Awards joy for Magdalen Gates Preschool in Norwich

Magdalen Gates Preschool in Norwich is celebrating after being highly commended for the early years settings category at the 2013/2014 Shine a Light Awards.

The venue was recognised for its passion and enthusiasm, demonstrated through a range of activities such as Talking Together and Stay and Play sessions.

The awards, held in London, honour individuals, teams, campaigns, communication friendly settings and communities that have excelled in their support of children and young people's communication.

Magdalen Gates, which takes on children from three years old, runs Talking Together sessions for younger siblings, aged up to three years old, to support young children's communication skills.

The preschool encourages children and parents to read from a young age through Rainbow Story Café and Step into a Story communication friendly spaces. Set indoors and outdoors, children imagine stepping into a page of their favourite book.

Paula Watts, Magdalen Gates Preschool manager, said: 'Our Shine a Light highly commended award is recognition for the hard work and dedication of everyone involved at Magdalen Gates Preschool, making a difference to every child's speech, language and communication skills'

Chris Hall, managing director of Pearson Assessment and Shine a Light Award Judge, says: 'It gives me great pleasure to congratulate Magdalen Gates Preschool for being highly commended for early setting of the year.

For the full list of all the Shine a Light winners, as well as the highly-commended finalists, visit the website www.shinealightawards.co.uk