Longstanton Village

 Summer Term 2008

Lunch Club 5 days a week : extension of play sessions in the mornings and afternoons for children over 3 years of age attending one or more sessions.

Cost:

 Mad Hatters offer pre-school education for children between 2 years and 6 months and school age. Pre-school is funded for all children in the term after a child's 3rd birthday but affordable education at £7 per session of 2.5 hours for children under 3 years of age is offered.

What is a Mad Hatter? 

Sue Dean is the head teacher at Longstanton's Mad Hatters Pre-school.  Sue was born and bred in Bow, East London and moved to Longstanton with her husband and 2 children (Bradley and Stacey) in 1991.  Bradley and Stacey were pupils at Hatton Park School when Sue took a job as an assistant in the pre-school.  Sue kindly agreed to be interviewed, and below are the results.

You started at Mad Hatters in 1995.  11 years is a long time to be in one place, what makes you stay?

When you put it like that it does seem like a long time!  Believe it or not, I’ve not really stood still since joining.  I started off as an unqualified assistant and have since done my Diploma in Pre-school Practice (DPP) and a whole host of other courses in line with the education changes, of which there have been many, and have got promoted along the way.  It’s not like other jobs, I have new challenges every time a child joins us, and even then, any one child’s development can be very rapid and I have to keep up!

Added to which I have a highly motivated and well qualified team at Mad Hatters and I can see no reason to change.  Anyway with Longstanton set to almost double its’ population in the next 10 years, I shall have a lot of children to teach and can look forward to another 11 years can’t I?

Anyone who has or has had pre-school children knows they are hard work, why do you keep doing it?

I get a great deal of satisfaction from seeing a child join our group, become self-confident and enjoy learning through their play with the staff and the other children.  And that in turn develops their self-esteem which they will need to continue their learning in school.

This is an all or nothing job, it's not like going into the office where you can have an off day.  It's very intensive and the pay is on the low side but for me it is a privilege to have a hand in developing a child to their full potential.

Pre-school education is not currently a requirement, why should anyone bother to send their child?

Well, I could quote you the Foundation Stage Curriculum, which divides children’s' learning and development into 6 areas: personal, social and emotional development; communication, language and literacy development; mathematical development; knowledge and understanding of the world; physical development; and creative development.  All of which I agree with. 

But for me the personal and social skills that children pick up as part of a group, and the self-esteem they gain from this will provide the foundation they need to go on and succeed in school and beyond.

What should a parent/carer look for when they visit a prospective pre-school?

I believe the staff should be open and friendly, towards adults and children alike.  They are, after all, going to be the role model that the child is most exposed to, and the parent/carer needs to feel comfortable discussing their child's development and needs.

The parent/carer should visit the pre-school when it is in session so that they can see if the other children who attend are happy, relaxed and generally enjoying themselves.  Look for an atmosphere that is a positive and respectful one, in the way that the staff members talk to the children and the children talk to the staff.

The classroom should be bright and welcoming, and should make children want to investigate more.

Overall though, a pre-school is only as good as its leaders.  And I think it's important to note that the leaders are more than just the staff.  Every parent/carer of a child in pre-school is in a position as a stakeholder to help shape and grow the pre-school and so directly impact their own child.

Why Mad Hatters?

I hope that all that I have said so far is reason enough to choose Mad Hatters Pre-School, but if you are a Longstanton resident there is the fact that we are local; Mad Hatters is located within the grounds of Hatton Park School so the children become familiar with the school surroundings before they move up, and they continue to see their older peers once they have made the move.  This instills a sense of belonging and self-worth in your child, which affects their confidence and ability to learn as I have mentioned before. 

How can someone find out more?

We have our own website www.eastspace.net/madhatters

Contacts: 07890 335223 (8:45 - 15:00)

               01954 780069 (from 15:30)

Parents/carers who would like to try us out are invited to book a session with us or if preferred just drop in and see us (Community Room, Hatton Park primary School). 

Annual Parish Meeting – The Mad Hatters Pre-school Report (22April 2008)
Since the Parish Council last heard from us there has been a great deal of change – extended services, staff turnover and improved financial status.
Extended services:
The Spring term opened with 7 sessions being run; 5 mornings and 2 afternoons. This served to accommodate more children overall and better prepare the older ones for their next step into school by offering them the afternoon sessions. We currently have 40 children on role.
The Summer term opens with 9 sessions. This and the Spring term sessions are at an all time high, previous years having only ever offered 6 or 7 sessions in the Summer term.
January also opened with an extension to our Lunch Club service increasing it from 2 days to 5 days thanks to a Sure Start grant. This has proved to be very popular and as such an overall success. The Lunch Club serves to allow families the option to extend the existing 2.5 hour pre-school sessions by 1 hour, to 3.5 hours.
Staff turnover:
There have been a number of changes in staff – 2 members have left in order to pursue other career avenues and 1 member has moved for promotion. We have also taken on an extra staff member bringing the team to 5 in total, this enables us to cover further training of staff on day release and accept the increasing demand for child places.
Financial status:
Financially, the pre-school is much more stable, having replenished the savings account to the recommended level. This has been achieved by fund-raising, grants (including that of the Parish Council), a number of very generous donations and careful spending. The committee continue to endeavour to stay informed of any grants for which the pre-school is eligible and ensure these are claimed at the appropriate time.
The Mad Hatters Pre-school now looks to a new chapter in its 27 year life. The Pre-school Learning Alliance (PLA) which is a charity that has been advising the committees over the years has offered to take on the management of the pre-school. This affords the staff and pupils a consistent, knowledgeable and experienced management of the setting, which should further enable the pre-school to go from strength to strength.
Should the PLA’s offer be taken up, the member families of The Mad Hatters Pre-school will remain heavily involved and will continue to be responsible for financing the pre-school needs by way of fund-raising events, and grant applications.