The relaunch involves an extension, now complete, to accommodate the children, and a new name of ‘Little Heroes’.
‘We first opened four years ago, because we had parents come to us who wanted their children to be enrolled at the college for the pre-school years,’ said Blanchelande head teacher Alexa Yeoman.
‘We opened with four pupils, and it’s grown up to 20 children now.’
With the quintupling of their cohort and the expanding demand from parents, the college made the decision to expand its facilities to take more children and from younger ages. As of the start of the year, Blanchelande has been open to accepting children as young as two, down from its previous cut-off of two-and-a-half.
‘We wanted to do it because we believe that early years education is so important,’ said Mrs Yeoman.
The pre-school already has a track record of performance in promoting literacy and mathematical learning from the earliest days.
‘We have very strong academic results on the NGRT standardised reading test,’ said Mrs Yeoman.
However, the college has emphasised that it takes more than a pen-and-paper test approach to learning, requiring every ‘Little Hero’ pupil to come to school with a pair of wellies to participate in outdoor learning on Blanchelande’s 50 acres.
‘We have huge outdoor learning facilities, and we use them for outdoor maths lessons, science challenges and art projects,’ said Mrs Yeoman.
‘We’ve seen it really help build the confidence of the children when it comes to things like applying their maths skills in the real world.’
The outdoor learning programme has become a favourite amongst nursery teachers too, with nursery manager Scarlett Le Page describing it as the highlight of her job.
‘The children love it, and being out in nature is so beneficial to them,’ she said.
As well as growing its educational facilities, the college has also made some developments to its pastoral facilities, recently opening a new pastoral space – the ‘Emmaus Space’ – open to all students at the school.
‘We take a child-centred approach to learning,’ said Mrs Le Page.
With this nursery expansion and development, Blanchelande College now offers schooling for children from age two all the way up through the sixth form. The college also ensures that nursery students are guaranteed places in its reception classes.
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