Smalley Pre-School Playgroup

A sensory shed for quieter play, a parent-led committee and a day that moves between indoors and outdoors give Smalley Pre-School Playgroup its character. Based at Church Hall in Smalley, it accepts children from their second birthday until primary school and has 24 places in total. This is preschool provision with a practical emphasis on communication, independence and helping children settle.

Ofsted rated the playgroup Good on 29 February 2024, finding effective safeguarding and good support for children with additional needs. Improvement priorities concerned consistent teaching challenge and coordination with other childcare settings.

Attendance is term-time, with morning, afternoon and full-day options, plus a breakfast club.

Learning and Activities

The Early Years Foundation Stage (EYFS) provides the framework: children develop language, movement, relationships, early reading and number skills through play and planned activities. Smalley adapts activities to children's interests and development, including cultural celebrations. The useful distinction is how that framework becomes a day: younger children have outdoor play while older children take part in phonics, and both have stories, singing and opportunities to choose their play.

Morning and afternoon play spans indoors and outdoors, with staff using vocabulary prompts to develop conversation around children's interests. Stories and singing provide shared moments around lunch and before home time.

In February 2024, a pretend hairdressing activity brought several skills together. Children chose roles, managed appointments and used an appointment book, while an adult introduced descriptive language and helped a child find an unfamiliar word. It is a useful example of what imaginative play can contain: conversation, early writing and cooperation within an activity children want to continue.

Small-group activities in February 2024 also worked on attention and concentration, with signs helping children understand what would happen next. The limitation was challenge. Some adult conversations revisited knowledge children already had rather than taking them further, so the important question is how staff recognise the moment to add a harder idea or a new word.

Outdoor and Community Life

Outdoor play is part of the ordinary timetable. In February 2024, children could choose between the inside and outside areas for much of a session, and snacks were offered in both. That arrangement let children maintain their preferred play rather than interrupting it simply to move indoors for food.

The sensory shed provides another kind of space. Light displays, tactile materials and sand toys give children things to explore, while the same space can serve as a quieter retreat for neurodivergent children. A breakout room, visual aids and fidget toys add further ways to adapt the environment. These are concrete resources families can discuss in relation to their child's own needs.

Relationships and Communication

Every child is assigned a key person before starting. Settling sessions include parents or carers, and families can begin with fewer sessions before increasing attendance. A visual introduction helps children become familiar with preschool beforehand. Together, these arrangements make the start a gradual process, with time for a child to build a relationship before attending more often.

The recommended starting pattern is at least two sessions each week where possible, rather than a compulsory minimum booking. Uniform is optional too. Both details matter for families planning a gentle introduction: attendance can build progressively, and buying uniform is a choice.

Management rests with a voluntary committee made up mainly of parents and carers. Families can therefore contribute to the running of the preschool as well as their own child's experience. The staff structure includes a deputy manager, curriculum lead and inclusion lead, alongside the manager's SENCO role; relevant qualifications include degrees in early childhood studies and education studies with SEND.

The key-person supervision policy provides scheduled opportunities to discuss children's development, wellbeing and staff practice. Its agenda includes coaching following observation of teaching, and safeguarding concerns must be raised immediately rather than held for a meeting. This is a support mechanism, not proof that the teaching improvement identified in February 2024 has been completed.

Inclusion and Wellbeing

The manager coordinates additional-needs support as SENCO, working with families and making referrals. Speech and language therapy services visit to work with children and staff. Training covers autism, sensory processing and anaphylaxis awareness, giving families specific subjects to discuss when planning support rather than a general promise of inclusion.

The inclusion policy addresses participation through practical materials as well as staff discussion: books representing different families and abilities, resources for exploring skin tones, and dual-language texts. It also treats developing bilingual skills and signing as achievements. For a child whose home language or family experience differs from another child's, the aim is recognition within everyday play and reading.

In February 2024, children practised doing things for themselves, including putting on coats, choosing activities and moving between play spaces. Staff also used outdoor activity to discuss rest, cooling down and drinking. These examples connect independence with learning to notice and manage ordinary physical needs.

For looked-after children, there is joint planning with carers and professionals, a care plan and an agreed settling process. School transition includes passing relevant information to the receiving school with the social worker's agreement. That gives support a route beyond the preschool's own sessions.

Sessions and Attendance

The address is Church Hall, Main Road, Smalley, Ilkeston, Derbyshire, DE7 6EF. Opening hours are 8.45am to 2.45pm, Monday to Friday, during term time. Breakfast club runs from 8.15am to 8.45am and can use funded or paid hours, with breakfast charged separately.

The booking choices include a three-hour session, a session with lunch club and a full day. In the daily routine, morning children leave at 11.45am; afternoon children join at 11.45am if attending lunch or at 12.45pm afterwards. Children attending lunch without staying for the afternoon leave at 12.45pm. These different handover points make the lunch arrangement an important part of choosing sessions.

Attendance patterns can be adjusted to family needs where this preserves continuity for the children. The admissions policy gives returning children first preference for September sessions and prioritises families living around Smalley Parish; age, siblings, waiting-list position and the ability to meet individual needs may also be considered. An application is made by returning the application form, and enquiries can go through the contact form or preschool email.

Funding and Paid Extras

Funded and privately paid places are offered for children aged two to four. Current prices come in the preschool's written quotation. The sessions and funding information sets out the attendance choices and separates childcare charges from food contributions.

Snacks carry a voluntary contribution for funded and privately paid attendance; families choosing not to contribute supply their child's snack instead, while breakfast has its own separate charge. Snacks include fruit, toast and crackers, and the allergy policy is to adapt snacks and request that families avoid sending allergens.

A registration charge applies to fee-paying children and is voluntary for funded-only attendance.

• Challenge within play. In February 2024, adults sometimes repeated familiar ideas instead of extending children's learning. During a visit, ask how staff now use teaching observations and supervision to plan the next challenge for your child.
• Attendance at another setting. Information sharing was incomplete in February 2024. If your child also attends another nursery or preschool, discuss how both teams will coordinate learning and support.
• Term-time sessions and lunch. Morning, afternoon and full-day choices operate within term-time opening. Work through the lunch handover and breakfast club arrangements against your family's weekly schedule.
• Allergies and sensory support. Snacks are adapted for allergies, and the sensory shed can provide quieter space. Discuss current allergy practice and how your child would use the sensory resources as part of their day.

Smalley suits families seeking morning or afternoon preschool sessions as well as full-day attendance during term time, with breakfast club providing an earlier start. Its parent committee, gradual settling arrangements and tangible sensory resources give families several practical points on which to judge the fit.

The February 2024 Good judgement sits alongside clear improvement priorities. For a child who enjoys imaginative play, outdoor choice and familiar routines, there is much here to value; the decisive conversations concern extending learning and coordinating support when another setting is involved.