"Who are we?"

"From little Acorns Great Oak Trees grow"

Acorn has been established since 1992 and is situated in a classroom in Oaklands Primary School, in the Oaklands area of Welwyn.

"As a registered charity Acorn is in receipt of government funding for 2 year olds (criteria applies) and 3 - 4 year olds, and actively works on fundraising for further contributions. The fundraising also guarantees an active social agenda throughout the school year!" The Playgroup and Pre school is registered with Ofsted as a Voluntary Aided School, Accredited by the Pre-school Learning Alliance and has a Herts Quality Standard Award.

Acorn offers a flexible , high quality educational care for children from the age of 2 years up to rising 5 year olds. At Acorn we aim to create a welcoming, safe and secure environment where we recognise that every each child is unique and we strive to extend your child's development and learning through both child-initiated play and adult-led activities, creating an enabling enivornment to help each child reach their full potential. We offer a free flow environment where children can access activities both inside and outdoors.

We are an inclusive setting where we aim to provide equality and accessibility to children and families by building a positive relationship and partnership with parents and carers whilst creating an enabling environment that makes for easy learning.

Our motto is "If a child can't learn the way we teach, then we will teach the way they can learn". We recognise each child's unique qualities and by building on existing abilities and interests, ensuring that every child makes progress.

The children at Acorn are encouraged to participate in a wide variety of activities either independently or by working with others, and are part of the decision making when planning our topics and themes. Although not part of the Primary School (Oaklands) in which we are based, we work closely with the Reception class, offering our children as many school experiences as possible in effort to make the transition a smooth process for example playing outside with the Reception children, attending assemblies, using the school hall and P.E. equipment etc.

We follow the Early Years Foundation Stage (EYFS) in both the Playgroup and Pre-School, where the emphasis is on play. We offer opportunities for our children to practise skills they have already developed and our Practitioners respond to the children's interests by scaffolding their learning. Through planning and observations we prepare the children for life in "Big School".