St Thomas’ Pre-school Playgroup

The History.

The Pre-school began it’s life in the hall of St Andrews Church during 1973. From these origins the pre-school progressed to the larger premises here at St Thomas’ in 1976.

          In its early days the Pre-school provided places for 18 children who attended for a maximum of 4 sessions a week. This continued under the management of Mrs S Roberts for 10 years. Mrs Nirmala Singhvi took over in 1986. 1988 saw an increase in demand for places at the Pre-school which led to it being open for 5 mornings a week for up to 22 children. In December 2002 the number of children we were allowed to take was increase to 24 each morning, by Ofsted.

           I took over the Pre-school in September 98 when Nirmala felt the paper work meant she could not spend enough time with the children.

           Despite never having to advertise we have a long waiting list and rarely have any spaces. We do not have a catchment area so many children travel to us from out of Watford, although the majority are local.

           We welcome all members of the community and have enjoyed many special relationships with children who have special needs and their families. We hope this has given the children, who may need1:1 help, a positive experience of learning: as well as showing the other children how to care for and accept others. All the children gain a lot from this relationship and we hope it will give them acceptance and understanding in years to come.

We like to feel we are a family oriented group with siblings, grandparents, parents and carers joining us for many events during the term such as sports day, Christmas concert etc.

To Contents.