About Us
Castle Hill Pre-School is an independent, committee-run, charity pre-school operating in the grounds of Fort Hill site. We accept all 2-4 year old children, including fee paying children, and children eligible for funding.
Our staff are a dedicated team who always put the children first. All practitioners are qualified to Level 3 or beyond, and are constantly upgrading their skills through various means. All practitioners who work with the children hold relevant paediatric first aid qualifications.
At times, we also have students working towards their qualifications, and volunteers who kindly come and help out. They work under the supervision of the management team.
The first five years of a child’s life is the most important in brain development and we recognise the importance of high-quality interactions where children can choose their own activities and become fully engaged in order to support their development. We refrain from interrupting their play with adult-led activities as following their own interests is more productive and naturally leads to the extension of learning.
Threaded throughout our provision is emphasis on communication and language, social skills, mathematical and literacy development and our curriculum goals are written to support this. We have taken part in two County Projects (Communication and Language and Literacy) and are currently enrolled on the National Maths Championship programme to give all of the children in our setting the best possible start in life.
The activities and resources we provide for the children to freely access are designed to be engaging and every area of the provision, both indoors and out is designed to support the children in reaching their curriculum goals before their transition to school. These activities include loose parts and natural materials to encourage children’s imaginative play, rather than play being stifled by the limitations of plastic toys. The resources also reflect the day to day life that children are familiar and comfortable with, and this in turn helps them to create imaginative play with friends. We have designed the spaces so that children bump into books at every opportunity and provide a library service to encourage families to read to their child.
What We Are Up To
Castle Hill Pre-School is open for business as usual! We still have some spaces for September 2024. Please contact us if you are interested in your child attending our consistently high quality provision.
We extend our grateful thanks to Hampshire County Council for helping us to provide a safe, secure environment for our children on the Fort Hill site.
Please visit our Facebook page CHPSBasingstoke and click ‘LIKE US’ . You can also review our page and we are always happy to have positive feedback from you. https://www.facebook.com/castlehillpreschool/?ref=br_rs
Our pre-school is owned by a committee made up of parents and other interested parties. We welcome enthusiastic parents to our committee and look forward to sharing your ideas.