Playgroup children in the Village Carnival June 1981 dressed up as soldiers.
Scout Hut
A couple of years after Joan Leonard left (1986), the Playgroup moved from the Village Hall to the Scout Hut on Radway Hill. According to Hilary Davies, a Playgroup Supervisor at the time, the Playgroup moved because the rent had been increased at the Village Hall, and it was cheaper at the Scout Hut. However, unfortunately the Scout Hut also turned out to be an ill-suited venue for the Playgroup. Jo Head, a Playgroup Committee member at the time, and Hilary, recall the Scout hut inside as being very dark and damp, with limited facilities; the kitchen as being in poor condition, and the children having to share one adult toilet and sink between them.
‘… it was cold and damp, and it really wasn’t suitable for toddlers’
The outside facilities were also not any better…
‘…the small outside area was gravelly tarmac next to the road, and the children were always injuring themselves on it, and so it was not suitable for them to go on their tricycles and push bikes.’
Moreover, just as with the Village Hall, each session everything had to be set up from scratch, and all put back again. This involved getting everything out from the shed outside and carrying it to where it needed to go, including the same heavy and awkward to carry climbing frame and slide. Setting up was made even more difficult, Hilary and Jo recall, because many of the supervisors and helpers had limited time to do it, as they had other children to drop off at school first. Hilary remembers walking quickly with a push chair from school to help set up the Playgroup, as there was a very little time before the session was due to start.
In 1996, the Playgroup’s experience of the Scout Hut was summarised well by Rachael Allardyce, President of the Playgroup, in a handout for visitors from La Roche Maurice, (Bisopsteignton’s twin village in Brittany) …
‘…we lived in an old “hut” with other associations; it was not good for either the Mistresses or the children.’
Move to permanent building on School site
In 1994, the Playgroup Committee applied for a national lottery grant, and various rural grants, to help fund the acquiring of a building and permanent site. Jo Head, who was on the Committee, remembers filling …
‘…absolutely copious amounts of forms…to anywhere and everywhere, and I got hold of a grant funding diary, and tackled any local companies and any grants, or councillors…’
Bishopsteignton Playgroup receive Lottery Funding.
Playgroup committee receiving a cheque from the Ring of Bells Pub.
Fortunately, all the hard work by Jo Head, Hilary Davies, and others, paid off, as the Committee managed to get enough grant funding to buy a mobile ex-classroom from Teignmouth Community College.
Jo Head remembers going to view this mobile ex-classroom with a women called Sally Call, who she believes may have been from Devon County Council. Jo recalls that Sally…
‘…was wearing huge stilettos….and that the ex-classroom porta cabin was in a really poor state…’
With support from the then Head of Bishopsteignton School, Ken Irvin, and the school’s Secretary, Mrs Aplet, the Playgroup managed to secure a site to rent on Bishopsteignton School grounds, have the ex-classroom moved to the new site, assembled and completed, by 1995.
(About section of the Preschool part of Bishopsteignton School website)
Jo Head remembers that they acquired a lorry and a crane to transport the mobile ex-classroom to its new location, and that …
‘…it just looked awful, and the people of Horns Park, were not happy anyway’
Article highlights Playgroup’s acquiring their own premises on the school’s site.
Unfortunately, despite the Playgroup’s desperate need for its own building and a permanent site, there was significant opposition against its relocation to the school’s grounds, from areas such as Horns Park, with the main concern being that it would increase the traffic around near and around the school. However, luckily, this opposition was outweighed by the support for the move. The Head Teacher of the school, Ken Irvin, welcomed the preschoolers moving on to the school site as it meant they could visit the school more easily,…
‘…as a first step to going into big school, which was rather lovely.’
Front of Bishopsteignton Preschool
The number of people who got involved in getting the site and building fit to be used by the Playgroup, was testament to the community support for the Playgroup’s move to its new home.
According to Jo Head and Hilary Davies, an awfully lot of work was needed to get the site and building ready. The building needed a new roof and some of the windows had no glass, and so required reglazing. There were no toilets in the building, and no water and sewage pipes for them at the site. Jo remembers helping to dig trenches for the pipes with other volunteers, and though their work was inspected by Building Control, Jo does not think such work would be allowed to be carried out by volunteers now. Two brothers from the Tibbs family, one who was an electrician, and the other a plumber, offered to sort out the plumbing and electrics for the toilets at a discounted rate. With the Playgroup paying for the work and sourcing all things required, including small toilets for the children.
A small kitchen was installed to provide facilities for the supervisors and helpers to prepare snacks for the children, and heating needed to be installed, which took the form of electric heaters. Also, all the windows required curtains. Hilary recalls that Frank Phipps and his wife Debbie, donated some green and white gingham checked material from Frank’s sofa factory, and another volunteer used it to make curtains. Paint was donated by local people for the walls. Furthermore, with the help of fund raising, and equipment and toy donations, the Playgroup managed to source everything it needed, including pegs for the children to hang their coats and bags, and some tiny tables for the children to do arts and crafts.
Jo Head mentioned during a discussion on the 3rd November 2023 that:
‘So many people were involved, most of whom were parents. ‘We did have to beg steal and borrow…it was quite a fraught time when I look back.’
Bishopsteignton Preschool Main Room
The importance of volunteers from the community, in terms of time, efforts, and fund raising, in ensuring the success of the move, was also outlined in Rachael Allardyce’s letter to Bishopsteignton’s twin village in Brittany, La Roche Maurice…
‘There are volunteers who have made these extraordinary efforts because we have not received any financial assistance from the authorities. It was made only by the efforts of parents and our friends in the village.’
Improvements to the permanent site
Over the years many improvements have been made to the Preschool’s permanent home on the school grounds. In the late 1990s work was done on the Preschool’s Garden and Playground…
‘…with proper surfaces put down, and a race track, which was lovely, and made a huge difference’
…mentioned by Hilary Davies.
Jo Head also recalls that more exciting out play equipment was also purchased, such as play trucks, and something called a cosy coupee…
‘…a yellow car, that the children used to fight over.’
‘Playgroup is Confident of future’
In the late 1990s, sheds were also added to the site to store this new equipment, and the original outdoor equipment they still had from their days at the Scout Hut and Village Hall.
Over 25 years later, the Preschool is still in the same building, on the same site, but it has had a complete refurbishment, an extension built on the side of the original building, and the playground area has been retarmacked. The outside area also now has raised beds for the children to do gardening, and a nature area with a pond.
Bishopsteignton Preschool Outdoor Equipment
Bishopsteignton Preschool Outdoor Equipment in 2024
From Playgroup to Preschool
Once the Playgroup had established itself on its new permanent site on Bishopsteignton School grounds it became known as a Preschool rather than a Playgroup, and its sessions became more planned with an educational programme developed by the supervisors, based around a different theme each week/month/term. Sue Gardiner, a supervisor at the Preschool recalls that…
‘If you were supervising, you had a list of topics for each week and month, so on the days that you were supervising, you would base the session on the topic of the week or month. So, say it was gardens, we would have stories about gardens, we would talk about plants and flowers, and then we would have a craft activity based on that such as make a paper flower out of tissue paper.’
The children were also assigned Keyworkers who were responsible for observing these children, writing records for them, and reporting these back to their parents/guardians. Later, they even developed portfolios of each child’s work to share with their parents. This more educational and structured approach was similar to that of the School, and helped better prepare the children for when they moved up to Primary School.
Training and Qualifications
The training and qualification requirements, and opportunities for people working in Childcare settings like Playgroups and Preschools have changed a lot since Joan Leonard started the Playgroup in the 1970s, when there was limited childcare related training available.
By the time Sue Gardiner decided she wanted to become a Playgroup Supervisor in the late 1980s there were several different qualifications available for childcare and early years work. Over a 2-year period, at an afternoon a week, Sue completed a Diploma in Preschool Practice, run by the Pre-School Playgroups Association at Dawlish Community College. At a similar time, Hilary Davies also trained to become a Playgroup Supervisor via a different course run by the Pre-School Playgroups Association. The course, Hilary recalls focused on child development and learning through play. Another common qualification in the 1980s for early years work was the National Nursery Examination Board (NNEB).
The training did not stop after acquiring the initial qualification. The 1980 Chid Care Act and 1989 Children’s Act, increased the health and safety and safeguarding training requirements linked to Children and Childcare. As well as having to do updated safeguarding and health and safety training every 2-3 years, Sue remembers doing lots of extra training linked to supporting children with special educational needs, many of whom attended the Preschool over the 30 years Sue was at there. For instance, Sue Gardiner recalls doing a course to help her better support a child at the Preschool with Down Syndrome…
‘…to not focus on the child’s condition, but instead the whole child.’
Other courses Sue did were about how to teach subjects such as Maths to Early Years children. Sue really enjoyed the courses and found them very beneficial in terms of her skills and confidence in carrying out her role as a Preschool Supervisor.
There are now a wide range of early years and childcare courses and qualifications you can do to enable you to work in Playgroups and Preschools. The current staff at Bishopsteignton Preschool, hold a range of qualifications such as NVQs in Early Years & Education, Diplomas for the Children & Young People’s Workforce, and Childcare and Education. In terms of on-the-job ongoing training, according to a current Preschool Assistant at Bishopsteignton Preschool, Linda Harrison, the Preschool is now under the same staff training programme as the School staff. This includes monthly safeguarding training, and regular first aid training. This is accompanied by specific training to support children that join with additional needs such as SEN, Autism and physical disabilities.
Playgroup float, ‘Jack and Jill, taking part in the Village Carnival 1980s.
Bishopsteignton Playgroup in the Carnival 1979
This article highlighted the story of Bishopsteignton Playgroup (Now Preschool) from 1986 after the departure of Joan Leonard until after it established itself on its new permanent site on Bishopsteignton School grounds.
Look out for the concluding part (Part 3) in this story about how the Preschool continues to have
an important role within the local community.
This article was assembled by the Bishopsteignton Heritage Hub team.