Welcome to

Hauxton Preschool
Early Years setting

Play. Learn. Grow.

Term-time care and play-based education for children aged 2-4 years based in Hauxton, Cambridgeshire.

Activities

Snack Time

We kindly ask our families to provide their child with one portion of fruit e.g., banana, mango, apple, or vegetables e.g., pepper or cucumber every day. We encourage the children to chop and prepare their snack to share with the group. We encourage a self-service snack system where children can help themselves and wash their cup and bowl afterwards. This helps to promote independence and self-confidence.

Please be sure to tell the staff of any dietary requirements or allergies your child may have.

Story Time

We understand the importance of language and early reading in the Early Years, and so advocate a love of literature at Preschool. We provide an array of books and story-telling props throughout the learning environments. We have a cosy space in our 'home-from-home' area for children to unwind with a book, or have a story read by an adult curled up on the sofa. As part of our daily routine, ending each session with a story book as a group has become a favourite ritual.

Home Time

As we advocate age-appropriate independence, the children are encouraged and supported with an adult to gather their belongings ready for home-time. Children are collected from the Preschool by their parent, carer or authorised contact and a member of staff feeds back about the child's day. We often write the day's activities on the wipeboard outside and share photographs and videos of activities on our private social media pages.

Our Learning Environments

Outside Play

We have our own outside learning environment, providing easy access for the children to use throughout the day. We have extensive continuous provision outdoors along with some planned activities for children to extend their learning across both learning environments. We have a large canopied area for children to explore and get some fresh air even in more challenging weather!

Free Play

We provide a wealth of easily-accessible resources as part of our continuous provision for children to continue and extend their play day after day. We have a carefully thought out indoor environment which is tailored and adapted to the needs and interests of our little learners. This environment is subtly sectioned into a snack area, mark-making area, indoor climbing frame area, small-world area and a 'home-from-home' area.

Group activities

We plan and provide some adult-led activities to follow the learning needs and interests of our children. These are delivered at an age-appropriate level. We start and finish our sessions with 'Circle Time' and sing, discuss and celebrate as a group. Many of our other group activities are spontaneous and chosen by the children according to their interests and energy levels on the day e.g. parachute, 'Song Box', Sticky Kids, Yoga, Hide the object etc.

Gardening

We have a small gardening area attached to our outdoor environment, which the children have enjoyed tending to with the help of some green-fingered parent volunteers! We have grown tomatoes, runner beans, radishes, flowers, and our favourite…pumpkins! Getting involved with the growing process supports the children's understanding of where our food comes from.

About Us

Our charity-based Preschool has been at the heart of the village of Hauxton for over 40 years! In 2012, we relocated from the old village hall onto the site of Hauxton Primary School, thanks to the generosity of parents, villagers and local businesses.

We became a Charitable Incorporated Organisation (CIO) in October 2022. The Preschool is operated by a Committee of parent Trustees who work closely with the Preschool staff. Our Ofsted registration can be found here.

We have established a safe and welcoming environment to suit and nurture the needs of every child through a strong play-based ethos and curriculum underpinned by the statutory Early Years Foundation Stage (EYFS) framework. More information on our curriculum and how we implement the EYFS can be found here.

We provide a wealth of resources and planned and spontaneous activities to motivate and invite children to learn, play and explore alongside their peers and ‘scaffolded’ by our experienced and imaginative staff.