About Us
Acorn Under Fives was founded in 1986 by a group of parents in response to the lack of pre-school provision at that time.
OFSTED Outstanding
We are proud to say that in May 2023, Acorn Under Fives was rated an ‘OUTSTANDING’ pre-school by OFSTED
Today, we remain a vibrant community pre-school, offering flexible care for children aged 2 to 5 years. We have a passionate and dedicated team of staff, with the strategic running being overseen by a committee of parent volunteers, under the umbrella of the Pre-school Learning Alliance. We are hugely committed to providing high quality Early Year’s education for our children, in a safe and caring environment, with an emphasis on learning through play.
Meet Our Team
Lucy Wilson
Early Years Manager – NNEB
Senco
Jacqui Milliigan
Deputy Lead Practitioner – Level 3
Designated Safeguarding Lead
Lauren Farrell
Early Years Practitioner – Level 3
Gayna Pose
Early Years Practitioner
Marcia James
Early Years Practitioner – Bank Staff (QTS)
Lorna Owens
Early Years Practitioner
Chrissie Waters
Early Years Practitioner – Level 2
Nic
Sarin
Early Years Practitioner – Level 3
Julie
Davis
Office Administrator
Bev Morris
Early Years Practitioner – Level 3
Laura Andrews
Early Years Practitioner – Level 3
Becky Price
Early Years Practitioner – Level 3
Our Aims Are To
- provide a flexible approach that responds quickly to children’s learning and developing needs
- serve an educational programme that helps children to make progress in the Early Years Foundation Stage (EYFS)
- create an effective partnership with parents to support and enhance the development of the children
- provide a framework which supports the development, learning and care of young children
- create opportunities for parents to become directly involved on the day-to-day running of the pre-school
- provide individual care and attention made possible by a high ratio of adults to children
- use observations and assessments to identify priorities and plan relevant and motivating learning experiences for each child
- give the opportunity to discuss the children’s progress by using a key person support system
- employ a very high percentage of staff with appropriate child care qualifications
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provide a safe, secure and stimulating environment for all the children
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Acorns Ethos
At Acorns, we believe all young children have the right to play, to be collaborators in their learning and to dream. Our business is built on the passion for the wonder and magic of early childhood. Our desire is to empower and ignite passion and excitement in early childhood. We create a culture of curiosity, awe and wonder, which is embedded at the heart of our setting. Before a child can explore their world confidently they need to feel safe, secure and loved. This is always our first priority - connection. A child will not feel comfortable enough to play until they are supported by at least one (or several) special people. Once a child has their bucket filled with love, warmth, security, support and understanding THEN they feel free to explore, play and learn. As we all know, play is the vehicle of learning. We give children time, space, materials, experiences and uninterrupted, unstructured exposure to the world around them so that they will develop the skills they need to be lifelong learners. Play is one of the most essential ingredients in early childhood education. In play, children build relationships with peers, resolve conflicts, problem solve, explore, experiment, develop critical thinking skills, regulate behaviours and have increased feelings of success, emotional competence and optimism. Children are naturally inquisitive. At Acorns our ethos - ‘promoting curiosity, awe and wonder’ - is created with beautiful, aesthetically pleasing play spaces using provocations, loose parts, authentic and open-ended resources. We believe that children learn best when the environment reflects their interests and encourages child-led learning. The adults are the facilitators and scaffolders of their learning. We are there to support, model and be researchers together in play. Play is the heart of who we are. Play for children. Play for teachers. Let’s bring joy into everything we do. Play!