Moor Lane Church is a daughter church of the large local Church of England congregation, St Luke’s. Just twelve people began the congregation around 25 years ago and as part of this new expression of church in the Upminster area, the church decided to open their doors to the community by setting up a play group.

The project runs in the sanctuary, side room and foyer of the church and has also converted the outside area behind the church into a safe play area. Although the project is grateful for having the use of the church buildings, with rent and rates covered by the church, pre-school manager Janice commented: “Due to other groups at church using the building at other times of the week, we have to pack away all the equipment after every session, this is the hardest thing about being here because it takes so much time and energy.” The project has a wide range of toys and equipment to help develop the skills of the children in their care.

An outside area has also been developed in more recent years. A pot of money was left to the church in the will of a church member which paid for special soft flooring to be installed. The project has also tapped into other free help available. A group of local art students used the outside wall space as one of their projects. They painted a large mural of jungle animals on the back wall and created a literacy wall inside.

The pre-school has created a warm and welcoming environment for the children, with a huge variety of activities available, including water play in the area usually the church foyer, large block building and a role play area where the congregation would be found on a Sunday, and tables with crafts or puzzles in other areas. The staff all get involved with the children, with lots of talking as they help to develop the children’s learning. 

Providing for the whole family
The project was staffed by people from St Luke’s and Moor Lane Church from the beginning. The holistic care of the children and their families was of upmost importance and this has remained a value throughout their years of operation. Janice recalled one story: “Not long ago a parent was dropping off their child but the mum was clearly upset about something. One of the staff had a chat and was able to take her into a quiet room to talk things through. We are here just as much to support parents as we are to care for their children.” And this positive ethos is picked up by parents, one commenting: “Your attitude is different, you act differently and I think it’s because you are all Christians.”

The reputation of the provision means that all places were taken for September 2008 some months ago. Parents have been so impressed that they often book the rest of their children in well ahead of their start date. Local professional services have also picked up on the quality of provision. One health visitor, although not personally known to the project, has been telling new parents of the excellent service she has heard that Moor Lane provides and so parents are signing up babies, years ahead of when they will be eligible to attend.

In line with their personal ethos of “going the extra mile,” the school has found ways to let children access the service even if they are full. Janice explained,  “One family arrived here from Western Europe, we were full up but we allowed the child to come if the parent stayed with them. These children need to have opportunities to play with other children so we have to find ways of allowing them to come to Pre-school.”

Staff are the key
The project sees staff as key to its work. Since the team has always wanted employees to share their ethos, staff members have come from within the two church congregations and then been trained. The project has been very stable over the 23 years, with the manager changing only a few times: “new managers have come from within, they know the children and they know how the pre-school runs.” The project employs more staff than the minimum quota required by law but Moor Lane believe they need more staff to offer their high standard of service, although this causes finances to be tighter.

Janice explained that in recent years there have been increasing difficulties to getting volunteers: “In the past people from church could come and help if they had a free week suddenly but now that CRBs are needed, which are very important, we can’t access this type of volunteer. CRBs often seem to put off older people from helping. Also mums used to be a good source of volunteers but since the governments drive to get mothers back to work a lot less are now available to give their time to us.” 

Over the years of operation a few current members of the church at St Luke’s or Moor Lane had their first contact through the pre-school. Over time they became Christians, including the pre-school deputy leader, Shirley. Janice says “parents know that we are Christians. We have prayer cards that parents can fill out and we invite all parents to Alpha at the church.” More recently a boy who attended the pre-school many years ago, now in his early teens, has recently come along to the youth work the church was involved in and made a commitment to God at a meeting.

Looking to the future
The school is looking to expand to offer more than the current five half-day sessions each week and long-term they feel the way forward for pre-school is to be an independent charity since the increasing restrictions from government don’t always fit easily with a Christian ethos: “we don’t want to lose what we were created for,”. It is clear their Christian ethos is the reason for their work and entirely motivates the way they provide the pre-school service and although the ethos has always stayed the same Janice shared what she felt was an important lesson for other Christian providers, that as children and society changes you need to adapt but stay true to your values. “We are long established but we are always open to taking on new ideas, the only way to move forward is to allow change, you can’t stay still. You need to be sure you have people who are committed and know where your support is coming from in prayer and volunteers. Prayer is very, very important.”

To find out more about Moor Lane Pre-School visit www.stlukescranham.co.uk/preschool/