History
Playlanders is a Registered Charity and not-for-profit community group, and is a member of the Pre-school Learning Alliance.
We welcome all children aged 2 and over. We have no catchment area, no application deadlines and no application fees.
“Thank you all so much for all you’ve done for (our daughter). You have helped make her the confident girl she is now. We have loved having her at Playlanders and we are all sad that it’s time to move up to school.”
A parent comment, 2015
We operate in St George’s Church Hall on Chesterfield Road. Originally St Christopher’s Nursery operated in the Church Hall, and closed in the spring of 1978, when the owner died. A group of parents who had children attending the nursery got together and decided to re-open as a playgroup. Playlanders was chosen as the name for the new group, and they opened their doors in April. Initially there were 3 staff, all of whom had children attending, and a further 12 children. The current head, Susan Lister, had a child attending when the playgroup opened.
Many things have changed over the years, but a few have stayed the same. Susan is still there, and so is one of the toys – the big red car (which is extremely old, but well maintained, as we inherited it from the nursery). Over a thousand children have come and gone. There are children attending now whose parents were at Playlanders in the early years, and some of our current staff used to attend the group at the very beginning as children.
We are open on Mondays, Wednesdays and Fridays during school terms. This means that the families who send their children to us have the option of days in the week when they can do things together, or just rest and do nothing at all! We offer a choice of two or three morning sessions of 9.15 to 12.15 for children aged 2 and over, and we also offer the option of Lunch Club for children once they have settled in. From the September after their third birthday we also offer extra afternoon sessions, so that children can stay with us until they begin to attend school in Reception rather than transfer to Nursery. We call this group Playgroup plus.
Since the beginning of 2015 we have also have a facebook page, which contains information on recent activities, holiday dates, etc. Find it at playlanders playgroup and preschool and remember to ‘like’ us!
Currently we have spaces for 30 children aged between 2 and 5, and have 5 permanent staff.
“We are very proud of the fact that we have been successfully caring for children in the community for over 40 years.”
The following is an extract from our Ofsted report:
Children show a strong sense of belonging as they greet key-workers and each other upon arrival at the playgroup. They share experiences at snack time discussions and adults encourage children to respect each other’s needs and to use conventions such as ‘please’ and ‘thank-you’. Children work together co-operatively during group activities; they take turns to use the slide and know that ‘we have to share, don’t we?’ Children’s behaviour is very good. Adults provide careful explanations, which young children can understand, to help children know what is expected of them. Suitable strategies are in place to help children with learning difficulties or disability, as well as those who have English as an additional language, take part in a full range of activities and build upon what they already know. Children have opportunities to learn about the world they live in and all members of society. They play with small world figures, look at books and take part in a wide range of cultural and religious celebrations. They talk about their families and what they do at home to learn about each other’s family culture. This enables children’s spiritual, moral, social and cultural development to be fostered.