Big Lottery grant a big help for pre-school

Computers were the order of the day when a pre-school was given a Big Lottery grant worth thousands of pounds.
Principal Beki Shanahan (centre) and her team with children from the New Montessori Pre-schoolPrincipal Beki Shanahan (centre) and her team with children from the New Montessori Pre-school
Principal Beki Shanahan (centre) and her team with children from the New Montessori Pre-school

The New Montessori Pre-School, which is based at the Methodist Church, in Tarring Road, was given £8,355 to pay for hi-tech equipment such as tablets.

Prinicpal Beki Shanahan said the money had been used to provide more ICT equipment, enabling her and her team to contact parents in real-time to keep them updated about their child’s progress and development.

Hide Ad
Hide Ad

She added the tablets would also help improve the youngsters’ language and communication skills before they took the big step up to primary school.

The pre-school was opened as a charity by parents in 1999, and Ms Shanahan said it was the only charitably-run Montessori pre-school in the UK.

Pre-school manager Allison Link said: “Providing our Montessori pre-school with this grant has given the whole school a fantastic learning extension.

“The ICT area of our school has been somewhere that we have long felt would benefit from modernisation.

Hide Ad
Hide Ad

“The equipment will give the children opportunities to extend their learning and all our parents/carers greater access to the Montessori environment.”

The Big Lottery Fund is the largest funder of community activity in the UK.

Since June 2004 it has awarded more than £9billion to projects across the UK ranging from early years support to commemorative travel funding for World War Two veterans. In 2014-15 alone, the fund awarded more than £1billion to good causes.

To find out more, log on to www.biglotteryfund.org.uk .

Make the right choice for you and your child - Visit educationsussex.com for trusted school reviews, videos and so much more.