St Thomas’ Church playgroup is held in a purpose adapted building in the grounds of St. Thomas Church Aldridge.  It is a single storey building with secure entrance and 2 sets of French doors opening onto an enclosed garden. The building meets all regulations required by Fire, Health and Safety  Executives.

All Staff are qualified and have been CRB checked. They regularly update their training and all hold current First Aid Certificates. We have students from Walsall College and Platinum Training to gain experience from our dedicated and experienced staff .We welcome parent / carer help on a rota system. The adult child ratio of 1-4 for children under 3years and 1-8 for 3-5 years as required by Ofsted

We are regularly inspected by Ofsted and our report is available on their web site or on request from the playgroup.  We are also supported by a development officer from Walsall Early Years.  We have close links with Leighswood Children’s Centre. The Playgroup is supported by an active Management Committee of Childcare Professional,  Treasurer,  Secretary,  Health Worker,  Church Family and Young Peoples officer and  Manager of Leighswood Children’s Centre.

We look at the child as a ‘Special Little Person’ and treat them all as individuals. We are able to  have children from any area as we don’t have a catchment area.  We welcome any family who applies for a place with us regardless of ability, gender, race, religion and culture. We hope to be able to support your child sensitively if it has some special need.  We are able to access support from many agencies for example speech therapy, occupational therapy and special need.

As a parent you need to know that your child is well cared for by trained supervisors. To help you and your child settle into our playgroup you will have one of the team as a Key Person.  It is their role to build up a special relationship with both you and your child, and to keep you informed about your child’s progress. If at anytime should you need to speak to your Key Person you will be most welcome to do so.

We value our partnership in the care of your child and we have our Policies and Procedures available to be viewed at any time.  We will give you a Welcome Handbook with some of the policies in along with the relevant enrolment forms,  medical information and permission forms

Please come and visit us – no appointment necessary and we look forward to welcoming you and your child.

St Thomas' church is far from being a perfect church in all sorts of ways, but one thing we do very genuinely is to love children and families!

We are always looking to grow our ministry to kids and to families in all sorts of ways, but what we are doing now is pretty good.

We have mid-week groups for pre-schoolers (Tom's Toddlers and Footprints on a Wednesday), and for teenagers (Patherfinders+ on a Thursday). We have Sunday Groups for 3-13 year olds every other week, The Hub for families on a Sunday afternoon (3rd Sunday each month at 4pm), and the Together service for families on the 1st Sunday of each month at 10.30am. Then there's the Wide Awake Club on the fourth Saturday of every month at 10am which includes bacon, sausage or egg sarnies for the dads who come along.

During the year there's fantastic events like our Easter Egg hunt and picnic, the Christingle at Christmas time, Nativity, and of course the amazing Holiday Clubs. It's certainly not a dull place to be if you've got kids or if you ARE a kid!