FAQs
We hope to be able to answer some of your frequently asked questions on this page. If you can't find what you're looking for, please contact us and we can answer you and add it to the page. These are answered in no particular order.
What is a Kindergarten?
A kindergarten is a more informal kind of preschool, where children below the compulsory age of formal schooling learn through play, social interactions and practical activities as part of the transition from home to school.
Out There Kindergarten is special because we take the word's literal meaning, a garden for the children, and put it into practice as we take the learning outdoors for around 70 - 90% of the day (depending on the time of year). Out There Kindergarten is a garden for the children as we can play and explore in up to four different green spaces throughout our week. These include different parts of the woodland and the local park.
Who is Out There Kindergarten for?
Out There Kindergarten is for children and families of all backgrounds. We are an inclusive setting and hope to portray this in our intake of children. Children come from all over Bristol and its surrounding areas, and we promote our setting in various ways to ensure we attract a diverse community. If you are unsure about whether your child would be able to access our services due to a special educational need or physical disability, please contact us and we can discuss your child’s needs in more detail.
Can my child attend Out There Kindergarten and still go to another provider on other days?
It’s up to you how many different providers your child attends in one week, but it’s usual for them to attend between 1 and 2. You can use your (extended) government-funded hours with up to 3 different providers.
About 2/3rds of the children who attend Out There Kindergarten will also attend another setting (either a nursery or childminder). The other third will solely attend Out There kindergarten.
Can I book for one day?
We have a 2 day minimum attendance.
What happens when the weather is ‘extreme’?
There is a saying amongst outdoor educators that there is no such thing as bad weather, just inappropriate clothing. However, the realities of the British weather mean that on particularly bad weather days, we might not be outside for the entire day but alternate between indoors and out.
We are lucky in that we have indoor facilities and we make use of these, especialy
and green spaces right on our doorstep. We are famous for ‘wet walks’ and make use of the local park if it’s too windy. We still get to go outside but then head back to get warm and dry, perhaps before going out in the back garden again. We will ensure children are always appropriately dressed and take spares of everything.
What's a typical day at out there kindergarten?
The day is made up with a series of routines which the children become very familiar with. Routines and structure help children to feel safe and secure. On arrival children get stuck in to free play or enjoy a story with a familiar adult. Once everyone has arrived, the group gather to discuss the intentions of the day before heading in to key group time with their key person. getting ready for the day ahead, circle time, planning time in key groups, storytelling, playtime and child-led projects, snack time, more playtime, lunch, reflection time, adult-led activities and home time. These things are all very common in the early-years-education and will help ensure your child is school-ready.
What if I'm late?
We ask that children arrive by 9.00 though we understand that one some days you may be running late.
Where do I park to drop my child off?
We discourage parents from bringing cars down St Anne’s Terrace, and there is no parking on the site. We encourage parents to park on the top road and walk down the lane. You should be able to park-up by the doctor’s surgery on Wick Road, Salisbury Road or St Anne's Park Road.
Is it too much for such young CHILDREN to be outdoors most of the day?
We don’t think so (based on experience), but you know your child best.
Although we plan to be outdoors for most of the day, this equates to around four hours a day in the Spring/Summer (10-14.45) and even less through the winter, when we take lunch back at the scout hut. There will be the opportunity to rest at certain points throughout the day, and we have cosy spaces for children to snuggle down with a blanket and cushion.
If the general feeling of the group is to head back to base camp, then we will follow the children's lead and go with what the group decides. Back at base camp, children can snuggle down with a book, play outside in the mud kitchen, play games etc.
My child is shy/anxious at times, is Out There suitable for them?
Out There is perfect for all children, especially those who might struggle to be heard (often referred to as the invisible child) in a more traditional setting. Being outdoors (and participating in forest school) has been proven to increase children’s overall confidence and help with self-esteem. Usually, quiet children tend to speak out more in an outdoor setting. Read more about the benefits of outdoor play and learning here.
It’s also very natural for a child to be shy and even a little anxious when starting somewhere new. We understand this and can plan for a settling-in period unique to the child. We hope your child will settle quickly, especially as they will have a key person to help them.
How do you keep children safe on public land?
Our top priority is ensuring that children are always safe, whether playing in the woods or walking on the pavements by a busy road. We have very thorough risk assessments and policies that ensure children’s safety.
We have higher adult: child ratios compared to more traditional nursery or preschool settings. Children must always be within sight of the adult and vice versa, meaning they are supervised at all times. The key person and their key children also wear the same colour high viz whilst out, to support headcounts, which happen frequently.
The walk to and from Nightingale Valley Woods and the allotment is along a footpath, away from main roads. When walking to the park, St Anne’s woods or on trips, we use a ‘walking bus’ system, with children in pairs, holding hands and adults strategically placed in the line. We have a ‘safety’ discussion at the start of each walk.
Although two of the sites we use are public land, we see very few public members there during the day, apart from the odd dog walker, as it is off the main path. However, we use orange cones to mark our boundaries, and children know they should not go outside the cones. This is covered in our ‘Forest Code’, which we go through at the start of every ‘Forest School’ session around the fire circle.
HOW DO YOU HELP CHILDREN TO SETTLE IN?
We start things off with an 'all about me' form, which leads on to an 'all about me' meeting before your child starts (this is usually the very end of August). From this point, your child will have met their key person, and we hope they will start to build a special bond. We have a few weeks of settling in sessions which also help. During their first week, children attend 9 - 12, during their second week they attend 9 - 14 with a packed lunch and during their third week, they can attend all day. You can read our settling in policy here.
CAN I ARRANGE A VISIT?
We welcome visits from parents and children at certain times throughout the year. We hold an annual open day, usually in October and we hold 3 ‘see and play’ sessions throughout the year (Autumn, Spring and Summer) so parents can come and see what we do and look around with the view to registering for future intakes.
HOW DOES KINDERGARTEN PREPARE MY CHILD FOR SCHOOL?
We follow the early years foundation stage and incorporate the 7 areas of learning into our day, either holistically or through direct teaching and learning opportunities.
We help children become ‘school ready’ by ensuring that they develop strong characteristics of learning such as having the confidence to give it a go and thinking critically. More information on the above can be found in this document. We use the document Birth to 5 Matters to assess children’s learning and development and you’ll receive termly updates.
We focus strongly on the 3 prime areas initially; Communication and Language, PSED and Physical Development. First of all, we work towards ensuring the child feels safe and secure and has strong personal, social and emotional development (PSED). Relationships are formed with adults and other children and there is a great process of socialisation where children learn to make friends, work as apart of team, take turns, share resources and ideas, and negotiate and resolve conflict.
We help develop children’s Communication and Language through quality interactions, games, songs, stories and play. Finally, there is a huge focus on physical development, to aid fine and gross motor skills which will ensure children are ready to hold a pencil for example and have built up muscles for writing.
Key group time allows the adult to track children’s progress and develop their strengths in other areas such as letters and sounds, mark making and numbers. By the end of their time with us children should be able to separate from their main carer easily, be well socialised, have developed age appropriate listening and attention skills, and perhaps moved on to early phonics and name writing.
Forest School, and outdoor nature play, also plays a huge part in developing children’s independence, confidence, resilience, collaboration, risk taking and other skills which help prepare them for school.