Playgroup children in the Village Carnival June 1981 dressed up as soldiers.
Scout Hut
A couple of years after Joan Leonard left in 1986, the Playgroup moved from the Village Hall to the Scout Hut on Radway Hill. The Playgroup moved because the rent had been increased at the Village Hall, and it was cheaper at the Scout Hut. However, unfortunately the Scout Hut also turned out to be an ill-suited venue for the Playgroup. Jo Head, a Playgroup Committee member at the time, recalled the inside of the Scout Hut as being very dark and damp, with limited facilities. The kitchen was in poor condition, the children had to share one adult toilet and sink and…
‘… it was cold and damp, and it really wasn’t suitable for toddlers.’
The outside facilities were also not any better…
‘…the small outside area was gravelly tarmac next to the road, and the children were always injuring themselves on it, and so it was not suitable for them to go on their tricycles and push bikes.’
Moreover, just as with the Village Hall, at each session everything had to be set up from scratch, and put back again at the end. This involved carrying the equipment from the shed outside and placing it indoors, including the heavy and awkward-to-carry wooden climbing frame and slide. Setting up was made even more difficult because many of the supervisors and helpers had limited time to do it, as they had other children to drop off at school first.
In 1996, the Playgroup’s experience of the Scout Hut was summarised well by Rachael Allardyce, Chair of the Playgroup Committee, in a handout for visitors from La Roche Maurice, Bishopsteignton’s twin village in Brittany …
‘…we shared the old Scout Hut with other village groups, which was not good for the children or the Playgroup staff.’
Move to permanent building on School site
Bishopsteignton Playgroup receive Lottery Funding.
In 1994, the Playgroup Committee applied for a National Lottery grant, and various rural grants, to help fund the acquiring of a building and permanent site. Jo Head, who was on the Committee, remembers filling in …
‘…absolutely copious amounts of forms…to anywhere and everywhere, and I got hold of a grant funding diary, and tackled any local companies and any grants, or councillors.’
Fortunately, all the hard work paid off, as the Committee managed to get enough grant funding to buy a mobile ex-classroom from Teignmouth Community College.
Jo Head remembers going to view the mobile ex-classroom with a woman called Sally, who she believes may have been from Devon County Council. Jo recalls that Sally…
‘…was wearing huge stilettos….and that the ex-classroom porta cabin was in a really poor state.’
Playgroup committee receiving a cheque from the Ring of Bells Pub.
Article highlights Playgroup’s acquiring their own premises on the school’s site.
With support from the then Head of Bishopsteignton School, Ken Irvin, and the school’s Secretary, Mrs Ablett, the Playgroup managed to secure a site to rent on Bishopsteignton School grounds, have the ex-classroom moved to the new site, assembled and completed, by 1995.
Read more about the Preschool on the Bishopsteignton School website
Jo Head remembers that they acquired a lorry and a crane to transport the mobile ex-classroom to its new location, and that …
‘…it just looked awful, and the people of Horns Park, were not happy anyway.’
Unfortunately, despite the Playgroup’s desperate need for its own building and a permanent site, there was significant opposition against its relocation to the school’s grounds, from areas such as Horns Park, with the main concern being that it would increase the traffic around and near the school. However, luckily, this opposition was outweighed by the support for the move. The Head Teacher of the school, Ken Irvin, welcomed the preschoolers moving on to the school site as it meant they could visit the school more easily,…
‘…as a first step to going into big school, which was rather lovely.’
Front of Bishopsteignton Preschool
The number of people who helped to prepare the site and renovate the building for the Playgroup was testament to the community support for the move to its new home.
According to Jo Head, there was a great deal of work involved. The building needed a new roof; some of the windows had no glass and required reglazing. There were no toilets in the building, and no water and sewage pipes for them at the site. Jo remembers helping to dig trenches for the pipes with other volunteers, and although their work was inspected by Building Control, Jo does not think that such work would be allowed to be carried out by volunteers today. Two brothers from the Tibbs family, one an electrician, the other a plumber, kindly offered to sort out the electrics, and plumbing for the toilets, at a discounted rate. Playgroup paid for the work and sourced all the items required, including small toilets suitable for young children.
A small kitchen was fitted to provide facilities for the supervisors and helpers to prepare snacks for the children. Electric heaters were installed. The windows required curtains and the Phipps family generously donated green and white checked fabric from their business to be sewn by volunteers. Paint was donated by local people for the walls. Furthermore, with the help of fund raising and donations of toys and equipment, the Playgroup managed to source everything it needed, from coat pegs for the children to tiny tables for art and crafts.
Jo Head mentioned during a discussion on the 3rd November 2023 that:
‘So many people were involved, most of whom were parents. We did have to beg steal and borrow…it was quite a fraught time when I look back.’
Bishopsteignton Preschool Main Room
The importance of volunteers from the community, in terms of time, effort, and fund raising, in ensuring the success of the move, was also outlined in Rachael Allardyce’s letter to Bishopsteignton’s twin village in Brittany, La Roche Maurice…
‘There are volunteers who have made these extraordinary efforts because we have not received any financial assistance from the authorities. It was made only by the efforts of parents and our friends in the village.’
Improvements to the permanent site
‘Playgroup is confident of future’
Over the years many improvements have been made to the Preschool’s permanent home on the school grounds. In the late 1990s new surfaces and a ‘race track’ were installed in the outdoor play area. Jo Head recalls that more exciting outdoor play equipment was also purchased, such as play trucks, and something called a cosy coupee…
‘…a yellow car, that the children used to fight over.’
In the late 1990s, sheds were added for storing both the new and the original outdoor equipment, brought with them from their days at the Scout Hut and Village Hall.
Over 25 years later, the Preschool remains in the same building, on the same site, but has had a complete refurbishment. An extension has been built on the side of the original building, and the outdoor area resurfaced. There are raised beds for gardening and a nature area with a pond.
Bishopsteignton Preschool Outdoor Equipment
Bishopsteignton Preschool Outdoor Equipment in 2024
From Playgroup to Preschool
Once the Playgroup had established itself on its new permanent site on Bishopsteignton School grounds it became known as a Preschool rather than a Playgroup. Its sessions continued to be planned by the supervisors, based around a different theme each week/month/term. Sue Gardiner, a supervisor at the Preschool recalls that…
‘If you were supervising, you had a list of topics for each week and month, so on the days that you were supervising, you would base the session on the topic of the week or month. So, say it was gardens, we would have stories about gardens, we would talk about plants and flowers, and then we would have a craft activity based on that such as make a paper flower out of tissue paper.’
The children were assigned Keyworkers who were responsible for observing the children, writing records for them, and reporting back to their parents/guardians. Later, they developed portfolios of each child’s work to share with their parents. This more educational and structured approach was similar to that of the School, and helped better prepare the children for when they moved up to Primary School.
Training and Qualifications
The training and qualification requirements, and opportunities for people working in Childcare settings like Playgroups and Preschools, have changed a lot since Joan Leonard started the Playgroup in the 1970s, when there was limited childcare related training available.
When Sue Gardiner decided she wanted to become a Playgroup Supervisor there were several different qualifications available for childcare and early years work. Over a 2-year period, one afternoon a week, Sue completed a Diploma in Pre-school Practice, run by the Pre-school Playgroups Association at Dawlish Community College. The courses run by the Pre-school Playgroups Association focused on child development and learning through play. Another qualification at that time for early years work was provided by the National Nursery Examination Board (NNEB).
The training did not stop after obtaining the initial qualification. The 1980 Child Care Act and 1989 Children’s Act increased the health and safety and safeguarding requirements linked to Children and Childcare. Updates were needed every 2-3 years and extra training to support children with additional educational needs were provided. Sue Gardiner recalls doing a course to help her better support a child at the Preschool with Down’s Syndrome…
‘…to not focus on the child’s condition, but instead the whole child.’
Other courses Sue completed included how to introduce concepts such as Maths to Early Years children. Sue really enjoyed the courses and found them very beneficial in terms of her skills and confidence in carrying out her role as a Preschool Supervisor.
There are now several early years and childcare courses that qualify you to work in Playgroups and Preschools. The staff at Bishopsteignton Preschool today hold qualifications such as NVQs in Early Years & Education, Diplomas for the Children & Young People’s Workforce, and Childcare and Education. Linda Harrison, a current Preschool Assistant, says that they participate in the School’s staff training programme which includes safeguarding, first aid and specific training for supporting children with additional needs.
Fundraising
Newspaper Cutting ‘Crowds Flock to Vintage Car Rally’, 1989
One of the biggest fund-raising events the Playgroup was involved with was the Vintage Rally, which started in 1989, and was still going 2002.
The rally was organised by the Bishopsteignton Primary School PTA (Parent Teacher Association), and involved the display of vintage cars, motorbikes, tractors and stationary engines. Attractions such as miniature train rides, farm animals, races, …
‘…sheepdog displays, karate demonstrations, tractor games and live music thrilled the rally-goers.’
The rally weekend included a barn dance in the evening. To raise money for the Playgroup, ploughman lunches were provided and a tuck shop for the children.
Sue also remembers that there used to be an Easter Fair at the Community Centre with lots of stalls and activities, to raise money for the Preschool, with the main event being the Easter Bonnet Parade, in which children proudly wore homemade bonnets as they walked together from the village shop to the Community Centre. Sue recollects how…
‘….it was really sweet, as many of the children had little rabbit ears and flowers…so it was quite a cute thing that went on for several years.’
Another fund-raising activity Sue remembers was the Preschool being paid to collect newspapers for recycling.
Find more about Friends of Bishopsteignton School (FOBS) here: https://www.bishopsteignton.devon.sch.uk/fobs
Playgroup float, ‘Jack and Jill, taking part in the Village Carnival 1980s.
Bishopsteignton Playgroup in the Carnival 1979
This article highlighted the story of Bishopsteignton Playgroup (now Preschool) from 1986, after the departure of Joan Leonard, when it established itself on its new permanent site on Bishopsteignton School grounds.
Look out for the concluding part (Part 3) in this story about how the Preschool continues to have
an important role within the local community.
This article was assembled by the Bishopsteignton Heritage Hub team.