Community Education Val Tookey 260566
Melbourn’s’outstanding’ Nursery School – ‘Little Hands’
Little Hands Karen on 01763 260964
The “Little Hands” Nursery School on the Moor in Melbourn provides private preschool education for children aged 2 to 5 years. The school operates during term times and also offers holiday clubs during the main school holidays. In November 2007 the Nursery School was inspected by Ofsted who rated the quality and standards of care provided by ‘Little Hands’ as ‘outstanding’ and the quality and standards of the Nursery Education provided by ‘Little Hands’ again as ‘outstanding’. Basically this means that in terms of both the care and Nursery Education provided, Ofsted think there are no areas of the services provided by “Little Hands” which can be improved upon. Very few private Nursery Schools receive the accolade of ‘outstanding’ from Ofsted as basically it means that all aspects of the provision are of exceptionally high quality. This is a ringing endorsement of the practical philosophy of ‘Little Hands’ which is, and always has been, ‘Learning Through Play’. ‘Little Hands’ offers morning, afternoon and lunchtime Nursery School sessions as well as Pre-School sessions, to prepare our older children for infant school. Holiday clubs for children from 2 to 8 years of age are also held in the main school holidays. Free funded sessions are available every afternoon from 1.30 ‘till 4.00pm. If you would like to learn more about what ‘Little Hands’ has to offer you and your child please telephone Karen on 01763 260964 during school hours or Jane on 01223 503972 at other times. Alternatively you can e-mail Karen at lh-melbourn@ btconnect.com or Jane at janemarshall@littlehands.co.uk.
Melbourn Playgroup Jane Crawford 07842 151512 Notre Ecole Janet Whitton 261231 Primary School Headmaster Maynard Dunlop 223457 Toy Library Yasmin Croxford 220246 U3A (Univ. of Third Age) Chairman John Stevens 261858 Village College Warden Elaine Stephenson 223400
Melbourn Primary School “Round the back!” shout the innkeeper and his wife. “Round the back!” they shout at each intrusion into their night-time slumbers. It’s the week before we break up for Christmas and our youngest children are performing their variation on the nativity play to their parents. Genuine but polite laughter follows each time as the shepherds and the kings are treated with something less than good manners and directed to the stable, which is “round the back”. It is good to see that the humour appeals equally to our children as they gain confidence from the audience’s reaction. I am tempted to say that the story is a modern variation on the traditional theme but it is more than that. It contains all of the elements of the stable in Bethlehem and thus keeps with the traditional but the words coming from the innkeeper bring a twenty-first century dimension. Polite tolerance with a strong sense of frustration. Life is so hectic that the hours of sleep are vital, no time to stand back and marvel at the wondrous event, blaming everyone else for your life being hard, blaming others for messing up our normal life pattern… Luckily, on seeing the new-born baby the innkeeper and his wife soften – “Aaah, what a lovely baby!” they both say and the audience mirrors the line with their own expressions of joy and wonder. In the same week our older children offer a well-presented production that is melbournmagazine
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