Latest News August 2011
Work proceeds well with the new building and garden landscaping. We will be welcoming parents and children to visit the new building on Wed 6th September so that they can see the new facilities before term begins on Thursday 7th September.
We will be holding an opening event on Friday 23rd September at which Richard Benyon MP will officially open the new building and help celebrate a new chapter in the life of Streatley Hill Pre-school.
We will be holding an opening event on Friday 23rd September at which Richard Benyon MP will officially open the new building and help celebrate a new chapter in the life of Streatley Hill Pre-school.
Latest News June 2011
‘Save our Pre-school’ - work starts on the new Pre-school building
We are pleased to announce that work has started on the new pre-school building. Its taken us nearly two years to raise just over £170,000 and we are now in a position to provide a building to match the excellence of our staff and service.
Children at Streatley are encouraged to use our lovely woodland garden as much as possible. The Early Years Foundation Stage (the curriculum followed by all pre-schools and nurseries) encourages maximum use of outdoor areas because research has demonstrated that fresh air and natural light can dramatically enhance a child's educational experience.
In line with this guidance we have selected a new building called an Eco-Canopy. This modular building has been designed by architects Bryden Wood and will be largely manufactured off-site before being installed in early summer. It has been specifically created to be used by schools and pre-schools and its' floor-to-ceiling windows and skylights help to achieve a light and spacious feel. Eco-canopy also enables us to conform to the high standards for environmental sustainability required of all new educational buildings. There are a number of examples in the region, although we will be the first Eco-Canopy in West Berkshire. For more detail click www.ecocanopy.co.uk
The new building will be on the same site as our existing portakabin in the grounds of Streatley Primary School and we expect the work to take three months. During this time Streatley Pre-school will be operating from its temporary home at the Belleme Room at Goring Village Hall and fundraising will continue for new furniture.
As soon as we know when the new pre-school is due to re-open we will let you know. We will be holding an open event so that all our local supporters can come and see the fruits of their efforts.
From September 2011 we shall be able to accommodate up to 20 children, aged 2-5 years, per session in our new building. We shall also be extending our opening hours by offering full day (9am to 3pm) sessions on a Tuesday and Thursday. If you are interested in your child attending please contact Alli Robson on 01491 871011.
We are pleased to announce that work has started on the new pre-school building. Its taken us nearly two years to raise just over £170,000 and we are now in a position to provide a building to match the excellence of our staff and service.
Children at Streatley are encouraged to use our lovely woodland garden as much as possible. The Early Years Foundation Stage (the curriculum followed by all pre-schools and nurseries) encourages maximum use of outdoor areas because research has demonstrated that fresh air and natural light can dramatically enhance a child's educational experience.
In line with this guidance we have selected a new building called an Eco-Canopy. This modular building has been designed by architects Bryden Wood and will be largely manufactured off-site before being installed in early summer. It has been specifically created to be used by schools and pre-schools and its' floor-to-ceiling windows and skylights help to achieve a light and spacious feel. Eco-canopy also enables us to conform to the high standards for environmental sustainability required of all new educational buildings. There are a number of examples in the region, although we will be the first Eco-Canopy in West Berkshire. For more detail click www.ecocanopy.co.uk
The new building will be on the same site as our existing portakabin in the grounds of Streatley Primary School and we expect the work to take three months. During this time Streatley Pre-school will be operating from its temporary home at the Belleme Room at Goring Village Hall and fundraising will continue for new furniture.
As soon as we know when the new pre-school is due to re-open we will let you know. We will be holding an open event so that all our local supporters can come and see the fruits of their efforts.
From September 2011 we shall be able to accommodate up to 20 children, aged 2-5 years, per session in our new building. We shall also be extending our opening hours by offering full day (9am to 3pm) sessions on a Tuesday and Thursday. If you are interested in your child attending please contact Alli Robson on 01491 871011.
 | THANK YOU TO ALL WHO HAVE SUPPORTED US!Please click here to see all our supporters……
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New Building Project
This is a very exciting time for us and we feel very strongly about doing the best we can for our pre-school children and Streatley village.
The long term survival of Streatley Hill Pre-school is dependent on replacing our current building on the same site in the grounds of Streatley Primary School. If we do not replace our current building, we will be forced to close.
To this end, we are currently running our ‘Save our Pre-school’ fundraising campaign. If you would like to know more about the project, please click on the links below. You can also scroll down to catch the latest news of our campaign………
Our bid to replace our current building OR be forced to close.
A bit of background about Streatley Hill Pre-school
Frequently Asked Questions
People involved in the campaign
Latest News…..
· August/September 2010 - The end of September saw our fundraising total reach £165,000 - only £5000 left to raise! After concern that government cuts might jeopardise our funding from West Berkshire Council, the grants were confirmed as safe and a major milestone was reached when the project received planning permission without conditions.
· June/July 2010 - The academic year of the pre-school is ended with a flurry of fundraising events. We host an "Antiques Day" with Jonty Hearnden, a stall with stocks at the Primary School Fete and a "Dance through the Decades" Disco. These events raise a further £2,000. In addition, the local bridge club host a charity bridge drive in our honour and raise £1,000 for our new building. Our very successful "Buy a Brick" campaign raises almost £5,000 from the local community. Our planning application is completed and submitted for approval to West Berkshire Council. We take a welcome break over the Summer holidays and look forward to September when the result of our planning permission should be known.
· May 2010 - Our fundraising continues unabated with many private donations including a further significant amount from another anonymous donor. Further publicity is generated by our BBQ at the local "Hairy Legs" Bike/Running Challenge which raises a further £1,000.
· April 2010 - Our local fundraising efforts gather apace with the launch of our "Buy a Brick" campaign and a leaflet inviting all local residents to participate is delivered to every house in Streatley. In addition, our pre-school children (in the company of Richard Benyon MP) toddle around Streatley Recreation Ground and their sponsership raises almost £2,000 towards the new building. The campaign also receives a wonderful boost in the form of a £5,000 donation from an anonymous donor. The Newbury Weekly News (April 29 2010 edition) features an article about Streatley Pre-school and our attempt to save this vital service or be forced to close. Our fundraising team continue to dream up new and exciting ways to raise the remainder of the money needed.
· March 2010 - A team of parents run the Reading Half Marathon and raise £2,800 in sponsorship. Well done to all the runners! We are disappointed again by a second rejected application to Greenham Common Trust. However, we receive the wonderful news that our local Councillor Alan Law has secured a further £25,000 from a Member Bid submitted to West Berkshire Council. In addition, his tireless efforts secure another £15,000 from West Berkshire Early Years Fund. This is a trememdous boost to our campaign and means that the new building is very much in our sights.........
· January /February 2010 – Our campaign continues to gather momentum with a two page spread in the February edition of the Goring Gap News, a pledge of £5,000 from the Goring Gap Deserving Causes Fund, £2,500 received from the King George V Jubilee Fund and a further £750 in corporate sponsorship. In addition, our fundraising team work vigorously on developing a local “Save our Pre-school” campaign. Read Launch Article from Goring Gap News Feb 2010 here.
· November/ December 2009 – Our building team work very hard on completing a comprehensive and detailed application to West Berkshire Council Early Years Fund. The result is inconclusive. We also receive a disappointing result from our grant funding application to Greenham Common Trust. The Christmas Shopping Night fundraiser held at The Swan Hotel, Streatley raises a further £1,000 towards our campaign. The Michael Shanly Charitable Trust agrees to support our campaign and contributes £1,000.
· October 2009 – The team receive a massive boost by receiving £5,000 from the Englefield Trust. Competitive tenders are sought from four different building firms and evaluated in terms of meeting our requirements for educational design and value for money. Unfortunately, our application for National Lottery Funding is rejected. On a happier note, we receive confirmation from HMRC that the new building project will be zero rated for VAT. We continue fundraising with a successful children’s Hallowe’en Disco which raises another £1,000. Ernst & Young provides £500 towards the campaign.
· July/August/ September – The team work hard on identifying and rigorously evaluating funding opportunities from grant funding bodies and trusts/foundations. Unfortunately, it becomes apparent that pre-schools are ineligible from many of the well known funding bodies and our fundraising task seems onerous.
· June/July – Our campaign gathers support by visits to the pre-school, at our invitation, from interested parties such as Richard Benyon MP, Councillor Alan Law and West Berkshire Director of Education Ian Pearson and Avril Allenby, West Berkshire Council Schools Improvement Officer. As a result of these meetings and intensive lobbying, West Berkshire Council generously pledge £50,000 towards our new building project. Meanwhile, design planning for the new building continues which includes visits to other pre-schools to assess building contractors and compiling a shortlist of preferred building contractors. Our very popular Ladies Cocktail Evening is held as well as a BBQ at the local “Hairy Legs” Bike/ Running Challenge which, together, raise £2,000. Members of the Building Team meet with the Governors of Streatley Primary School to put their case forward for a new building. The Governors unanimously agree to support the new pre-school building.
· January – May 2009 - A group of interested and energetic pre-school parents recognise the immediacy of replacing the Streatley Pre-school building. All parents are volunteers and some have relevant professional skills in Educational Building Design, Environmental Building Consultancy, Chartered Accountancy, Project Management, PR etc. We start with £20,000 in our bank account which has been fundraised over a number of years and set aside for a new building. Very soon, it becomes obvious that our new building will cost a great deal more that we expect and we have a mountain to climb!!! A fundraising campaign is planned…..
Read our Development Plan here.
