Our Story

Watoto PreSchool is a not-for-profit charitable company. It began life as a small local crèche in 1996, organised by local parent carers, and then blossomed into a substantial organisation, we are today employing staff and managing a high quality and inclusive preschool in Sheffield.

Originally, parent carers identified a gap in the market for high quality and inclusive education and childcare. They wanted childcare that supported their children’s all-round development in readiness for school, and enabled parent carers to take up employment, training and study opportunities. The goal was, and is still today, ‘to be the very best childcare provider in the city’.

In 2005 the overwhelming demand for childcare prompted the decision to expand and relocate to the ground floor of the Black Women’s Resource Centre (BWRC), at 68 Burngreave Road, with a new name, BWRC Children’s Projects. Three years later, the training arm of BWRC was closed and the Children’s Project expanded into the 1st floor, creating additional childcare places in the city.

We relocated again in 2008, to our current building. Following consultation with parent carers, we changed our name again to Watoto Pre-School (Watoto means ‘All Children’). This relocation enabled a 50% increase in the number of children taking up our services, and enabled us to support a greater number of parent carers.

Watoto Pre-School has gone from strength to strength and has as a excellent reputation within the local community and beyond.

This is maintained through:

Partnerships working with parent/carers, external organisation, and wider communities.
Welcoming feedback, continuous evaluation, and improvements to our services to ensure we are meeting the needs of our children and their families.
Employing qualified and experienced staff and supporting their continuous professional development.

We believe Watoto Pre-School is a unique provision in Sheffield. Not only do we provide high-quality services, we are also a truly multi-cultural and inclusive preschool. This is borne out in our parent promise ‘to welcome and respect different cultures and languages & embrace the positive contributions diversity makes to the all-round development of each individual child’.

To further enhance quality at Watoto, we work and have alliances with a range of agencies and organisation, including local primary and secondary schools.