Bishopsteignton Playgroup float in the Village Carnival June 1980.
Visitors from La Roche Maurice
Bishopsteignton Preschool was now firmly established as an integral part of the village, with widespread community involvement and a developing educational programme. However, in 1996 it drew attention from further afield, with interest from our neighbours in France.
The previous year Bishopsteignton had became officially twinned with La Roche Maurice, a village in Brittany. In July 1996, it was the turn of the group from La Roche Maurice to visit Bishopsteignton, and as part of the trip many of them came to the Preschool to see how it was run and organised. This was with the hope of gaining inspiration and guidance in the setting up of a similar Preschool in La Roche Maurice.
In May 1996, Rachael Allardyce, the Chair of Bishopsteignton Preschool Committee, wrote to the Twinning Committee in La Roche Maurice to outline the set-up of the Preschool in preparation for their visit…
‘Our Pre-school is independent from the Primary School next door, having its own syllabus, employing its own nursery supervisors and looking after its own finances and administration…most of our children go on to Bishopsteignton Primary School when they are around five years old. They start with us at the age of three and normally live in the village or nearby.
Our Pre-school is a member of the Pre-school Learning Alliance, an educational charity founded in 1961. There are nearly 800,000 children in 19,000 playgroups, which are members of the Pre-school Learning Alliance, and each is run by a committee of volunteers without any government help.
Our objective is to give our little ones, here we have 35, a very good start to their learning, through play, and help them to improve their social and mental skills in a friendly atmosphere, under the watchful eye of our nursery supervisors.
There are six sessions per week for each child and the sessions last two and a half hours. For our children who are nearly five, there is a slightly more formal class to prepare them for Primary School.
We have three trained supervisors working alongside helpers, carefully chosen by our committee. We always encourage good relationships between parents, children and ourselves to give the children confidence and a taste for learning when they begin their school life.’
(A translation of selected parts of a letter written in French by Rachael Allardyce, Chair of Committee of Bishopsteignton Preschool in May 1996, to the Twinning Committee in La Roche Maurice.)
‘Playgroup impresses the French!’
An article in the Teignmouth Post and Gazette on 5th July 1996 about the visit outlined how the Bishopsteignton Preschool committtee members and supervisors impressed their French visitors with…
‘…handouts in impeccable French, which illustrated the differences between this parent-orientated community-run group and their Government-funded ecole maternelle’.
The visit had a lasting impact, as connections were made between families from the two villages. Many families with children at the Preschool were twinned with families from La Roche Maurice. Some of the children became pen pals and visited each other. Jo Head’s family was one such family. They remained friends and continued to stay in contact with their twinned family for 20 years or so. Jo’s daughter went out to stay in La Roche Maurice for a month to practise her French before she did her French degree at university.
See Twinning – La Roche Maurice article for more information
Relationship with Bishopsteignton Primary School
In the early years, when Joan Leonard worked at the Playgroup, there was only a very loose association with Bishopsteignton Primary School. Joan recalls that the only real connection with the school was when …
‘…a playgroup worker would take a child up to look at the school, when they were due to start the following term.’
Joan thinks that they mostly did this for children who were particularly worried about going to school.
When the Playgroup moved to the permanent site on the school grounds it was still a charity and not part of the school. Jo Head recalls that once they moved there, they wanted the Playgroup to be part of the school, but they were not able to achieve this at that time.
Even after the Playgroup evolved into a Preschool in the late 1990s, with a more formal educational focus, and closer ties with the school, it remained a separate entity as a charity until the school took it over in September 2020.
A former Preschool Supervisor, Sue Gardiner, who worked at the Preschool for the entire period it was a charity on the school site (25 years), remembers the Preschool…
‘…having a very good relationship with the school…and that they used to take the children there occasionally, if they were doing a reading week for instance, they would go up to the school library and choose some books to borrow.’
Someone who had direct experience of Bishopsteignton Primary School’s merger with the Preschool is the current Preschool Assistant, Linda Harrison. At the time, she had been a Teaching Assistant at the school for six years, but she was then transferred to the Preschool. Linda’s appointment was not the only change. The Preschool was no longer a self-managed unit but part of the governor-run school, with administration and management transferred to the school and its management team.
Linda feels that the Preschool has benefited from being part of the school, as it strengthened the connection and consistency between Early Years Preschool and Primary educational programmes.
Linda explained that…
‘…the Preschool is now overseen by the Reception Teacher, Mrs Jolly, who works with the Preschool Supervisor Christie, who does the planning, and so it all links in with what the school is doing.’
Linda thinks that these educational links, and being on the same site, has helped make the children’s transition from Preschool to Primary School easier, by familiarising themselves with the school setting and some of the school’s teachers and teaching assistants.
Becoming part of the school means the Preschool can enjoy facilities such as the library, and activities like the Christmas show and the Bounce Off event (Bouncy Castles at the school).
Covid-19 Pandemic
As with all organisations, the Preschool was impacted by the Covid-19 Pandemic and the resulting Government restrictions. During lockdowns, the Preschool and the school were only able to accept children of key workers. This included parents working in Health and Social Care, Education and Childcare, and in the provision of food and other necessary goods, so there were very few children present at these times. However, when all children were allowed to attend, in the periods between lockdowns, the experience for staff and children was very different. Both Linda Harrison, working firstly at the school, then the Preschool in September 2020, and myself, as a parent of a child at Preschool during Covid-19, were directly involved. Where possible, the children did their activities outside rather than indoors to reduce the risk of infection; if not possible, doors and/or windows had to be kept open to let in the fresh air. This could make it quite cold for staff and children. Only easily wipeable toys and equipment were made available so that everything could be kept clean, for instance, rather than paper, tablets and laptops were used. Everything had to be thoroughly cleaned between uses and at the end of the day.
Bishopsteignton Preschool Outdoor Equipment
Linda recalls that they had to…
‘…wipe down all the balls and toys that were used and wash their hands lots.’
Repeatedly supervising the washing of young children’s hands, in large groups, was, unsurprisingly, a tiresome time-consuming procedure. It also undoubtedly had an impact on some children, like my daughter, who got anxious about needing to keep their hands clean. Furthermore, the children were no longer allowed to bring in anything from home, which could be quite upsetting for some of the younger children, who were used to bringing in soothing soft toys or comforters.
In the school, Linda had to set up desks so they were at least 2 metres apart, and the staff were expected to stay 2 metres from each other and the children. She recalls that…
‘…when the children wanted help, it was very difficult because you had to stay 2 metres away from them.’
For some periods during the pandemic, the Preschool staff and parents had to wear masks, which Linda recalls ….
‘…made communication difficult between staff and children, and parents and staff.’
The restrictions imposed by the Government also meant that the school and Preschool were no longer able to accept volunteers, and fund-raising events ceased.
Changes Over Time
Bishopsteignton Preschool Main Room
The various changes of venue and management are not the only alterations and reforms that have been made to the Playgroup, then Preschool, over its 50 plus years. As already mentioned, there has been an increase in vetting of staff, and of health and safety checks and regulations. Sue Gardiner also highlighted other changes to Government policy and legislation that had an effect on the way the Preschool was run. An important one was the total number of children the Preschool could take. Another was the ratio of adults to children that was needed, according to their age. Over time, there were less adults working with more children. Although this increased the capacity of the Preschool, it made the work harder for the staff in terms of the time and attention they could give to individual children.
Another Government initative that affected the Preschool was the ‘Every Child Matters’ (ECM) policy in 2003. The aim of ECM was greater inclusion and protection for the more marginalised and vulnerable children. Sue explained that the one of the consequences was they now had to accept children who were not potty trained.
Sue recalled:
‘…this meant it felt like we were doing the parents’ job a lot of the time. Although the parents were probably doing some training at home with their children, because they were at Preschool for a significant proportion of the day, it felt like the staff were training them – continually asking them if they needed the toilet, encouraging and helping them to go – more than the parents.’
This work was compounded when the Preschool extended its offering to 2-year-olds, as the staff then had to do lots of nappy changing.
The increase in record-keeping continued with the introduction of portfolios for each child’s progress and milestones. When Sue first started, the Supervisors were responsible for this, but eventually all members of staff were involved, each with a small group of children allocated to them.
Later, with the 21st century developments in computing software programming, the Preschool procured a Learning Journal App called Tapestry, to help staff record each child’s learning. Sue was working at the Preschool when the App was introduced, and she remembers being worried about it at first.
Sue recalls that…
‘…the Preschool were really concerned that I would leave, as I seemed so worried about the introduction of the Tapestry App.’
However, after being trained in using the App, Sue Gardiner realised it was not as bad as she had thought. All you needed to do was, at the end of the day, type into the App your observations of the children you were a Key Worker for, then send them off to the parents. Sue felt that the Learning Journal App had both benefits and drawbacks. On the one hand, it improved the efficiency of record keeping and sharing, but on the other hand it reduced the face to face contact you had with the parents because it removed the need to talk to them about their children’s day at pick-up time. The Tapestry Learning Journal App is still used in the Preschool today to record daily observations of the children and ….
‘…to help build a picture of each child, how they are doing, and to help them identify which areas they may need assistance with.’
(Bishopsteignton Preschool – Prospectus)
As a parent whose child was at the Preschool in 2021-22, and experienced the App, I can say that I found it not only helpful to find out how my daughter was getting on each day, but also a joy to see photos of her enjoying herself doing a wide range of fun activities. This was particularly important during Covid-19, when face to face contact with the staff at the Preschool was very limited.
Sue also recalls technological innovations having an impact on the activities the children were able to do, when devices such as tablets were introduced. They could use them at certain times of the day for specific educational tasks.
Current Early Years Education
The current educational programme of Bishopsteignton Preschool, as with other Early Years settings in the UK, is based on the Early Years Foundation Stage Framework (EYFS). This continues through the Reception Year at Primary School.
The EYFS is split into seven areas of learning and development that fall into two categories:
Prime Areas
- Personal, Social and Emotional Development
- Physical Development
- Communication and Language
Specific Areas
- Literacy
- Mathematics
- Understanding the World
- Expressive Arts and Design
Linda Harrison was keen to stress that at the core of the EYFS and the Preschool’s approach to all these educational areas is…
‘learning through play’.
Bishopsteignton Preschool Outdoor Area
Bishopsteignton Preschool main room
Lasting Memories
Everyone who has been, or continues to be, involved in the Preschool, and interviewed as part of research for this article, has a great deal of affection for the Preschool. They all spoke very fondly about their experiences of working with both the children and their colleagues. Hence, why one of its founders, Joan Leonard felt so sad that…
‘…it broke my heart when I had to give up…’
…after 13 years, when the physical demands of the job became too much due to health reasons. But, also incredibly grateful for the wonderful memories and…
‘…happy times.’
There have also been Playgroup workers who enjoyed their experience at the Playgroup so much, it inspired them to continue to work with children, retraining as Teaching Assistants and Teachers.
Sue Gardiner loved it so much she worked for the Preschool for over 30 years, and like Joan…
‘…did not want to give it up…’
Sue’s favourite aspect of her role as Preschool Supervisor was working with the children, as most of the children were lovely and she found spending time with them a lot of fun. Sue also really liked the people she worked with over the years.
This genuine love of the job, and affection for the children and her co-workers, is echoed by the current employee, Linda Harrison.
Linda says…
‘It is a great place to work… it’s great spending time with the children and working with a lovely team’
Linda particularly enjoys doing activities outside, because they have such a nice outdoor space with good facilities, including the school’s ‘Forest School’ area.
Legacy
Sue Gardiner still sees lots of the children in the village that she looked after and educated at Preschool. Many still remember her…
‘I walk through the village and a lot of (former) preschoolers will say hi Sue.’
She has even been able to see many grow to become adults with children of their own.
From a spur of the moment decision inspired by a talk, Joan and Elizabeth put in place the foundations of an essential service for local families, one of not only vital childcare, but also early years education, that continues to this day. Decades of work by them and other Playgroup/Preschool workers and volunteers, has ensured this service has not only remained but flourished. The planning, time, effort, care and patience, put into looking after, engaging and educating children, is work that should be recognised and highly valued. And the work that has gone into fundraising over the years to keep the Preschool going, and the efforts that many members of the local community put into repurposing and refurbishing the current dedicated building and site, should be celebrated.
My daughter loved her time at Bishopsteignton Preschool, and even now, remembers it and her Key Worker fondly. And as a parent, I feel fortunate that when my family needed it, the existence of the Preschool meant we were not only able to access local, caring and supportive childcare for our daughter, but also high quality and fun early years education.
The Preschool Wall Hanging Project – The Preschool
This concludes our series about Bishopsteignton Playgroup, now known as Bishopsteignton Preschool, from when it started in the Village Hall in 1973 until it had established itself in its own dedicated building sited on Bishopsteignton Primary School in 1995, and then eventually being run entirely by the school in 2020.
This article was assembled by the Bishopsteignton Heritage Hub team.