Welcome to Steephill Pre-School.

• Where the children learn through play, in a simulating environment. 
• Children take part in a range of activities based on their interests, both inside and outside. 
• Where the children engage in activities that allow them to learn independently and at their own pace.
• Learning is fun with a balance of child and adult led activities.    

Pre-School 2023-2024

Welcome back, we hope you have had a wonderful Summer holiday.

For useful information please find the following documents below.

We look forward to seeing you soon!

Pre-School 2022-2023

Recommended Reading List for Pre School

Just in time for World Book Day!

Please check out the recommended reading list for Pre School pupils by clicking on the link below.

Search results - Peters

Challenge - How many books on the list can you read?

Summer Term 2023.

We are looking forward to welcoming you back, and hope that you have had a lovely Easter break.

HAPPY NEW YEAR TO YOU ALL.

Spring Term 2022.

We hope that you all had a lovely Christmas time.  

Please find our Spring Term document below. We have given you a hard copy; which you will find in your child's bag. 

Looking forward to working with you all.

Best Wishes,

Maureen Shepherd 

Autumn Term 2021

Summer holidays always go so quickly! We hope that you have all had a nice relaxing summer. 

We look forward to welcoming you back. 

The EYFS Statutory/Development Matters documents have been revised by the Government and these come into effect from the 1st September, 2021.  

We will still be using tapestry, so do look in to see the fun and learning.

Summer Term 2021

Welcome to the summer term. Lets hope that we will have a full term at school, and that home learning will stay a thing of the past!!

We hope that you are enjoying seeing the pictures and short video clips of the things that your children have been doing on Tapestry.  Parents/Carers a summary plan has been sent to you by email.

We will post a few pictures on this site from time to time. 

Best Wishes,

Maureen Shepherd

Tuesday, 20th April,2021

A few photographs - first day back, a lovely sunny day.

Autumn Term 2020

It is so nice to see the children back after the summer break and looking so happy too.

We have two new children who joined us this week Carter and Summer. Three other children came for their taster day today and will be joining us over the next couple of weeks. 

All of your children appear happy and settled.

I hope that you managed to read the Welcome back doc. sent to you by e-mail. We have today put a hard copy into your child's bag.

I will post some photographs next week.

Enjoy the weekend.

Kind Regards,

Maureen Shepherd. 

Tuesday 10th November,2020

We hope that you are enjoying seeing how your children are developing on Tapestry.

Please find a few pictures below.

Best wishes

EYFS Team

Friday, 9th October, 2020

We hope that you are all keeping well. Here are some photographs of things that adorn the walls in the PS classroom at the moment. 

We hope that you have been able to access Tapestry and see photographs of your children involved in various activities.

Friday, 11th September, 2020

From a cold start this morning, what a beautiful afternoon it has turned out to be.

We have just come in from the field where the children have been running around and blowing bubbles. Much excitement, everyone loves a bubble wand!!

We have been looking at Harvest this week, Libby brought in an abundance of things that she found in the park. Libby showed and talked about it to her peers yesterday. Today for show and tell she kindly shared, letting others show some of her finds. Thank you Libby. Don't forget to find something for the nature interest table, could be something as simple as a corn on the cob, apple, tomato. It is nice if the children bring something to show and join in.  

Now that we are using Tapestry, there will not be that many photographs to post in future, as they are taken on two different devices.  

We had two new children join us this week. Rhea and Amar. We welcome them both into our Pre-School.

Please find a few photographs below.

Summer Term 2020

In these unprecedented times, everything seems so strange. We hope that this finds you all safe and well.

We have some sort of normality back in Pre-School. The children who have returned all seem happy and glad to be back with their friends.

Please find a few photographs taken since we have re-opened.

Wednesday, 8th July, 2020

We have had two sports mornings and two parties to enable all children to take part in both sports day and end of year party.

We would like to take this opportunity to wish all fourteen of our children moving on to Reception, every good wish for the future. We look forward to welcoming Libby, Pippa, Eiliyah and Maddison back in September.

It has been a real pleasure to have taught all of your children this year and we will certainly miss those who are moving on.

Enjoy the Summer break.

Maureen, Amanda and Tracey. 

Please see photographs below. 

Friday, 26th June, 2020

Another week, they seem to be going so fast. It is lovely to see more and more children returning to school.

The children have had great fun making bracelets this week. Lots of good hand-eye coordination, some made two or three. 

We are planning to have some fun activities/celebrations next Friday and the following Tuesday, for end of year. Hopefully these two days will mean that every child gets a chance to join in. 

Please find some photographs below of children being children!! 

Friday, 19th June, 2020.

It is nice to see most of the children back at school now. They have been getting on well, with only a few scraps!!

Please find some photographs below. 

Spring Term 2020

May we take this opportunity to wish you all a very Happy New Year.

Please find our summary/welcome back document below. 

Monday, 16th March,2020

We had an enjoyable Science week.

We used our globe to find the North Pole and looked at ten different animals that live there.

We froze water and watched it melt, touching ice. We also dyed daffodils using capillary action with red food colouring.

On Friday we made boats some using play dough and some tin foil. We made masts and used our water play tray to see if they would sink or float.

Thursday, 5th March 2020

We have had a very exciting, noisy day today. Everybody joined in World Book Day (even Mrs Latter and Mrs Shepherd)! The costumes were all lovely and the children had a fun time. Lots of books were read and the children were quite taken with Funny Bones!!   

Friday, 28th February, 2020

Although it was very cold this week. We decided to wear our forest suits and use the outdoor play equipment during our PE lesson. The children had an enjoyable time.   

It snowed quite hard during our Forest School session this week. The first time we have experienced snow in the forest.

Today we were treated to a taster session of short tennis. Children listened carefully to instruction, doing warm up exercises and waiting patiently for their turn.

Many thanks to Sarah Allan for taking time to spend with the children.  

Have posted pictures below.

Friday, 14th February 2020

After half term we will be having a shoe interest table! They can be any sort of shoes, baby shoes, ballet, tap, coloured, high heeled, fancy, plain, laced, buckled, soft, hard, just any type. So please send a pair in. Thank you. 

We have been busy this week and had lots of fun through practical games and activities. Please see photographs below.

Lastly, enjoy half term.

Friday 7th February 2020 

What an exciting week we have had. A strange object was spotted in the orchard. It was in the form of a large egg in a nest. We took our magnifying glasses and binoculars out with us and went all round the school grounds trying to find this strange object. Eventually we found it in the orchard!! The children were very excited and showed lots of imagination when guessing what might be inside. Could it be a dinosaur, slime, an alien, or maybe chocolate. Those were some of the guesses. When we next checked it had started to crack open. Alas today it has disappeared. So we will never really know what was inside!! 

We talked about different animals and reptiles that lay eggs. In the classroom the children cracked open raw hens eggs with a spoon. We also cracked and looked at hard boiled hens eggs.

Friday 31st January,2020

We have been celebrating Chinese New Year this week. The year of the RAT. Some of us have made zodiac masks and some lanterns. The children have followed a programme showing how families get ready for the New Year and then how they celebrate it. We have also watched a short video on the race that dictated the order of the zodiac animals.

We tasted Chinese food on Wednesday and dragon dancing to Chinese music today.

This week we have also been looking at objects that sink and float.

We used shaving foam and sand to scribe numbers and letters. The children enjoyed finding objects in a bowl of shaving foam!

Here are some photographs.

Thursday 16th January, 2020

We have had a lovely morning in forest school. The weather was bright and crisp. Children have started to make a 'bug hotel' this has involved lots of digging, gathering of moss and sticks. Veronica found a worm; our first resident!!

Please find some photographs below.

We will be making bird cake tomorrow; some for our garden and some to take home. Please help your child find a place to hang their cake, encouraging them to take an interest in birds that may visit.    

Friday, 10th January 2020

First week back has gone extremely well. Your children have all settled. Behaviour has been exceptionally good, so much so, that it was not possible to choose two children for awards this week, as they all deserve them.

Please can you remember to send in trainers. Thank you.

We have had a really fun morning with our tents, exploring with the sensory ball and playing changing stations (a game of position that encourages name memory).

Please find some photographs below.

Autumn Term 2019

Autumn is upon us. We hope that you have all had an enjoyable summer break. I do try to update the website class page weekly, usually on Fridays. So keep checking in!! 

Please read our Autumn summary/welcome document below. It gives information about things that we will be doing/covering this term.

Friday 13th December

The children have enjoyed an action packed week.  The Nativity play was a real treat and we're sure you'll agree, the children performed wonderfully.  Christmas dinners have been eaten, crackers pulled, pass the parcel played and a fantastic pantomime watched, which can leave only one thing.....

Mrs Shepherd, Mrs Latter and Miss Goodwin would like to wish you all a very Merry Christmas! Enjoy the holiday and we'll see you in the new year. xxxx

Friday 6th December

Its like Santa's workshop in Pre-school!  We have been busy over the last couple of weeks creating wonderful gifts and decorations to share with you at the end of term.  Our nativity rehearsals are going well and we look forward to performing for you next week!

The children were very excited to discover a visitor in the classroom at the beginning of the week......an Elf!  He has been sent by Father Christmas to keep an eye on things in the run up to Christmas.  The children enjoy trying to find his hiding place each morning. 

We are all looking forward to a packed week next week with our play, church service, Christmas dinner and pantomime.  In the meantime, here are a few photos for you to enjoy.

It's beginning to look a lot like Christmas!  Mrs Duggan created a wonderful Christmas scene for us.  Thank you Mrs Duggan!

International Day

On Tuesday 19th November Steephill School hosted an 'International Day'.  The children were asked to dress up or provide items or information about their chosen country.  The school chose 'Africa' as its theme for the day and we were incredibly lucky to take part in an African drumming workshop!

In addition, the lovely lunch team cooked a themed lunch for us and we all enjoyed an African chicken or chick pea curry followed by delicious mango, peaches and banana for pudding.

Friday 8th November

We've been very busy in Pre-school this week.  We've been making firework rockets and individual 'bonfire' pictures using colourful autumn leaves, pastels and a little bit of sparkle.  They look wonderful!  Some of us also helped Mrs Shepherd to create a huge bonfire collage on our main display board.

Christmas preparations are in full swing!  We're practising our nativity play and have begun our Christmas Crafts. 

Friday, 1st November,2019

We hope you all had a nice two week break.

So many festivals this half term. We have looked at Diwali (Festival of lights) through role play and we listened to the story of Rama and Sita. Some of us made diva's and we have displayed them in the corridor.

We also had Halloween this week. The children made pumpkin faces to take home. We listened to Winnie the witch stories and played Halloween circle games during music and movement. Five little witches on a flying broomstick was a favourite. 

Forest School was a bit chilly this week, but we were all dressed for the occassion.

A few photographs below.    

Friday 11th October, 2019

We sang happy birthday to Siya this week and we hope that she had a lovely birthday.

Where does time go, half term already.

We were lucky to have two tortoises in this week for assembly, Crusty and Tiny. They came to visit us as part of our hibernation learning. The children were very gentle with them and most enjoyed feeding them.

We made bread rolls this week and they were very tasty!!

We have just sang happy birthday to George and the children are enjoying their cake.

Have a lovely day tomorrow George.

Some photographs below.

Finally, have a lovely half term.  

Thursday, 26th September 2019

What a busy week we have had. We had our first indoor P.E. session using the apparatus in the hall on Tuesday. 

Wednesday we went off to Pizza Express. Your children were very well behaved, they listened to Emma's instructions and made their own cheese and tomato pizza's. We brought them back to school and ate them for lunch. All of the children ate at least two slices!!

Today we went to Forest School and had lots of fun. We were very lucky with the weather and did not get too wet. This afternoon we went down to church for our Harvest Festival practise. 

I have added a few photographs below.

Friday, 20th September, 2019

It was really nice to see you all at parents evening this week.

Just a reminder, Wednesday children need to be in school for 8.45 as the bus for Pizza Express will be leaving at 9.00 sharp. The pizza's are usually cheese and tomato and we bring them back to school for lunch.

Have attached a few photographs taken this week.

Enjoy your weekend.

We had cake and sang Happy Birthday to Isaiah today. Have a lovely time.

Friday, 13th September,2019

Looking forward to seeing you all at parents evening next Thursday.

We have been lucky with the weather this week. I have posted a few photographs below.

Friday, 6th September, 2019

Your children have been busy playing and getting to know one another this week.

Not too many tears and generally they have settled well.

Next week days will be slightly more structured.

On Wednesday we will be making rocky road cakes, can you please supply an apron. Both Mrs Latter and myself hold a Level 2 food hygiene certificate.

Please remember to help your child find an item for our nature table.

I have added a few photographs below.

Summer Term 2019

Dear Parents,

We all hope that you have had a lovely Easter. Such beautiful weather, it was like being abroad!

Now to a new term! This school year has gone so quickly, it is hard to believe that we are now in the Summer term.

Please read our Summer summary plan, which you will find below.

Wednesday, 10th July, 2019

We had a lovely time at the Cyclopark this morning. Everyone was well behaved including Mrs Latter and myself!!

Will post pictures below.

This is the last posting now for this term. Please remember to send Owl and Pussy Cat clothing in tomorrow for prize giving.

School ends at 1pm for everyone on Friday.

Happy holidays! We hope the sun shines wherever you are and that you have a happy fun filled summer!

Friday, 5th July,2019

Where has the time gone! We can't believe it is nearly the end of the school year!

Sports day went really well. All the children were fantastic both in the racing and also with their behaviour. They were a real credit to you and we were so very proud of them. I understand that a video has been put on the whats app group.

So final week coming up.......with Prize giving and the FOSS fair on Thursday and church service on Friday (you are welcome to attend the church, if you would like to). School finishes for everyone at 1pm on Friday

12th.

We will be performing the Owl and the Pussy Cat at prize giving, please remember to send in their clothes. Thank you.

Here are a few pictures taken this week.

Wednesday, 26th June,2019  

Hope you have all been looking after your sunflowers. The weather has not been good, not enough sunny days!! I don't think that they will do as well as last years (last years were massive). The ones that we have here at school are not even at flowering stage. So we need to have picture and measurement of your sunflowers during week 1st - 5th July for competition. Winner will be announced on Monday 8th July. Good Luck!

Next Wednesday 3rd July is sports day. It takes place during the morning for lower school. You may wish to bring a chair or a blanket to sit on. Can children please come in their PE kits, sun cream applied and school hats please.  If it is not your child's usual day, you can either collect when you leave after sports day, or we are happy for them to remain for the rest of the day. 

The mini marathon went well today. Children who took part did a great job and completed two laps of the bottom field. Well done. Don't forget to return your sponsorship forms and money. Thank you.

Mini marathon photographs below.

Friday, 21st June, 2019

I am sorry I didn't have time to post last week. It is a very busy time with reports to write, new children taster days here and visits that have to be made to their play schools.

Firstly, how fantastic your children performed at their assembly. I know they worked extremely hard to learn and remember their lines. It is always a bit over whelming when they appear and find lots of faces looking at them. They were all super stars.

We are going to perform again at prize giving. 

The potatoes were harvested this week and you should all have received a small bag. The children had great fun pulling them up. Some pulled so hard that they ended up on their bottoms!

Please find an assortment of photographs below.

Friday, 7th June, 2019.

We were very lucky with the weather for our trip to Wingham yesterday. Originally we were planning to go today.

All of your children were a pleasure to take out, behaviour was exceptional. They are a credit to you all.

Everyone had a lovely time.

Will add some photographs below.

I would also like to take this opportunity to thank Amanda, George's mum for supplying us with all we needed for the children to see live metamorphosis. We all found it very interesting and we released our butterflies on Wednesday. There were four and they all happily flew away.   

Friday, 24th May 2019

Half term already! Have a lovely break. A few pictures below.

Friday 17th May, 2019

Oh dear weather not so good today. The children had a busy time in Forest School yesterday morning. In the afternoon they enjoyed free play in the garden.

Have attached some photographs of yesterday afternoon below. We will be cooking on Wednesday next week, fairy cakes.

Wishing you a very Happy Birthday on Sunday Elliot, have a lovely day.

Tuesday, 14th May,2019

We joined in with Tibetan worm racing yesterday. Please find some photographs below.

Friday, 10th May, 2019

I have attached a few photographs below.

Have an enjoyable weekend.

Friday, 3rd May,2019

We had a good morning in forest School yesterday. We now have the addition of a plastic barrel of water!! Some lovely mud pies were made and generally all had a good time.

Have added some photographs below.

Have a lovely Bank Holiday weekend and see you all next week.  

Tuesday 30th April, 2019

We welcomed Veronica into Pre-School today. Veronica is the sister of Howard in Lower 1 Kestrels.

It was also Veronica's birthday today. Veronica shared cakes with us all. Have a lovely birthday party Veronica. 

We have had the first PE session of this term. I have put a few pictures below.

Friday, 26th April 2019

We will be performing The Owl and the Pussy Cat for our class assembly on Thursday 16th May. Each child has a highlighted script in their bag (if not in class today, then script will appear next week). Please can you help them to recite their words. We are being quite ambitious this year! 

Thank you in advance.

Thursday, 25th April.

Your children have all settled back into Pre-School life.

We had a lovely time at forest school this morning, it did rain on and off but not enough to stop us having fun and doing lots of activities.

We celebrated Mivi's birthday today. Thank you for the delicious treats, we all enjoyed them. Have a Happy Birthday on Sunday Mivi.  

Spring Term - 2019 

Our termly document with dates and information. Please read.

Pre-School Spring Term.

'EYFS Independence Award.' 

Reviewed half termly.

Thursday, 4th April, 2019

Visit to Princess Pocahontas Statue and St. Georges Church Gravesend.

We left school on the mini bus at 12.50. It didn't take long to get there and the children were very excited, singing the wheels on the bus go round and round for most of the journey!!

All of your children were very well behaved and a pleasure to take out. Mrs Pugh (who showed us around) commented on this too. They were a credit to you all. How many of you know that Princess Pocahontas' English name was Rebecca! A few pictures of our afternoon out. I think the highlight of the afternoon was the choosing and purchasing of the finger puppets!! 

Don't forget to look after your sunflowers and good luck!!

Whist here, Amanda, Tracey and myself would like to wish you all a very Happy Easter and look forward to next term.

Tuesday, 2nd April, 2019.

End of term is fast approaching. We have our Pocahontas visit tomorrow afternoon, church service Thursday afternoon (all parents welcome to attend church service). FOSS Easter egg hunt and egg rolling competition on Friday, (don't forget to really hard boil your egg and decorate it.) All children are welcome in on Friday morning. Whether it is their day or not. School finishes for all at 1pm.

We have started our annual "Sunflower growing competition today". Your Children will be bringing home sunflower seeds which have been potted sometime this week. I have sent a copy of the growing instructions from the seed packets. Basically you need to keep them warm inside to germinate, don't forget to water them. When they are an inch or two tall and looking strong, they need to be potted into individual pots (there is more than one seed in pot). As they start to grow they will need to be staked to stop them falling over and potted on from time to time in bigger pots. They can go outside when there is no danger of frosts. We will let you know when we put the ones at school out. Sunflowers are not required to come back into school. During July we will ask for those who managed to grow the sunflowers to send the height and a photograph in to school and there will be a prize for the tallest sunflower. Small prizes will be given to everyone who managed to keep them going. Good Luck, everyone!!!   

Friday, 29th March,2019

We welcome Mivi and her family to Steephill Pre-School. Mivi has no siblings here, but she does have an elder sister. 

We celebrated Arans' birthday this week. He is so proud to be four! Thank you for the treats Aran.

The children have been very busy since the beginning of January, making a special gift for you lucky mums. The gift wrapped in tissue is it. So please no peeping until Sunday.

Looking to next week.

We are going to see the statue of Princess Pocahontas on Wednesday afternoon. We will also be going into St. George's church. Mrs. Pugh a member of the parish, has kindly said that she will tell the children the story of Pocahontas whilst inside the church.

Our own Easter service down at St. Mary's is next Thursday afternoon, you are all welcome to attend.

Friday morning it is FOSS Easter egg hunt. All Pre-School children are invited into school on the last day of term, even if it is not their usual day. School closes for everyone at 1pm on that Friday.

Monday, 25th March

We joined in with L.I Kestrels and Hawks on Wednesday afternoon for an Irish dancing session. It wasn't something we had planned to do, but the opportunity arose and we took it!! A big thank you to Miss Hackett (who actually runs an Irish dance school) and Mrs Tucker for a superb performance.

Friday, 15th March,2019

We have had a go at capillary action this week, using daffodils water and red food colour. If you look at the pictures below you should be able to see that the frills/edges of the daffodils have changed colour. 

Friday, 8th March,2019 

We are growing three varieties of potatoes this term. Rocket, regional and maris piper. The children have made a start planting the regional and rocket. Unfortunately we run out of soil (it is amazing how much soil you need) so we have ordered more for next week.  

Spring is in the air and our penguin display has now gone making way for Spring.

Children have been busy cutting and colouring baby animals and making daffodils. There has also been some "secret" sewing going on.

We have been exploring the grounds looking for different types of new growth and listening to noises around us.

We are still making bird cake, encouraging nesting in our bird boxes. Robins, blue-tits and green finches are still regular visitors to our play area. 

We also celebrated Aaravs' birthday this week. Have a lovely dinosaur party this weekend. 

Friday end of day jelly play. Cold, sticky and slimy, lovely!!  

Monday, 4th March,2019

Just a short message. Children who learnt and recited a poem/rhyme last Thursday did extremely well. Reciting to the whole class during the morning. It was extremely hard to choose three to recite to the rest of the school. Some were more confident than others. 

The three children who recited in the hall were Olivia with The Owl and the Pussy Cat, Mila with Twinkle Twinkle Little Star and Darcey who wrote her own poem with mummy, called My Day at Pre-School.