Parent Area
Stay up to date with the latest news, information and resources for your child.Upcoming Events and Key dates
September
Settling in
Parent information evening
Committee meeting
October
End of term 1
November
Nearly New Toy Sale at preschool 15th November (see our facebook page for more details)
Term Dates September 2025 – July 2026
Please note that the pre-school term dates are not exactly the same as school terms.
Term 1
7 week term
Starts Tuesday 9 September 2025
Ends Friday 24 October 2025
Welcome visits Monday 8th September 2025
INSET PM – Friday 24th October
Term 2
7 week term
Starts Monday 3 November 2025
Ends Friday 20 December 2025
Term 3
6 week term
Starts Tuesday 6 January 2026
Ends Friday 13 February 2026
Welcome visit 5th January 2026
Term 4
6 week term
Starts Monday 23 February 2026
Ends Thursday 2 April 2026
Term 5
5 week term
Starts Tuesday 21 April 2026
Ends Friday 22 May 2026
Welcome visit 20th April 2026
Term 6
7 week term
Starts Monday 1 June 2026
Ends Friday 17 July 2026
INSET ~PM – Friday 17th July
Committee meeting dates
Committee meetings are held once a term (6 per year) on Wednesday evenings, 8pm at our Crossways site. In addition we hold an AGM, when a committee is elected annually. All parents and carers are warmly invited to come along and get involved by offering any talents or experience you may have or even just a different perspective, the pre-school cannot operate without you!
24th September 2025
26th November 2025
28th January 2026 (AGM)
March 25th 2026
May 20th 2026
July 8th 2026
Fundraising and social events
We rely on fundraising to help us update and replace our resources, and to pay for visits for the children during the year. Thanks to the hard work and enthusiasm of our volunteers, we have been able to buy a fantastic range of equipment.
We are always looking for volunteers to help us organise and run our fundraising and social events, and to help us apply for grants for specific projects – if you would like to help, please get in touch.
One of the other ways that we can raise funds for our pre-school is through ‘matched giving’ schemes. Do you work for a company that offers matched giving as a staff benefit? It normally means that if the employee helps out at one of our fundraising events then their employer will double the funds that we raise. If you think you might be able to help, please let us know.
Please speak to any of our staff or committee members for ways that you can get involved, and don’t forget that all the family are welcome to help with fundraising too.
Annual Reports
Our annual report reviews our achievements over the past year, sets out our financial position and includes reports from our committee members. It also includes a short summary of our business plan for the coming year.
Copies of our annual reports are available on the pre-school notice board or on Companies House .
Ofsted reports
First Step pre-school is regulated by Ofsted, the Office for Standards in Education, Children’s Services and Skills. Ofsted carries out regular inspections of all early years settings and childcare providers, and publishes inspection reports which tell you how effective the provider is, what they do well and recommendations for further improvements.
We were was last inspected in December 2021, and Ofsted rated our pre-school provision as good, the second highest grade, in all areas.
Policies
Our pre-school policies help us to make sure that the service we provide is of a very high standard. Staff and parents/carers work together to create our policies, and they are reviewed regularly to ensure that we keep up to date with new legislation and guidance, and early years best practice.
Signed copies of all our policies are available at pre-school, and policies can also be downloaded here.
Registered office:
First Step Pre-School,
Knapp Rd,
Thornbury, BS35 2HQ
Call us: 01454 867283 (9 am - 3.15 pm)
Pre-school mobile (for use in pre-school hours): 07718 798826
Email us: crossways@firststeppreschool.co.uk
First Step Pre-School Ltd is registered in England
Registered Number 5885935
Registered Charity Number 1142554