North Wraxall Pre-School
Nurturing and affordable childcare for ages 18 months+ in a countryside setting near Marshfield, Chippenham
"My daughter has flourished at North Wraxall. She has gained confidence, developed social skills and has enthusiasm for learning."
Local parent, Colerne
Welcome
Welcome to North Wraxall Pre-School.
Nestled in a quiet corner of the Wiltshire countryside, our Pre-School has been providing high-quality childcare for over 50 years. We have an exceptionally experienced and highly-qualified team who provide a caring, friendly and stimulating environment for our children.
With a maximum capacity of just 30 children depending on the age ranges of each session and a high child-to-carer ratio, your child will receive the close attention they deserve to help build their confidence and, with our support, begin to explore the world independently. Contact us today to find out more.
We understand that each child develops at their own pace and it is our role to support this in a way which recognises each child’s individual character. We are proud of our relaxed learning environment and place great emphasis on providing a balance between the security of a predictable routine and the flexibility to accommodate different children’s needs.
Our free-flow policy and child-led ethos allows the children to move between outdoor and indoor activities – letting their imaginations lead them.
We also believe in good food and fostering healthy eating, and provide nutritious snacks for the children during their busy day, often something they have grown or made themselves.
The setting of our Pre-School is rural and quiet.
Our fantastic outdoor space gives us a wealth of opportunities for play and learning on a daily basis, such as searching for treasure, discovering bugs, climbing amongst the trees, playing in mud, sand, water or simply playing tag. We have the Doncombe Blondes herd of prize winning cows next door, we get to see the cows when they are heavily pregnant and then see the calves as they start charging around the field!!..
Inside we have one large Playroom where all ages mix together, with activity tables that run through the day, as well as ‘Book Corner’ and imaginative play areas for a mix of child-led and adult-led play, learning and fun.
There is a fine balance between offering stimulating variety to interest our children, while creating a sense of security and routine to help to build their confidence.
Each morning we set the Playroom out with a variety of learning opportunities, sensory experiences and comforting activities. The familiarity of this welcoming sight each morning is reassuring, but also provides stimulation, development and excitement.
We follow the ‘Early Years Foundation Stage’ curriculum. Each child has the opportunity to explore a broad range of new experiences, develop skills, self-confidence and to share and play with other children.
Our ‘Rising 5’s’ session on Wednesday afternoons is for children who will be starting school the following September and is more structured and includes phonics, numbers and time as well as practical skills, e.g. the morning register and getting changed for PE. We also hold Forest School on Monday mornings, which runs throughout the year in our onsite wood and is open to all. We have Sarah and Giggles from Boogie Beat North Wiltshire on alternate Tuesday and Thursday mornings, these sessions are open to all our children and their siblings whether they usually attend on either of those mornings or not. Coach Kim from In2Sport is on on a Wednesday morning with her fabulous mix of P.E and Dance.
My child has grown so much in self confidence since starting the Rising 5's session on a Wednesday. All of a sudden he seems ready for the transition to school and frankly, in January, I did not think he would be. Thank you Ladies in Blue for your time and care, we will miss you.
Local parent, Summer 2023
Meet the team
Our Pre-School is run by a small and committed team known as the Ladies in Blue. Jasmine, Tamsin, Celia, Chloe, Tina, Tamika and Felicity have a wealth of experience and, with the support of the Pre-School Committee, have been instrumental in developing North Wraxall Pre-School into the happy, thriving childcare setting it is today.
Children naturally gravitate towards people they like and trust, which is why we have such a dedicated group of families , both present and past, who support us.
Our group sizes are small which means our attention can remain focused on close and attentive engagement wherever possible. We love helping our children to build their confidence, learn new things and explore in a safe and happy environment. We are always very happy for you to come and visit our setting and to meet us!!...
Jasmine
Jas' has a wealth of experience which combined with her calm, compassionate and empathetic manner, means she is often the first port of call for children-and Parents-who might need a little more support for any reason.
Jas' is very child-led and can be found outdoors and indoors facilitating activites of all kinds with groups of children having lots of fun together.
Jas' is our setting SENCo, a role she has really made her own in recent years.
Celia
Celia has a wealth of experience and is a passionate advocate for the children having lots of outdoor play and learning time, teaching risk taking and enjoying growing things for our Snack Trays.
Celia is our Forest School Lead and comes up with "plans" for Monday mornings with an eye on making a quick change to follow the children's interests and will happily take her cues from them and their current interests.
Chloe
Chloe is passionate at providing lots of opportunities for children to learn and play. Chloe thinks that messy play is an important part of practice to encourage children to explore different media, both indoors and out, to build their confidence.
Chloe is our Under 2 Year Old Lead Practitioner.
Tamsin
Tamsin is our Schools&Setting Liaison Officer (SSLO). Tamsin is key in helping your child get ready for school, she is teacher-trained and worked for many years in Primary Schools meaning she knows just how to help your child get ready for that big step to school. She is fun, smiley and has bundles of activities to share with the children.
Tina
Tina has been at North Wraxall in one capacity or another since 2010.
Mud, mess, lots of laughter, books and bare feet are specialities!!...
She is currently our Interim Manager (Volunteer), Committee Chair and DSL.
She has a wealth of experience with this age group and is a Level 3 qualified Early Years Practitioner.
Tamika
Tamika is in her first role in a Pre-School setting she is currently completing her Early Years Apprenticeship Level 2.
A former tennis coach, Tamika enjoys encouraging the children to consolidate and extend their gross physical capabilities both indoors but especially outside in our amazing spaces!!...
Felicity
Felicity is in her second year with us here at North Wraxall.
She is our Art Table maestro and constantly amazes us with her wonderful ideas, she is great at not only encouraging the children to join in and have a go, but is incredibly versatile and can facilitate even the most obscure route changes mid-activity!!...
Fees
Good childcare doesn't need to cost the earth. We pride ourselves on providing nurturing childcare at affordable prices with flexible hours to suit family life.
Sessions
The day starts at 9am and ends at 3pm, except for Monday's when we close at 4pm. You are invited to join us for two free Settling In sessions when you first join us while your child gains confidence and becomes familiar with their new Pre-School.
The morning session runs from 9am-12pm (or to 1pm to include a lunch hour) and the afternoon from 12pm-3pm (lunch hour included).
Fee structure
Our fee structure is straight-forward. Choose from 2 to 10 sessions per week, morning, afternoon or a mixture of each. Please note, although we find a minimum of 2 sessions per week help children to settle more easily and quickly, if you only want one session, we are very happy to accommodate you.
Our current fees are:
*£7.50 per hour for Under 2 year olds
*£6.00 per hour for 2 year-olds
*£5.50 per hour for 3 and 4 year-olds
*Snacks are provided at a charge of £1 per session
Please note
* One session = a morning or an afternoon
* Snacks are provided at a charge of £1 per session i .e.: £1 9am-12noon/1.00pm and £1 1.00pm-3.00pm, a total of £2 per full day
*Please provide a packed lunch for your child
Free Entitlement
Eligible children over 3 years old are entitled to 15 hours or 30 hours per week for 38 weeks of the year. We are also able to cater for eligible 2 year-olds who qualify for funding.
Find out more:
Gallery
Our children are given the freedom to run with the wind in their hair, get messy in the sandpit, dash through the woodland before heading back to base for a mid-morning fruit snack. It's what childhood is all about, and at North Wraxall Pre-School we are hugely fortunate to enjoy all of this in the safety of the North Wraxall Community Hall and its grounds.
Find out more about what we get up to here and don't forget to explore our Nature Trail and Mud Kitchen.
"The level of attention to her personal development at parents evening exceeded all expectations and staff are always happy to discuss progress or concerns. Both my daughter and I have been supported by them with the arrival of a sibling and with potty training."
Local parent, Colerne
Contact us
If you are interested to learn more about North Wraxall Pre-School we would love to hear from you.
We are located just outside the beautiful village of North Wraxall. We occupy the Community Hall during term time which is surrounded by fields on all sides and located on a quiet country lane. Our children love waving to the farmers ploughing their fields and making friends with the cows and sheep in the neighbouring fields!
We are 5 minutes east of Marshfield, 10 minutes west of Chippenham and 20 minutes north of Bath.
