Dandelions Community Pre-School

A Music Wall, a sensory garden and regular visits to St Marks Farm give Dandelions Community Pre-School a character rooted in outdoor play and its Hatch Warren neighbourhood. This purpose-built, charitable pre-school in Basingstoke accepts children aged two to five and has capacity for 26 children. Parents also have a practical role in running it through a volunteer committee.

At its November 2022 inspection, Ofsted rated Dandelions Good, judged safeguarding effective and found that staff worked successfully with families and professionals to support children with special educational needs and disabilities. The current offer includes a dedicated key person, tailored settling sessions and signing to support communication.

Attendance is term-time only, with core hours and separately charged options for earlier starts and later finishes.

Learning and Activities

The EYFS sets the starting point for learning here, covering seven areas through which children develop their communication, physical abilities and understanding. Birth to Five Matters is used as accompanying guidance. Dandelions builds its own curriculum around the children attending, rather than treating the framework as an extra programme unique to the setting.

In The Moment Planning means practitioners watch children's play, recognise an opportunity to add something useful and respond there and then. Open-ended materials and loose parts support this approach: children can decide what to make or explore, while adults extend the activity according to their interests and stage of development. Child-led play sits alongside adult-led activities and small-group work tailored to individual needs.

In November 2022, two teaching priorities were extending children's interests and abilities, including confident counting, and giving them longer to think before supplying an answer. These priorities matter for an approach built around spontaneous teaching.

Drama Tots brings weekly adventures involving drama, movement and music, with instruments, puppets and props. Sports4Kids uses stories to draw children into exercise, while Relax Kids introduces breathing, stretching, mindful play and relaxation techniques. These activities complement the EYFS, which remains the statutory framework against which Ofsted inspects the setting.

Boogie Mites adds music and movement opportunities. Dandelions has purchased its School Ready Programme and plans for staff to learn to lead music activities supporting listening and speaking.

Outdoor and Community Life

Outside access runs through the day, subject to safety. Crates and wooden planks can become buildings or obstacle courses, while a construction area and digging pit give children materials to shift, arrange and investigate. The mud kitchen and sandpit provide further ways to experiment.

Quieter options are part of the same environment. An outdoor cosy den offers books and sensory resources, and the sensory garden includes plants such as lavender to explore through smell. The Music Wall gives children another route into listening, playing and creating sounds. A child who wants a pause can stay outdoors rather than having to leave the outdoor activity altogether.

Regular visits to St Marks Farm involve rabbits, guinea pigs and checking for eggs from the chickens. Beggarwood Park is another place children often explore. These outings connect learning with animals and nearby green space.

Dashwood Manor provides a different community connection. Children have participated in a Christmas Carol Concert and an Easter Egg Hunt, and residents have visited Dandelions for a cake swap. The annual summer fair brings families together to raise money for equipment and educational projects, making the community role practical as well as social.

Relationships and Communication

Each child has a dedicated key person who gets to know both the child and their family. Settling sessions are tailored, and a home visit is offered before the child starts. First-day time with the key worker continues that introduction.

Tapestry, an online learning journal, records photographs, observations and comments about children's learning. Parents and key workers can use it to exchange information about experiences both at home and at pre-school.

Parent involvement also extends to governance. A majority of the committee are pre-school parents, with meetings every four to six weeks covering decisions about policies, events, staff and fees. Families who want an active role can join the committee or Friends of Dandelions.

Inclusion and Wellbeing

SEND support includes adapting activities, resources and the environment around children's needs and interests. Staff work with parents and professionals, including speech therapists, occupational therapists and educational psychologists. Makaton signing supports communication and language, giving children another way to express themselves alongside spoken words.

Early Years ELSA is emotional-literacy support covering subjects such as feelings, friendships, self-esteem and loss. Sessions can be individual or in small groups, with a regular slot of approximately ten minutes during the setting week and progress reviewed half-termly. Puppets, stories, games and time to talk make the support concrete for young children.

School transition support is tailored for children with SEN. Where an education, health and care plan would help, staff work with parents towards having it in place for the move to school, where possible.

Children bring lunch boxes from home, while Dandelions supplies fruit and vegetable snacks. Uniform is optional, so families can choose ordinary clothes suitable for paint, glue and outdoor play.

Sessions and Attendance

Dandelions is based at St. Marks Primary School, Danebury Road, Hatch Warren, Basingstoke, RG22 4US. It opens Monday to Friday during term time, from 8.30am to 3.30pm. School holidays fall outside its operating pattern, so families needing continuous care across the year must plan around that calendar.

Core hours are 9am to 3pm. The School Offer runs from 8.45am to 3.15pm, while Early Start/Late Finish options run from 8.30am to either 3.15pm or 3.30pm; an Early Start at 8.30am is also offered. These optional extensions sit outside funded hours and carry separate charges.

A playdate and visit can be booked by telephone on 01256 818857 or by email at info@dandelions-preschool.org.uk. The setting occupies school grounds, but attending Dandelions does not guarantee a Reception place. Families still use the local authority admissions process for a state-school application.

Funding and Paid Extras

Funded childcare includes the universal entitlement of 15 hours a week from the term after a child's third birthday and extended funding of 30 hours a week, both over 38 weeks. Eligible working-parent funding also applies within Dandelions' accepted age range of two to five.

Families receiving coded funding pass their code to the pre-school and complete a funding form when their child starts. Claims requiring revalidation are renewed every three months, with reminders sent through Tapestry. Private childcare is also offered for children who are not entitled to funding.

A consumables charge applies to children receiving government funding who are not paying the hourly attendance rate; it is based on total hours attended, with an opt-out option to discuss with the manager. Lunch is supplied by parents, including on funded attendance, and snacks are provided by the setting. The fees page explains the charge structure, while current prices come in the nursery's written quotation.

• Term-time timetable. Opening ends at 3.30pm and school holidays are outside the attendance calendar. Compare the core day and extension options with the care your family needs throughout the year.
• Teaching opportunities. In November 2022, the priorities were more consistent challenge and longer thinking time. At a visit, ask how practitioners now extend a confident child's play and leave space for an answer.
• Funding and consumables. Extensions are outside funded hours, and the consumables charge applies only to funded children who are not paying the hourly attendance rate, with an opt-out route. Make sure the written quotation separates your chosen attendance pattern from the funded allocation and additional charges.
• Individual support. Makaton, tailored small-group work and Early Years ELSA provide different forms of support. Discuss which would match your child's communication or emotional needs and how the key person would coordinate them.

Dandelions suits families seeking term-time core hours or the Early Start/Late Finish pattern, with outdoor exploration and local connections woven into the experience. The sensory garden, Music Wall and farm visits give children different ways to investigate, while key-person relationships, signing and emotional-literacy sessions provide specific support mechanisms.

Its parent-led committee makes this a setting where families can help shape decisions as well as receive care. The choice rests on how those features fit your child and calendar: a community pre-school with several attendance options, a substantial outdoor offer and practical routes for family involvement.