About Us
We are owned by the Lymington Community Association and are now based in our own room with free flow into our garden within the Lymington Community Centre. The Community Association was formed in 1948 and there has been a form of childcare at the Centre since the sixties. The provision has grown from a playgroup in its formative years to the thriving Pre-School we have today. In our last inspection in December 2019 under the new framework which looks at intent, implementation, and impact we received a ‘Good’ rating.
At Lymington Centre Pre-School, we adopt a holistic collaborative approach where we not only nurture your child’s education, but also their health and well-being. We ensure our families and children feel welcome and valued from the moment they enter our room. We work in partnership with yourselves, and if needed local advisors, such as the Early Help Hub, and Speech and Language team to provide a tailored education, starting with your child’s personal key person. Who is responsible for every aspect of their ongoing development, and with our on-line learning app for web and mobile, you can follow your child’s learning journey, and indeed contribute, throughout their time with us.
We embrace the Early Years Foundation Stage (EYFS) and apply the four key themes: Unique Child, Positive Relationships, Enabling Environments and Learning and Development, as the basis of our approach to early learning and development. We provide a broad variety of activities and continuous provision relevant to your child’s needs and interests.
Children learn through play and opportunities for spontaneity and unplanned activities are included throughout the day as well as small group activities, circle time, 1-2-1, and Language Group.
We feel it is important for families and pre-school staff to work together to help children to feel confident and secure. This can take longer for some children than for others and parents should not feel worried if their child takes a while to settle. To help your child to feel free to explore different activities, it is best to send them dressed in clothes that are easily washable and not too new. Your child will enjoy getting messy, and simple clothing which they can handle themselves will make them more independent and encourage them to do more for themselves. You can purchase pre-school T-shirts, Zoodies and sweatshirts if you prefer.
We welcome family input and if you have any skills you wish to share with us please let us know. We also carry out fundraising events throughout the year to help towards the cost of equipment.
Ofsted report:
Extract from December 2019 Ofsted report
The manager has a clear, ambitious vision for the setting, that staff understand and share. Children are happy, engaged and share positive relationships with their key workers. Staff understand children’s individual learning needs and use these to successfully plan for them. Staff show consideration and kindness towards children.
In turn, children mirror this and help each other with challenging tasks. Children play cooperatively with each other and draw on their own experience when playing.
For example, they build on their interest in doctors and people that help them, to create a shared hospital role-play scenario. The setting is at the heart of the local community. Children understand their place within the community and have many opportunities to engage with local events. The community centre has worked hard to ensure that the setting is an integral part of its programme. The board of trustees has a strong vision for the development of the setting and provides resources to support this. It has been creative with its use of space in the setting, and has identified areas of the environment that could improve further and has ambitious plans for this. Parents are positive about the setting, particularly the caring, nurturing approach staff take.
Ofsted December 2019.
Full 2019 Ofsted report –
Lymington Centre Pre-School Ofsted Report Dec 19
Our son has many very serious life-threatening allergies and EOE (an auto immune disease). We viewed many nursery’s all-around Lymington and the surrounding areas. Lymington Centre Pre-school was the only one that made us really feel safe with our son being in their care. Every single team member knows our son, his allergies and all know the action plan for him, which puts your mind at rest as a parent. They also as a school have an action plan with the children (once they start in the morning, they all wash hands/ same after lunch and breaks etc. which stops any cross contamination. They have also banned all bananas from the Pre-School because my son is anaphylactic to them. I can’t express enough the amazing work these girls do. our son has the most amazing key worker, she is so supportive. When he first started his speech was behind and his confidence. He has come on leaps and bounds with the Pre-School’s support and nurturing and he has made some fantastic friends at Pre-School. They are very attentive if you have any concerns, always bright and cheery and by far THE BEST PRE-SCHOOL in the whole surrounding area!