Blanchelande plans nature preschool from September

CHILDREN will soon be able to attend Blanchelande College from the age of two-and-a-half until they reach adulthood.

The youngest pupils at Blanchelande College currently are in Reception year including, left to right, Henry Casebow, Orson Thomas and Rosie Touzeau, but from September children from the age of two-and-a-half will be able to go there when a preschool is opened. (Pictures by Cassidy Jones, 29636679)

The college is setting up a preschool at its Les Vauxbelets site in St Andrew’s, with places for up to 14 children aged between two-and-a-half and four to be overseen by two staff.

If the expansion is successful, a second form of 14 may be established.

With the existing provisions for infants, juniors, secondary and sixth-form education, it means a child born on 1 January 2019 could attend the college from this September and remain there until completing their A-levels in 2037, aged 18.

Head of infants Alexa Yeoman said the new preschool had become feasible due to the infants moving into the main building, alongside the juniors.

Alexa Yeoman. the head of infants at Blanchelande, makes use of the story chair while teaching a Reception class. (29636673)

The new early years setting would, she said, benefit from sharing resources with the rest of the college, such as catering and specialist teachers, and would take advantage of the college’s 40 acres in a rural location.

‘We felt we had a fantastic opportunity to do a sort of nature preschool,’ she said.

‘So we’re going to have lots and lots of outdoor activities. We’ve got a fire pit for outdoor cooking, we’ve got a story chair and we’ve got a mud kitchen.

‘Then we’ve got the whole infant playground and huge meadow areas for den building and all the other activities they do.’

Places at the infants’ school are oversubscribed, but those who attend the preschool will be guaranteed a place in Reception.

Demand for places at Blanchelande College has increased dramatically over the last five years and Mrs Yeoman said this could be put down to the establishment of sixth-form studies, greater use of the site’s resources and the availability of specialisms such as French, music and PE at all levels down to Reception.

She also highlighted the college’s offering of the national curriculum, which she said was particularly popular with families moving from the UK and which is preceded by the Early Years Foundation Stage in preschool and Reception.