Young Risers is managed by Coral Bain with a team of 8 other staff. Coral is the manager, Senco and DSL lead and has 25 years of expertise. The team are all qualified to level 3 and 4 with many years experience and most of whom have children.
Young risers is a charity run pre-school within the grounds of Istead Rise school which has been running for 45 years.
The pre-school was originally run from the Memorial Hall in Lewis Road Istead Rise, where the staff would set up daily activities for the children attending. As the pre- school grew it was decided that the 3 year old’s would stay at the Memorial Hall and the pre-school aged children were moved to the school where they were given a classroom.
After a few years the school offered the pre-school a permanent room and all the children would merge together as one.
The pre-school has always worked well with Istead Rise school and over the years has built a solid relationship between the early years practitioners and the teachers.
The children are very fortunate to have already spent time in the school hall, school playground and forest school as this helps with the transition when the children go to school.
Young Risers is a committee run pre-school which means Young Risers has to have a committee to keep the pre-school open. The committee and the manager will meet once a term for a meeting where we discuss any matters raised. The committee is made up of 5 people, Chairperson, Treasurer, Secretary and a few other parents. The committee help with any fundraising and supports the manager with the team. We hold an AGM meeting every year for all parents to attend and where new parents can step up to take over the positions of the other members as this is normally a 2 year position.
As we are a charity run pre-school we do all our own fundraising which helps to buy new equipment for the pre-school.
We have always had a stall at the school summer fete, where we have a teddy tombola. We also have a stall for fireworks night where we sell popcorn and through out the year we have graduation photo’s, an Easter raffle, and a sponsored walk.
All of our fundraising events are held by the staff with the help of the pre-school committee.
Young Risers is a happy and safe place for children to attend and to learn the early learning goals through play. The manager and staff are very passionate about their roles and how they want all children to be confident young learners and be ready for new challenges as they prepare for school. As a manager I also believe it is paramount to build solid relationships with staff and all parents. Our well being must be met through a friendly approach and with team work as when you work together the world is a better place to live in.
After 25 years Young Risers has just had a new garden with help of the local community. We were very lucky to have had the generous help of some local builders whose children attended the pre-school a few years ago. I also believe our local councillor attended Young risers when he was younger.
On the 29th April Young Risers pre-school was opened by the mayor of Gravesend along with everyone who made this happen and came together as a community. Read the full article here.
The pre-school is changing all the time as is the early years approach to learning. In June 2019 we were rated a good by Ofsted but our aim is to work towards an outstanding which I believe the team and I working towards on a daily basis. We are a very hands on pre-school where we believe the children should learn through play and in a stimulating environment where they will learn the skills to become confident, happy and keen learners. We are trying the Hygge approach where we learn in a more natural environment and follow the hygge approach as they do in Norway and Sweden with more outdoor learning creating hands on learning in a calm atmosphere. The staff are very keen to take the curiosity approach and again working through loose parts play and ensure every child matters.
The team and I will be attending forest training and I am planning to visit Norway where I will visit a pre-school to see how their environment works through Hygge.
The team are always gaining new skills which is paramount to ensure we are delivering an environment where our children will gain everyday skills and that staff, children and parents well being is met at all times.
We can take 24 children a day with a ratio of 1 to 3 for 2 year old’s and 1 to 4 for 3 year old’s and 1 to 8 for 4 year old’s. We offer FF2 funding, 15 hour funding and 30 hour funding. The pre-school is term time only and half day sessions are 9.00 till 12.00 or 12 till 3.00. A full day session is 9.00 till 3.00. The children bring in there own packed lunch where a member of staff will sit with a table of children as this is where we get to talk using our language skills as we have a very busy home life so here we come together as a family. The children become independent and are encouraged to use their please and thank you’s.
Since covid we have taken a different approach to our day to day routine and are now more structured with 2 rooms. We have the children going to school in one room named Bears and the 2/3 year olds in another room named Cubs. The children come together for free flow on a Friday and in the garden in the afternoons.
We have an early years sports coach come in twice a term to deliver the physical skills following the EYFS. This is met by teamwork through football, rugby, and many more activities. The children are growing their own fruit and veg in the new garden which after a few visits to Broaditch Farm over the years we are learning from farmer John. Hopefully we can get back to the farm and our tractor rides once all covid restrictions have been lifted.
We have expanded our website, full details of which can be found at https://www.youngriserspre-school.co.uk. We also have a face book page where we upload 3 times a week showing all of our lovely daily activities. We are registered with the local offer where you can also find further details.
Coral and the team are always happy to show any prospective parents around and answer any questions you may have on 01474 832 205 or at coral.bain@youngriserspre-school.co.uk
