St Helens Pre School
Unlocking Curiosity
St Helens Pre School proudly adheres to the highest standards of education and caregiving. Our dedicated staff are committed to providing a supportive environment where your child can thrive.
A typical day at pre school is filled with fun, laughter, discovery and plenty of opportunities!
Children are welcomed in by staff, they put their belongings on their named coat hooks ready to start their day.
In our room all toys are on the children’s level for them to access freely, it compromises of a role play area where they can make believe, an arts and crafts area for them to get messy “every child is an artist”, we have a construction area for all the little vehicle, dinosaurs, building blocks and popoid lovers. They can let their imaginations run wild in our investigation area or get their brains ticking in the mathematics area. We have a literacy area which is filled with wonderful books, story baskets with props, puppets and their lovely family books 📚
Children are free to play with what they enjoy, as well as taking part in adult led activities which are planned from the children’s interests.
We have circle time to say good morning and a sing song, the children love to take part in dance to get us ready for the day, a favourite is the dinosaur stomp. We have another circle time just before lunch giving us the chance to calm before eating and say goodbye to some of our friends.
Children are offered a snack which we ask parents to provide fruit for. This is done at 10am. Water is encouraged throughout the day as well as milk in the morning and afternoon.
Lunch is at 12, during this time we take the opportunity to talk to the children about healthy eating and making healthy choices.
Children are able to chose whether to play indoors or outdoors and are offered the same opportunities whilst in the garden.
Meet the team
Where the Passion Begins
Passionate, dedicated and loving, St Helens Pre School teachers love their work and it shows in everything they do. Our goal is to make a positive difference on young children and their families who come to our Pre school.
Emma Jarvis
Interim Manager
I’m Emma, Interim Manager of Pre school. I am so delighted to be part of the little stars team and am really enjoying getting to know all our wonderful families. I’m a mum of 3 amazing children who keep me very busy, I love spending time with them and using the knowledge I've learned as a EYP to help them grow and develop. I have many years experience and am always keen for a new challenge.
Samantha Evans
Interim Deputy Manager
Hi, I'm Sam and am a level 3 qualified member of the team currently studying level 5 in lead role and management. I have worked in child care for nearly 20 years and have 4 children of my own. I absolutely love caring for children, providing them with exciting opportunities to learn and watching them grow and develop.
Melissa
Practitioner
Melissa is an agency member of staff who is kindly helping us throughout September whilst we enrol permanent practitioners.
Emma Ayliffe
Practitioner
Hi, I’m Emma. I am a mum to my two gorgeous girls and I have thoroughly enjoyed spending the last 6 years at home with them. Both girls attended Little stars and now in school, which makes it the perfect time for me to join this great team. I’m really looking forward to this opportunity and helping your little ones grow in a fun environment. I have recently started my L3 in Early Years and I am thoroughly enjoying it. So far it has taught me how to enable a fun and stimulating environment for the children we care for and I have gained more knowledge of the EYFS.
Clare Pratley
Practitioner
Hi my name is Clare. I am level 3 qualified in Childcare. I am a mother of 2 girls who both came to Little Stars so it's great to part of the team. I am also involved in scouting during my spare time and am looking forward to sharing all my ideas to help your children learn, grow and develop.
All of our staff looking after your children are DBS checked and are fully qualified or working towards their level 3. We are all qualified in First Aid and take every opportunity to take part in relevant training to better ourselves.
Do you have a question about our teachers or our training process? Get in touch today and we’ll be glad to assist you.
St Helens Pre School Mission
We believe that children thrive in an environment which values their own uniqueness, while providing support and opportunities to grow emotionally, socially and creatively. By building on each child’s strengths, interests and curiosities, we guide each child to explore the world around them as well as develop new abilities and form close relationships.
Forest School
One Step Ahead
Young children who go to St Helens Pre School get the tools and support they need for their healthy development. All activities are carefully designed to adequately nurture the emotional, intellectual and physical growth of our kids. Through stimulating situations and hands-on learning opportunities, children are free to develop into bright young minds.
Here at St Helens we have Forest School sessions on Monday afternoon which are led by a Forest school leader, Alex. Thursday mornings we provide outdoor learning with the Forest, the children are free to explore and play with the supervision of staff. We feel extremely lucky to have access to such a wonderful space for the children to learn and explore outdoors.
https://www.youtube.com/channel/UCvngPlEf_qPpZ08jXDs8c7w
Extracurricular activites
Here at littlestars we are very lucky to offer the children the chance to join in with; •Sports coaching - this is every wednesday afternoon giving the children the opportuntiy to explore and learn new skills, learn how to work as a team, gain listening and attention skills as well as having lots of fun.•Cooking - we are lucky enough to be able to use the school kitchen to be little chefs every friday morning, the children will get messy learning new skills such as washing and cutting fruit and vegetables, rolling, mashing, mixing and so much more.
All these activities help build on children's confidence and learn new skills.
Our Reviews
See What They’re Saying
It’s always helpful to hear from other parents when choosing childcare. Check out some testimonials from other parents to get more familiar with the environment and programs St Helens Pre School provides.
⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️
St Helen’s Little Stars was the perfect pre-school for my two children! Both of them grew so much confidence and became fully prepared for a primary school environment. Being in the grounds of St Helen’s Primary helped massively and allowed them to become familiar of the surroundings so they sailed through the transition. Both my children spoke so very highly of each and every teacher here, and still do now and miss them all dearly. They are all so caring and bring out the best of each individual. Most importantly, I felt they provided a happy, safe and secure environment for them and each day was different, exciting and they learnt so many additional skills during their time here.
St Helen’s Little Stars, we all miss you but are so lucky we still get to see you!
My son loves it!
Our son LOVES going to little stars preschool and seeing his friends and all the staff, they are exceptionally caring, nurturing and attentive to each child’s needs. Every day we look forward to hearing about the wonderful adventures he has been on at preschool and would highly recommend them!
It’s great for him
My son attends pre school 3 days a week and he absolutely loves it. His speech has come on tremendously and he has learnt to share! He is excited to go and always full of joy after a day there. I love seeing his observations, having the tapestry system is great 👍
Little Stars were absolutely fantastic at welcoming our daughter Freya. I was nervous at first, as I had never left Freya at an all day setting before, but all the little stars staff put me at ease instantly. It really is such a wonderful pre school and I would highly recommend to anyone looking for a safe, happy & fun setting for their child. 😊
Kimberley
It was such a hard decision moving Freddie from a local nursery to the preschool but as soon as Lucy and Natalie came and met Freddie, I knew he was going to love it!
The staff are caring, nurturing and really know the children as individuals, their likes dislikes and areas that need encouragement. The team are approachable, listen to any questions or queries, quick in responding and great at implementing home routines such as potty training etc.
Freddie absolutely loves the independence and choice that he gets at preschool, the outside space, forest school and other activities such as dance sessions and even trips out around the local community. Staff are always thinking of new games and ideas, linked with learning and education and delivering it in such a fun and creative way! “
We love hearing what people think of us, it makes us proud and want to achieve more!
Opening Hours and Term Dates
Come Join in the fun!
Opening hours areMorning session 8:50-11:50Afternoon session 11:50-3:30For drop off that are within normal school hours please use the main school gate. 11:50 collections and drop off, please come to the side gate via the school car park. Term dates2/1/24 - 9/2/2419/2/24 - 28/3/2415/4/24 - 24/5/243/6/24 - 24/7/24
Inset dates.Fri 15th March '24. Mon 22nd July '24 and Tues 23rd July '24.
Contact Us
Interested in learning more about St Helens Pre School? Please feel free to get in touch, and a member of our team will get back to you as soon as possible.
St Helens C of E Primary School, Greenhill Rd, Alveston, Bristol BS35 2QX, UK
07717 216762