ABC Treehouse, Northlands Park

Outdoor skittles, a mud kitchen and conversations that turn a passing plane into a counting exercise give ABC Treehouse, Northlands Park its character. These were features of its December 2022 nursery day: practical play, with adults using children's interests to introduce language, numbers and early mark-making. The emphasis was on making ordinary experiences useful.

Ofsted rated the setting Good at its 6 December 2022 inspection. Based at Northlands Community Centre in Basildon, it has capacity for 16 children aged two to five. That is the whole-setting capacity, rather than a promise about the number attending any particular session.

Attendance follows a term-time morning pattern. For parents, the central decision is whether a short preschool morning fits their child's routine and the family's childcare arrangements.

In December 2022, children chose their play and invented games in the role-play area. Dolls and potties were used to help children who were learning to use the toilet. This connected pretend play with something immediately relevant to their lives, rather than treating activities as separate from everyday development.

The early years foundation stage sets the requirements for children's learning, development and care. Here, the December 2022 examples show what learning through play looked like: counting fallen skittles, experimenting with the weight of filled containers and recording observations through marks.

Outdoor activity supplied concrete reasons to use mathematical language. In December 2022, the mud kitchen prompted conversations about weight and how much a container could hold. Watching planes led children to tally their sightings on a clipboard. Numbers and marks had a purpose children could understand.

Physical play also had variety. During that same month, children rolled tyres and reached upwards to paint a wall using water. These activities gave children opportunities to stretch and develop movement and control.

Language threaded through play. In December 2022, staff listened closely to children and repeated their speech with clearer pronunciation and sentence structure when needed. A book containing familiar logos brought everyday print into early reading activities. The approach gave children recognisable material to talk about, rather than relying only on unfamiliar written words.

Small acts of independence mattered in December 2022. Children peeled bananas, poured drinks and shared fruit during snack time. These were opportunities to practise handling food and helping themselves, with social conversation alongside the practical task.

Before children started, parents shared what they could already do and understood. In December 2022, staff used this information when planning activities and revisited children's learning, including whether they remembered the ingredients used in play dough. The starting point was the individual child.

At the December 2022 inspection, Ofsted judged safeguarding effective, with staff able to explain protective action and procedures for checking staff suitability. This is a dated judgement about practice at that visit.

Family contact extended beyond the session. In December 2022, regular stay-and-play sessions gave parents time to participate, while staff offered guidance about bottles and dummies and directed families towards professionals such as speech and language therapists. These were practical routes for discussing children's development.

Food was also used as a learning experience. In December 2022, veg week introduced children to unfamiliar flavours, including vegetable soup. Conversations in the pretend kitchen explored healthy eating, linking discussion with the experience of trying something new.

Sessions and Attendance

The Northlands Park preschool morning runs from 9.15am to 12.15pm during term time. This is the branch's attendance pattern; the afternoon preschool and breakfast and after-school arrangements associated with Great Mistley Hall should not be treated as Northlands Park options.

Getting There

The address is Northlands Community Centre, Felmores Road, Basildon, SS13 1SD. Enquiries can be made using the contact form or by telephone on 07961 400158.

Funding and Paid Extras

Government-funded childcare is offered for three- and four-year-olds, with 15 hours per week of universal funding during term time. Extended funding adds a further 15 hours for eligible working parents, subject to eligibility confirmation and supplying the setting with the required code; this entitlement is separate from the Northlands Park morning attendance pattern.

• Morning attendance. The Northlands Park session ends at 12.15pm and follows term time. Families needing afternoon or holiday care should weigh that schedule against their working arrangements.
• Community learning. In December 2022, children had too few opportunities to explore their local community. On a visit, ask which local experiences now form part of the preschool day.
• Additional learning funding. In December 2022, staff were not told when their key children qualified for additional funding and could not help decide its use. Ask how practitioners now contribute to those decisions.

ABC Treehouse, Northlands Park suits families seeking term-time preschool mornings for children aged two to five. Its December 2022 practice combined practical outdoor learning, attention to language and everyday independence, supported by a Good inspection judgement. The morning timetable is central to its fit. Community learning and staff involvement in additional funding decisions are the two areas to explore when considering it.