Zebedee Pre-School

Scooters in a car park used for play, a quiet book corner and garden bug hunts give Zebedee Pre-School its character. Based at Shotgate Community Hall in Wickford, it combines active movement with opportunities to talk, create and choose. Everyday independence matters here: children practise managing belongings, sharing materials and doing things for themselves.

Ofsted rated the setting Good on 4 June 2024, with a clear improvement priority around making new vocabulary stick and giving children more stretching learning opportunities. The children attending at that visit were aged two to four. Zebedee has 32 places in total, which describes whole-setting capacity rather than the number attending any particular session.

Attendance follows the school year, with morning, afternoon and whole-day patterns and a minimum of two sessions each week. The practical distinction is important: this is term-time provision with a substantial play-based day, rather than an all-year childcare arrangement.

Learning and Activities

The Early Years Foundation Stage brings together children's learning, development and care through play, conversation and practical activity. At Zebedee, children move between activities they choose and experiences led by adults, indoors and outside. Staff watch how children tackle tasks and use those observations to plan their next steps. The framework is the foundation; the recognisable detail lies in the activities built around it.

Daily circle time gives children space to exchange news, sing and discuss the current topic. Stories, puppets and a book corner support early literacy, while writing materials let children experiment with marks. Number work is woven into play through pretend money, scales and phones. Children can explore ideas through familiar objects.

Creative choices include painting, chalk, playdough and collage materials. Role play can become a shop or a building site, with adults joining when children need help developing their games. Construction provides another way to make something for children less drawn to messy materials. Threading, pegs and scissors give small hands purposeful practice alongside bigger physical challenges.

The home activities have useful names and straightforward purposes. Colour the Bear is a printable version of the Zebedee bear logo for colouring, painting or collage. Mini Beast Spotter is a printable search activity for looking among grass and flowers with family members. These give parents concrete ways to continue creative work and outdoor discovery beyond the preschool session.

Outdoor and Community Life

A climbing frame and balancing steps support movement, while the large car park doubles as a playground for trikes, scooters and ball play. These are different kinds of physical challenge: climbing and balancing demand control, while wheeled play gives children room to practise movement. Outdoor activity forms part of the daily offer.

In June 2024, garden exploration included searching for insects with magnifiers and investigating the smell and texture of fruit and herbs. Children also used climbing equipment and experimented with playdough tools. These examples show how physical practice and curiosity could sit together within a session.

Gardening and learning about mini-beast life cycles connect play with the natural world. Visits from the dentist and emergency services introduce people whose work children may recognise. Families also join celebrations including Christmas, sports days and graduation, giving them shared occasions within preschool life.

Relationships and Communication

Each child has a key person who observes their development and plans support around their interests. Settling is worked out with the family, rather than reduced to a single approach. The key person gives parents an identifiable member of staff with whom to discuss progress and concerns.

Before children with additional needs start, families can meet staff and share information about health, behaviour, allergies and support requirements. Visits allow the child and family to begin a relationship with their key person. The settling plan then reflects the individual child. This makes the first stage of attendance part of the care planning, rather than a separate administrative step.

Inclusion and Wellbeing

Three SENCOs coordinate assessment, planning and support with parents and other professionals. Where difficulties emerge, the key person and SENCO meet the family to agree next steps; a One Plan meeting can bring further professionals into the process with parental agreement. Activities and resources can be adapted, and extra staff may support individual children where necessary. These are specific mechanisms for discussing and responding to a child's needs.

The community hall has an accessible bathroom and changing facilities. Staff can also work with occupational therapists, specialist teachers and family support workers, helping care planning draw on people already involved with the child.

At the June 2024 inspection, Ofsted found safeguarding effective and assessed support for children with SEND positively, including their progress. Those are dated judgements, alongside the current practical arrangements for discussing needs and agreeing support.

Whole-day attendance is intended for children over two who no longer need a regular nap, because the setting has no sleep facilities. Children in their final year before starting school are prioritised for whole-day attendance. Parents supply a healthy packed lunch; snacks involve a separate voluntary contribution, with a pre-agreed healthy alternative supplied from home if families decline it. The voluntary contribution also covers other consumables.

Sessions and Attendance

The address is Shotgate Community Hall, Bruce Grove, Wickford, Essex SS11 8QZ. General enquiries use the contact form or telephone, while a separate registration form collects the information needed to register a child.

Morning sessions run from 9am to noon, Monday to Friday. Afternoon sessions run from 12.30pm to 3.30pm on Monday, Tuesday, Thursday and Friday; full days run from 9am to 3.30pm on those days. Children must attend at least two sessions each week. These patterns give families a choice between shorter sessions and a day spanning lunch.

Zebedee operates for 38 weeks each year, with holidays aligned to Essex schools. Term-time bank holidays are closures, and families receive at least six weeks' notice of training days, with three permitted each year. Reducing sessions or leaving requires one month's notice. Where fees apply, absences remain chargeable, including illness and holidays.

Funding and Paid Extras

Funded childcare is offered from age two, on a term-time basis. The funding categories include government-support entitlement for eligible two-year-olds, universal funding for three- and four-year-olds, and working-parent entitlements. Eligibility conditions apply, so participation should not be read as a guarantee of funding for an individual child.

Funded hours can cover single sessions or a full day. If the child's allocation does not cover the final half-hour, families may collect at 3pm to avoid that additional charge; staying until 3.30pm incurs a charge unless funding covers it. Private hours are also offered. Current prices come in the nursery's written quotation.

The snack contribution applies to both fee-paying and funded children and is voluntary. Trips, parties and special events can carry extra charges, notified beforehand, with no expectation that families take them up. The payment and funding policy sets out the attendance, funding and payment arrangements together.

• Vocabulary and challenge. The June 2024 improvement priority concerned consolidating new words and extending learning. During a visit, ask how staff revisit vocabulary and stretch children who are ready for more.
• Whole days and naps. Whole-day arrangements are for children over two who no longer require a regular nap. Discuss this fit before choosing a pattern that spans lunch.
• Term-time commitment. Attendance requires at least two weekly sessions across a 38-week year, and changing or ending bookings requires a month's notice. This suits a regular school-year routine and needs planning around holidays.
• Food and individual needs. Packed lunches come from home, while families can opt out of the voluntary snack contribution and supply an agreed alternative. Families managing allergies should discuss current snack and lunch arrangements during their visit.

Zebedee suits families seeking regular morning or afternoon sessions, as well as whole days for children who no longer need a nap. Physical play, practical creativity and a clear key-person arrangement give the choice substance. Its term-time calendar and minimum attendance requirement deserve as much weight as the activities.

The June 2024 Good judgement supports the overall picture, while the vocabulary and challenge priority keeps the assessment balanced. For families comfortable with packed lunches and a school-year routine, Zebedee offers a concrete combination of active play, everyday independence and individually planned support.