West Smethwick Enterprise (Little Steppers pre-school)

Planning will be in place to ensure that children have the opportunity to be active as well as learn about themselves and how to keep themselves healthy. Activities will be age appropriate and will allow children to have fun, whilst engaging in a programme that allows them to learn.

Take a look at some examples of our activities:

• Visits in the local community – places of worship, parks, shopping centre, train station, shops
• Visits to green spaces – Sandwell valley, nature walk and zoo trip, local parks Sports day – one each week
• Children will participate in different games and activities during this event.
• Healthy cooking sessions – children and parents will be involved in a variety of cooking sessions and will learn about healthy foods and how to safely cook low cost healthy meals.
• Sensory/ messy sessions – sensory play and activities that all children to access freely a wide variety of messy/ sensory activities.

We will evaluate each session so that changes can be made before the next session if required. We will have conversations with the children daily to gather their view on the activities provided and allow them to support with shaping their experience. We think this is really important and that in doing this we will achieve the most out of the holiday scheme for each child who attends.

Stepping Stones Pre School was established in 1984, originally as a play group by volunteers from West Smethwick Church. It is now a pre-school run by fully qualified and experienced staff. It is registered and approved by Ofsted, and all of the necessary requirements have been met in accordance with the 2006 Childcare Act, and the Early Years Foundation Stage.

Our aim is to provide a happy, relaxed, safe and stimulating atmosphere in which children will receive a high standard of care, support and learning to enable them to fulfil their potential. The environment created within Stepping Stones Pre School promotes physical, personal social and emotional development, communication and language skills.

We seek to establish a clear sense of social, moral, and ethical values for our children to help them grow into mature, caring and responsible adults. Each child in our care is valued as an individual and we ensure that our practice is inclusive at all times.

Our holiday provision provides opportunities for us to open up our setting to the wider community and to invite children up to the age of 8 to attend. Staff carefully plan activities that can be suited to all ages , so that even our smallest of children can join in too! Parents are also invited along to joining in with our trips and scheduled activities within the setting.

We value our children’s feelings and use their feedback to support our planning. We have been providing holiday provision for children aged 2 – 8 years old for the last 10 years and would like to offer more places through this funding for a larger number of children who are not currently registered within our pre-schools. We know that COVID had an impact on children’s confidence and outcomes and that many children have missed out on opportunities to take part in enriching activities and nutritious meals. Our aim is to deliver a holiday provision that will enable children to receive a healthy nutritious meal and be able to engage in exciting and educational activities. We have access to our internal Family Support Team which provides extra first hand support to families should they require this. We have developed strong partnerships and we work closely with Action for Children, Barnardo’s, National Literacy Trust, BCU (Birmingham City University) as well as smaller, local organisations.

We have staff trained with Level 3 SENCO who will support the delivery of HAF and provide SEND children with the activities that have been adapted to suit their needs and requirements. We monitor and review our practice and provision and make adjustments where necessary to cater for individual needs. We also have disabled toilet facilities and disabled car parking facilities to ease mobility around the premises. We also liaise with other professionals who are able to support staff in providing the most appropriate care for the individual. Staff attend regular training updates in order to ensure their knowledge is up to date. This enables the staff to work alongside the child to support their learning and development in the most appropriate way. Staff also work alongside parents/carers supporting them and their child and following routines/care that is followed in the home to allow for a smoother transition for the child. Working in partnership with the child’s parents and other agencies involved in the child’s care is paramount We also have an internal Family Support service providing low level family support needs such as boundaries and routine. The team are able to identify any needs and intervene early.

The majority of our staff team are multi-lingual, live in our communities and come from different ethnicities, helping us address the needs of different communities. We intend to provide an inclusive approach and help provide holistic and practical support for families or signpost to the relevant agencies. Please contact the provider for more information.