Duchy Preschool And Playgroup

Several local moms decided to create the Bradninch and District Playgroup in 1972 because they thought it would be good for their kids. At originally, there were two sessions per week, with the first child's fee being 25p and the other children's fees being 20p. The sessional wage for the Supervisor was one. The gang first congregated in the Reading Room, a downstairs room of the Guildhall, with roughly ten kids. The group used trestle tables and jam jars as paint pots because they had no other equipment. A Pippa Dee party and coffee morning that raised 2.05 with 1.50 donations kicked off the fundraising process. To accommodate the increasing number of youngsters in the community, a second session was organised in January 1976. The Duchy Pre-School & Playgroup was given permission by HRH Prince Charles Duchy Office to use its new name in May 1997, when the Playgroup celebrated its 25th anniversary. A Community Fund Lottery Grant of more than 22,000 was given to us in 2001. This made it possible for us to move to the Baptist School Rooms in Millway, where we could give the kids better, long-term facilities. In accordance with our policies on inclusion and equal chances, these facilities provide wheelchair access and a handicapped restroom. We received accredited status from the Pre-School Learning Alliance in May 2006. This programme for quality control makes sure the facility is providing parents and children with services of the highest calibre. The programme bears the Investors in Children quality label, and the group is held to significantly higher criteria than those set by Ofsted. We registered with Ofsted in April 2011 so that we could accept kids as young as two and a half years old.