Lcps

About Us

Welcome to Lymington Centre Pre-School, where we take pride in providing an engaging indoor and outdoor environment that is rich, vibrant, and welcoming to encourage your child’s safe exploration, learning, and discovery. All our highly motivated staff recognise and understand that for a parent, the choice of Pre-school for their child is of paramount importance.

We are a degree-led team, offering the highest standards of childcare for each and every child. We present them with endless opportunities to grow in confidence, develop, and flourish within our happy, supportive, and secure environment. We enable them to be confident, challenged, and successful while developing a high level of self-esteem and reliance. Eventually, we support them through the natural transition to full-time education.

At Lymington Centre Pre-School, we adopt a holistic approach where we nurture your child’s education, health, and well-being. Along with using inspiring philosophies such as ‘Planning in the Moment’ and ‘Reggio Emilia’. We ensure our families and children feel welcome and valued from the moment they enter our room. We work in partnership with you and, if needed, local advisors to provide tailored education, starting with your child’s key person. Who is responsible for every aspect of their ongoing development, with our online learning app for web and mobile, you can follow your child’s learning journey and indeed contribute throughout their time with us.

We embrace the Early Years Foundation Stage (EYFS) and apply the four key themes, Unique Child, Positive Relationships, Enabling Environments and Learning and Development, as the basis of our approach to early learning and development. We provide a broad variety of activities and continuous provision relevant to your child’s needs and interests.

Children learn through play, and opportunities for spontaneity and unplanned activities are included throughout the day, as well as small group activities, circle time, 1-2-1, and Language Groups.

We feel it is essential for families and pre-school staff to work together to help children to feel confident and secure. This can take longer for some children than for others and parents should not feel worried if their child takes a while to settle. In order to feel free to explore different activities, it is best to send your child dressed in clothes that are easily washable and not too new. (Pre-school T-shirts, Zoodies and sweatshirts are available to purchase). Your child will enjoy getting messy, and simple clothing they can handle will make them more independent and encourage them to do more for themselves. We welcome family input, and if you have any skills you wish to share with us, please let us know. We also carry out fundraising events throughout the year to help towards the cost of equipment.

At Lymington Centre Pre-School, we have a photographer who visits the Pre-school, giving you the opportunity to come in and have a family portrait as well as capturing your child with their friends.
We have baking, cooking, and food tasting sessions for children to learn, make, and get excited about food. Children will get involved in the whole cooking process and learn skills such as mixing, kneading, chopping, and pouring, all with close support to encourage and develop independence.

We also have Yoga and music and movement sessions, which has many benefits for children such as helping to increase balance, coordination, and core strength. It can also aid relaxation and promote a sense of achievement. Helping children to have more confidence and self-esteem as well as problem-solving.

To support Public Health England’s recommendation and ‘Saving Smiles’ we are very pleased to offer a tooth brushing programme, which is offered to all children, with parents’ consent. Children are also encouraged to take part in music and movement using programmes such as ‘Boogie Mites’ to support the development of all seven areas in the Early Years Foundation Stage (EYFS), which are Communication and language, Physical Development, Personal, social and emotional development, Literacy, Mathematics, Understanding the world and Expressive arts and design.

Funding: We offer childcare for children aged 2 years to rising 5’s and accept 2, 3 and 4-year funding. There are different government funding options available to families, and to find out if you are eligible and which option is right for you, please visit the Childcare Choices webpage.

Depending on the Early years funding you are eligible for, you could receive 15 hours per week, a total of 570 hours per year, or 30 hours per week, a total of 1,140 hours per year. The total amount of hours will depend on when your child’s birthday falls and the weeks per term per year. As there are variables, we will go through the funding with you before your child starts.

Opening Times: We are extremely flexible with our start and finish times and parents can book times to suit, rather than having to book sessions. We also tailor our opening and closing times to suit the cohort of families we have each year, and we have highly competitive hourly rates. We also do not charge extra for the service we provide, and as our times vary, they are available upon request.

Food In Pre-School/Allergens Guidelines: We ask parents to provide their children with their own healthy snacks, consisting of various fruit, breadsticks, plain biscuits, etc. Any foods/drinks shared within Pre-School for birthdays/celebrations etc. must be in original unopened packaging. Due to the regulations which came into effect in December 2014 from the Food Standards Agency.

Parents must inform us of any allergies/intolerances their child or immediate family may have.

May 2023 Ofsted Report: The manager has a clear vision for the setting and effectively supports staff well-being. Staff receive regular supervision and undertake training to keep their knowledge current. Staff have high expectations of children’s behaviour. Staff use praise and encouragement to support them. As a result, children understand the rules and boundaries and behaviour is good. The staff team work well together, deployed effectively, to ensure they meet all children’s needs. Staff interact well with the children and extend their learning through questions, encouraging the children to practise problem-solving skills. Consequently, children are independent in their play and confident to freely explore their surroundings.

Children arrive happy and separate from their parents with ease. They are independent and free to make choices in their play from the well-laid-out pre-school environment. Children learn well, as staff understand how to provide a broad curriculum. This is well-planned and successfully builds on children’s experiences. Parents are happy with the care and education their children receive. They comment on how well-supported they are and how their children have made progress since starting pre-school.

Children with SEND are particularly well supported. Staff identify additional needs early and seek advice from external agencies when children need more help with their learning. The manager uses funding effectively to ensure that all children, including those with SEND, make good progress, to prepare them for their next stage of learning. The pre-school staff work well with other agencies and have formed good partnerships with local schools, pre-schools, and the local care home. It is very much part of the community. Children take part in regular outings to the local shops, library and parks. This enhances their understanding of the world in which they live and their sense of belonging.

Ofsted report May 2023.


Parent reviews-
“I would like to say how wonderful the whole team at Lymington Centre Pre-School are. They have welcomed my little man into their family and are helping him overcome his attachment disorder. My son had very limited speech when he started at the age of 2 and is blossoming fantastically with the help of his key worker and the whole team. Not only are they friendly, but if ever I have an issue with my son they are always there to help assist me and my family. My son has learnt a lot and is now learning at the appropriate age group which I will forever be grateful for. I can never thank them enough for what they have done for us, they have been so supportive to us and my son throughout his journey.” - Parent

“Our son has many very serious life-threatening allergies and EOE (an auto immune disease). We viewed many nursery’s all-around Lymington and the surrounding areas. Lymington Centre Pre-school was the only one that made us really feel safe with our son being in their care. Every single team member knows our son, his allergies and all know the action plan for him, which puts your mind at rest as a parent. They also as a school have an action plan with the children (once they start in the morning, they all wash hands/ same after lunch and breaks etc. which stops any cross contamination. They have also banned all bananas from the Pre-School because my son is anaphylactic to them. I can’t express enough the amazing work these girls do. our son has the most amazing key worker, she is so supportive. When he first started his speech was behind and his confidence. He has come on leaps and bounds with the Pre-School’s support and nurturing and he has made some fantastic friends at Pre-School. They are very attentive if you have any concerns, always bright and cheery and by far THE BEST PRE-SCHOOL in the whole surrounding area!” - Parent


Please contact us via our email address for further information
We look forward to meeting you.