Stalmine Pre-School: Building Foundations for Learning

"Building Foundations for Lifelong Learning, Together"

We are delighted to have a pre-school within our setting.

Statement of Principles

We have a child led approach to learning at Stalmine and aim to follow the children’s individual interests as much as possible. The majority of our learning is play based and children have continuous access to all areas including our substantial outdoor provision. Due to the family nature of our small school each child is treated on an individual basis and their needs catered for by all staff as they develop and grow.

We can admit up to 10 pre-school aged pupils in each session. Children can start in our pre-school once they are old enough to be eligible for their free three year old childcare provision. Parents can choose how they want to pay for our pre-school. They can use their free entitlement, they can pay the fees or they can use a combination of free funding and payments. Families can choose a morning session, an afternoon session or an all day session if they prefer.

Our Early Years, Foundation Stage class includes pre-school and reception pupils together, led by an excellent Early Years Teacher, Miss Clarke, who is also the Assistant Headteacher of the school. She is supported by our Level 3 Teaching Assistants, Mrs Pozzi (Monday-Thursday) and Mrs Cardwell (Friday). All are incredibly experienced, ensuring our children get the best possible learning experiences whilst in our Early Years setting. 

We gained Step into Quality Award; Step into Quality: Early Years Pedagogy and Step into Quality in Mathematics Award. These awards recognise the exceptional teaching and experiences which our pre-school and Early Years class provide. 

Our pre-school sessions are £17.50 per morning (8.45 -11.45) and £17.50 per afternoon session (12.15 - 15.15).  Any children who are staying all day will be offered the lunchtime session at no additional cost. There will be a cost for a school meal if pupils opt for this (unless entitled to FSM). 

In England, from September 2025, eligible working parents can receive 30 hours of government-funded childcare per week for children aged 9 months to 4 years old, in addition to 15 hours for all 3 and 4-year-olds. These free hours are typically provided for 38 weeks of the year (term-time only), but providers may offer to spread them over more weeks. Eligibility criteria apply, particularly the parental income threshold for the 30-hour offer, and parents must apply online via GOV.UK. 

Applications for this must be made online: https://www.gov.uk/apply-30-hours-free-tax-free-childcare

If you are interested in a pre-school place for your child please contact Mrs Gooding in the office for details and an application pack, alternatively, you can download the information and application forms here and return them to school.

For a more detailed information - please see our information brochure. 

Stalmine School Pre-School Application Form