Providing Pre-school Care

Pre-schools, also known as playgroups, offer young children the chance to learn and play in small groups, often close to their home.

Pre-schools are registered with OFSTED (Early Years) and inspected every year. Some pre-schools provide free early education.

Most pre-schools open for sessions of around two and a half hours at a time, but some are open for the whole day.

Pre-school staff work with the children, and parents often help out.

Pre-schools offer a range of stimulating activities for children, encouraging them to learn through play. They plan the children's learning opportunities on the basis of the Foundation Stage Curriculum, which covers from 3-5 and prepares them for Key Stage one in year one of school.

Pre-schools have many benefits, both for the child and for the parent, including:

• Small groups - children can enjoy learning and playing in small groups focused on their needs and abilities
   
• Skills acquisition - children can acquire useful social, emotional and physical skills prior to starting school proper
   
• Increased socialisation - pre-schools offer the opportunity for both children and their parents to socialise and meet other children and parents who live in their area

Read about the National Standards childminders are expected to meet - please note that this is a large pdf file (253 kb.)

What to do next

If you're interested in setting up a Pre-school service, then you need to pre-register your interest with Croydon Children's Information Service by filling in the pre-registration form.

A member of Children's Information Service staff will contact you within two working days of your query.

Back to Setting Up Group Care

Wednesday, 8 October, 2008

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