Kent County council) to become an ‘early years leading team’ in Kent. This means we have areas of excellent practice and we have other early years settings come and see ‘how we do it’ with a view to improving or taking away ideas back to their own nurseries. Being part of this team has also meant we have been to some exclusive training that has benefited Christ church. We are, understandably, proud of this and continue to work hard to move forward and improve our pre-school.

We are also ‘I CAN’ accredited and have close links with speech and language experts.