What to expect in Little Friends Pre-School
Little Friends Pre-School is a separate entity to the day-care service at Little Friends; we have a different uniform, staff team and stricter regulations and rules from the Education Authority, which must be adhered to. Financially we are completely independent from the day-care facility so fundraising fees etc are all banked separately and all funds are used to benefit the Pre-School facility only.
Little Friends Pre-School was established in 2008. It is a purpose built Pre-School on the boundary of Banbridge. We are surrounded by spacious grounds and play areas on the end of the River Bann. The Pre-School has been equipped to the highest standards to comply with regulations. Our philosophy rests on the understanding that each child is a unique and special individual with varying interests, needs and abilities. We strive to provide an environment that will help children to develop to their full potential.
What does Little Friends Pre-school offer your child/children?
It is widely recognised that Pre-school education is of great value and should be available to all Pre-school children. A Pre-school, with its professionally trained team, is able to provide a wide range of opportunities for the intellectual, physical, social and emotional development of each individual child in its care.
In Little Friends Pre-school, we welcome and encourage your support and interest in the day-to-day activities. This enables your child to gain a positive attitude towards Pre-school and a sense of security in his/her new environment.
The staff helps each child to form stable relationships with their peers and with other adults in the setting.
This new found independence helps to provide self-confidence and self-esteem. A wide variety of materials and activities are provided in the Pre-school, i.e. art and craft, sand, water, paint, woodwork, dough etc., this gives the children the opportunity to be creative and expressive.
Language development is a very important part of the curriculum. We encourage the use of language through books, circle time, poetry, rhymes songs, displays and role play.
Physical development is also very important and we provide the children with the opportunity to run, skip, hop, jump and slide in our all-weather outdoor area and garden areas.
At Little Friends Pre-school the team leaders are here to enable each child to learn and achieve success and to stimulate their curiosity, thus encouraging their intellectual development.
Easy access to the bathrooms encourages independent personal hygiene. We have 2 toilets in each Pre-School room which are laid out the same to ensure the children are able to get to a toilet at all times.
Little Friends Pre-school is not a day care facility and is your child’s first taste of school so it’s important we get it right.
