Over ten years ago in September, Stepping Stones preschool moved on site at William Barnes for the first time.  For fifteen years prior to that, Stepping Stones had used the Scout hut (north of the school’s netball court) as the base for their preschool provision.  However, as the ambitions of the staff grew, Val and her team became disenfranchised with this space.  Each day all the resources and learning equipment had to be packed away into cupboards.  At the same time, William Barnes was preparing plans to set up its breakfast club and was also aware that other schools in the area were offering on-site preschool provision.  Mr Hull (deputy head at William Barnes since 2003) remembers walking up to the scout hut to hand deliver a letter from the Governors formally inviting the preschool to come on site in the Autumn of 2008. 

However, this was just the beginning of a year long process.  At the time grants were available from Dorset Council (via Surestart) to support such moves, but a tremendous amount of planning and paperwork was required before a sum of £12,000 was released.  The preschool committee had a number of imaginative ideas for developing the grounds, but a major headache was how to provide the preschool with a safe outdoor space so near to the swimming pool.  Eventually, decisions were made, local builders contracted and in September Stepping Stones began a new era in their history. 

More recently, Val, Donna and the Stepping Stones committee took matters into their own hands when they began the process of applying for grants to extend the preschool’s buildings.  However, they had not foreseen how complex and difficult the process of sourcing funding would be, with support eventually coming from an EU Leader grant.  After building work began in the Summer of 2018, time rushed forward to the opening of the new building in January 2019.  Following the completion of the project, the indoor space available to the preschool has now more than doubled, there is a private office for confidential meetings, there is a new food preparation area and improved storage for resources and equipment.

Looking to the future, it will be interesting to see how Stepping Stones can develop further as the only preschool setting available to parents in the town of Sturminster Newton.