Case studies
Small Wonders Pre-school, Milton Keynes
Pre-school Manager Jackie O’Dowd explains that for Small Wonders Pre-school in Milton Keynes, accreditation was only the beginning.
"Small Wonders Pre-school achieved accreditation in October 2006. After a big sigh of relief and a pat on the back we looked at how we could improve our service further. One of the areas for development highlighted by the accreditation inspector was working with the community. We had successfully negotiated extending our garden with the local council on the proviso that we cleared the extra area of shrubs. What better way to involve parents and the extended community than through a project which would interest people of all ages and sexes. Our Your pre-school needs you campaign lead to the creation of a team of eleven staff, mums, dads and grandparents to help source funding,plan and provide muscle power to achieve our goal.
The extended garden now resembles a woodland area, with woodchips ,mushroom seats and talking flowers. Pulley systems, guttering and wind chimes hang from trees, to create a challenging and stimulating environment. Large logs partially partition off the area, providing a great balance beam.We have a compost bin, water butt and a solar powered fountain to support the children and their parents learning about recycling and energy,inspiring some families to recycle. The garden project is not yet complete and new parents have become involved in the next phase.
Just as we sat back to admire our garden another suggestion was put to us by our local extended schools advisor, who had been informed by a feeder school that parents were in need of more support.Never one to turn down a challenge, this set an idea in motion which has received great support from various professionals involved with children and their families.The cricket pavilion attached to our community hall, unused for most of the year, became the meeting room for our parent support group. Questionnaires were sent out, coffee mornings arranged and parents were asked what would be helpful to them as parents. The summer term meetings programme provided information about transition to school with teachers from four feeder schools attending,summer holiday activity ideas, information packs from the children’s information service and key worker and parent consultation meetings. We also had a pamper morning for parents to have a coffee,pick up some complimentary cosmetic samples, have a make over and chat to other parents. This term we held ‘stay and chat’ coffee mornings, health visitor’s question time, a nurse-led discussion about common childhood ailments, a paramedic to give advice on emergency care situations and a nearly-new clothes and toy sale. Ideas are regularly suggested with requests for play ideas, training information and finding out about the new EYFS curriculum. This has developed our relationship with the parents and in turn we know and understand their children better."