What the charity does
The first aim of Pippa’s Group is to provide an affordable, happy, highly staffed and stimulating pre-school for all our children to enable them to enter school with the best possible start.
The second aim is to offer support and advice to all parents by providing a weekly Parent Suport Group.
Children can be introduced to Pippa’s Group by their Health Visitor or parents. There is usually a waiting list for places at all sessions. As we operate high staffing levels we can often offer places to children who have all kinds of special needs. Typically, a child starts at around 2 years of age and will stay with the Group until they go to school. We are located in the grounds of Pells Church of England Primary School and are developing good links with them. This is particularly helpful for all the children that are likely to enter Pells School.
Pippa’s Group is for children from the whole of Lewes and surrounding villages.
Following the guidelines detailed in the Every Child Matters legislation, we provide experiences and activities to cover the six areas of learning. Visit our curriculum page to find out more.
The Friday Group is open to any parent or grandparent or carer – not just those whose children attend the playgroup. It offers opportunities for parents to meet each other on a regular basis with their children, to share experiences of child-rearing. As the name suggests, this meets every Friday (1pm to 3.00) for up to 50 weeks of the year. During the summer school holidays, day-trips are organised by Group Staff for parents and children at a very low cost.
Two great teenagers, Ned and his friend Jonathan raised funds for Pippa's Group by riding in the London to Brighton Bike Ride and raised £220 in sponsorship!! Thank you both very much!
For children under 3 who do not receive the Nursery Education Grant, parents are charged a nominal £4 per child per session. This fee is achieved only by significant subsidy from the Charity. We believe, passionately, that high staffing ratios enables a child to reach his/her potential before entering formal schooling.
The Charity receives funds from a variety of sources and its accounts can be viewed at the Charity Commission’s website http://www.charity-commission.gov.uk/ In the last few years we have been very fortunate to have been supported by local businesses, in particular Colin Lloyd and Kate Cherkoff and one other local anonymous donor.
Contributors this year (2010 to 2011) are: - Colin Lloyd & Kate Cherkoff, Lewes Town Council, Children in Need, Mr. & Mrs. David Lambird, Awards for All, Michaela Earl and family, Ned Lloyd and his friend Jonathan, and Mrs Alice Whyndham.
For Friday Group sessions, where the emphasis is on friendly support and networking in a relaxed atmosphere, with refreshments, a fee of £1.00 is requested per family.
Every session has 5 members of staff, all of whom are trained play leaders. Every member of staff is required to undergo a CRB check and staff are encouraged and funded to undertake regular training for professional development. We have one member of staff currently undertaking a degree course in Early Years.
