MAY 2021
TOWER PRE-SCHOOL
CHAIR’S REPORT 2021
‘A VERY DIFFERENT YEAR…..’
As you will know from last year’s report, we were closed in line with government regulations on 23[rd] March 2020. We did not open until September 2020. Our staff worked as best they could from home during this period but it did seem a very long time! Local government continued to fund pre-schools but of course we lost all our private income. The trustees made the decision to keep all members of staff on full wage during this time.
The staff and parents were very happy to return in September daily from 9.15 to 12.30 and till 4pm on Tuesdays and Thursdays. We also had a few new starters at the beginning of the academic year. However, as a second wave of the pandemic threatened and subsequent tiered systems saw us moving into a second and then a third lockdown, some parents lost confidence. The news came that schools were to close whereas pre-schools should remain open. Consequently, some children were withdrawn and new children deferred their places again. Although the local government continued to fund us, we lost the private income again.
In the last half-term, we have started to recover. All the children returned from selfisolation and we have had new children join us. Many of the children will still be with us into the next academic year. Claire and her team report that the pandemic and subsequent lockdowns seem to have affected children’s behaviour and the way they play, communicate and interact with each other. Interestingly too we have become extremely boy heavy! All the staff are working very hard to encourage good behaviour and enrich the quality of the children’s play, by introducing lots of new activities, working on sharing and turn taking, splitting age groups and encouraging more independence.
In all this time we have been blessed as there have been no Covid 19 outbreaks in the TPS community. All the staff now have access to lateral flow testing at home and they have all had their first Covid vaccinations. This has all helped to boost the confidence of the staff. At this point I would like to commend and congratulate Claire, Norgard and their team for their vigilance and determination to retain their Covid secure procedures.
In the last lockdown we did have to look at staffing numbers and had to reduce staff days back to their contracts, as the ratio of staff to children was too high to sustain financially. The team is managing with this staffing level and the ratios remain very healthy for the children.
We have had some interest in taking up places for the next academic year but we recognise the need to attract more parents and children in the coming months. Claire is going to
host some Open Days nearer to the summer holidays as it would not be wise to have visitors into the pre-school with our children around at present.
TPS is providing a home for 5 small, very hungry caterpillars this term, which will be a wonderful experience for the children. They are looking into growing sunflowers, herbs and other plants in the garden and are requesting any green-fingered people to help and donate some plants or planters to help brighten the courtyard garden. They grew daffodils, beans and cress last term.
As you can see, Claire and her team have been working very hard in the difficult circumstances we have all been dealing with, but as trustees we want them to know how brilliant we think they have all been and how much we appreciate their enormous efforts. We are very grateful too to the children and their families for supporting TPS and so many thanks go to Orpington Baptist Church for giving us a home and for your continued support. Monica King (Chair of Trustees)