Stepping Stones is an 'Outstanding' pre-school according to Ofsted's latest inspection (July 2022).  Scroll down to read all about us.

Latest News! 

What another fantastic year we have had as we said Goodbye and Good Luck to the Stepping Stones children of 2023/24 as they left to move on to Nursery in September. The whole academic year has been so busy!
 
After settling in really quickly, we had a fun filled term during which we started to work with EYFS learning objectives through pre-school activities including role play, early writing skills, stories such as Goldilocks and the Three Bears with visual aids, physical activities including balancing, ball play, music and movement and much more. We celebrated Harvest Festival by baking some bread, and other occasions such as Diwali and Remembrance, all through learning and having fun.
As the term came to an end the children heard the Christmas story and then told it to their parents by performing their first Nativity with great confidence, following which they enjoyed a Christmas party.
 
When we came back after Christmas, we became ‘weather investigators’, learning lots about the British weather! We celebrated the Chinese New Year – this time the Year of the Dragon – having great fun with lanterns and ribbons. In March we acknowledged World Book Day, when staff and children shared their favourite stories. The term drew to a close with us celebrating Easter through a variety of activities, such as an Easter Egg Hunt and Easter baking – always good fun! These activities helped us achieve a wide range of learning outcomes.
 
In the Summer Term the children enjoyed the Stepping Stones version of Forest School where, among other things, they hunted for insects and worms, planted cress and Sunflower seeds, made clay models of mini-beasts, collaged using a variety of natural materials, and many other activities. We watched the lifecycle of five caterpillars turning into beautiful butterflies which we released into the sky! We also had a Day of Sports when everyone was involved in a wide variety of activities such as obstacle races, giant skittles, basketball, egg and spoon races, throwing Velcro balls onto a giant target, scoring goals into the goal net, using the Spacehoppers, parachute and more. Everyone was awarded a ‘rosette’ certificate for participating. Drama Tots visited us which the children really enjoyed. We also had an exciting visit from the Police who arrived in a Police car to show the children, complete with flashing blue lights and sirens blaring!


On the last day of term, all the children were involved in our ‘End of the Year Show’ to which parents were invited. During the show, each of the children shared a painting they had done specially for the show of something each one had enjoyed doing at Stepping Stones throughout the year together with a Sunflower collage they had worked on as a group. They also performed some dancing, following instructions, and some music and movement using hand sticks and pom poms. We then had a party with games, following which the children left, taking with them their personal memory book which they had made containing different pieces of work they had done throughout the year.
 
The Stepping Stones team feels really privileged to have been part of all the children’s Early Years development.

About Us

Stepping Stones is held in St John's Hall at Knowle Parish Church, in the heart of Knowle. We provide a high standard of early years development for children in a safe, secure, stimulating and friendly environment. Our qualified staff offer nurturing support and care to the children, and all children have a specific key person who understands both them and the family. 

During their time at Stepping Stones, the children experience a wide range of activities where they learn through play. We follow the statutory Early Years Foundation Stage Framework and, as such, offer activities to help them learn and develop physically, emotionally and socially.  We take pride in the quality of care, learning and development we offer.
                                                
Children will experience:

• a specially tailored curriculum leading to approved learning outcomes
• individual care and attention made possible by the excellent adult:child ratios
• a key person who will show particular interest in your child and who will be happy to talk to you about how they have settled and how they are developing at Stepping Stones
• playing, exploring, growing and enjoying the outdoor garden
• making, painting, drawing, building, sticking and many more creative activities
• physical exercise and development through movement, dance, games and play
• support in social interaction with other children and adults as they develop emotionally and socially
• singing, talking, and role play to support their communication and language development
• number games, sorting, puzzles and more to support their developing understanding of numbers and shapes
• we pray with the children at the beginning of every session and look at a Bible story each term. Some of our songs will include Christian songs and we thoroughly enjoy the children's nativity play at Christmas

During their time at Stepping Stones, children will be supported in developing the skills necessary for entry into nursery or infant school. We have strong links with the local schools and work with them to ensure a smooth transition from Stepping Stones to school.

We are registered with Ofsted (registration number EY429354) and were rated as Outstanding in our last inspection in July 2022 - see our Ofsted report.                                     

The pre-school is open to children aged 2 and 3 years old.  In 2024/25 we are running the following sessions during term time:              

9am - 3pm on Mondays, Wednesdays and Fridays; and
9am - Midday on Mondays, Wednesdays and Fridays.
Children attending the all-day sessions bring their own packed lunch.

The fees for academic year 2024/25 are £22.50 for each morning session and £45 for a full-day session.  We are currently not running afternoon-only sessions, but you can do a mixture of full-day and morning-only sessions.

Fees are made up of two components, one to cover childcare and the other a service charge to cover the cost of such things as materials, snack and other resources we use.  Children will be eligible for nursery vouchers which contribute to the cost of the sessions from the term after they turn 3 years old. We can talk to you about how this works. You can also read more about funding at Solihull Council Early Years and Childcare.

Download our latest brochure here. 

For further details and to enquire about places please contact Sue Spencer via the Parish Office or on the Stepping Stones number 07749 333056.