Little Ducklings Pre-School

Mud-kitchen recipes, garden-grown vegetables and experiments with guttering give Little Ducklings Pre-School a practical, outdoor character. This Black Dam setting in Basingstoke has capacity for 30 children, with learning built around play, conversation and children's interests.

At its July 2025 inspection, Ofsted rated the pre-school Good and found effective safeguarding, strong support for children with special educational needs and/or disabilities (SEND), and good progress from their starting points. The main improvement concerned mathematics: children needed more help exploring size, shape and measurement alongside counting.

Children can join from age two; those attending in July 2025 were aged two to four. Morning and afternoon sessions run during school terms, with Breakfast Club providing an earlier start. A management committee works alongside the staff, and parents can participate in the committee themselves.

Learning and Activities

The Early Years Foundation Stage provides the framework for learning through play, covering language, physical and social development alongside literacy, mathematics, understanding the world and creative expression. Here, practical experiences include cooking, imaginative play, puzzles, stories and movement. Children have several ways to explore an idea: talking about it, making something, acting it out or trying a physical task.

In July 2025, communication featured in book-sharing, storytelling, songs and rhymes. Staff also introduced descriptive vocabulary while children searched the garden for insects. That connects new words to something children are investigating, giving language a purpose beyond answering an adult's question.

Children's interests shaped the activities staff planned in July 2025, with practitioners able to explain what their key children would learn next. Counting and recognising numbers were part of the day, but size, shape and measurement received less attention. This is a useful distinction for parents: number practice was present, while the broader mathematical thinking needed strengthening.

Outdoor and Community Life

Outdoor play carried much of the learning in July 2025. In the mud kitchen, children discussed their pretend cooking and wrote recipes, then collected ingredients and mixed them together. The same activity brought conversation, early writing and physical effort into one piece of play.

Guttering experiments gave children opportunities to collaborate and investigate what happened when different objects travelled through their constructions. Bean-bag throwing and catching developed coordination, with buckets added to extend the challenge. These activities gave children opportunities to investigate cause and effect and practise coordination.

The garden also connected food with growing. In July 2025, children talked enthusiastically about the fruit and vegetables they were cultivating and understood where food came from. For families who value outdoor learning, the strength here lies in its use for language, investigation and practical experience, as well as physical activity.

Relationships and Communication

A key child/worker system gives each child a familiar practitioner. The key person works with families as their child starts pre-school, remains involved throughout their attendance and has time at the start of sessions to discuss concerns. That gives parents an identifiable person to approach about settling, development or a difficult morning.

In July 2025, communication included daily conversations, a digital app and a lending library. The library gave families a way to continue book-sharing at home, while conversations and app updates connected parents with what children were doing during the day. Staff also coordinated with other settings children attended, including around potty training.

Social learning was practical too. In July 2025, staff helped children resolve small disagreements, and children used sand timers independently when taking turns. Gentle reminders during eating and praise for sharing helped explain expectations through ordinary routines.

Inclusion and Wellbeing

In July 2025, practitioners worked with parents and other professionals to arrange additional help for children with SEND. Additional funding bought resources linked to individual interests and learning needs. This gives substance to the support described above: help involved collaboration and specific resources, rather than simply expecting every child to use the same activities in the same way.

Eight staff were employed in July 2025, seven of whom held qualifications at level three or above. These are a snapshot of the team at that time. For the move to school, staff held meetings with the teachers children would subsequently join, sharing preparation across the two settings.

Children bring a lunch box, while snacks are covered by the separate per-session consumables charge. Families are asked to keep nuts and foods containing nuts out of lunches and to supply allergy and dietary information when registering.

Sessions and Attendance

Little Ducklings operates Monday to Friday during term time, following Hampshire school terms. Morning sessions run from 9am to noon and afternoons from noon to 3pm. Breakfast Club runs from 8am to 9am or from 8.30am to 9am, providing an earlier start with breakfast.

Quackers After-School Club operates on the same site from 3pm to 6pm, providing after-school activities. Its separate club offer should be distinguished from the pre-school's morning and afternoon sessions when planning a child's attendance.

Enquiries can be made by telephone on 01256 413 794 or by emailing admin@littleducklings.org.uk. Parent involvement also extends beyond individual updates: the parent committee offers a way to contribute to how the setting runs.

Getting There

The address is Holbein Close, Black Dam, Basingstoke RG21 3EX. A car park in front of the pre-school can be used when collecting or dropping off children, a practical benefit for families travelling by car.

Funding and Paid Extras

Eligible families can use government-funded hours between 9am and 3pm. The funding arrangements include up to 15 hours per week through the Early Years Education grant from the term after a child's third birthday, funding for eligible two-year-olds and 30-hour funding for those entitled to it; attendance is term time.

Private hours and Breakfast Club are charged separately. A charge for each scheduled session covers snacks and non-food consumables, including spare nappies, wipes, sun cream, spare clothing and outdoor wear; it also contributes towards enrichment, specialist resources and staff training. This charge applies alongside funded hours, so funded attendance and these extras need to be considered separately.

Current prices come in the nursery's written quotation. The fees page explains the charge categories, helping families distinguish paid hours, breakfast and the session consumables charge.

• Mathematical learning. In July 2025, counting received more attention than size, shape and measurement. Ask how these broader concepts now feature in play and everyday routines.
• Term-time attendance. Morning and afternoon sessions follow Hampshire school terms, with an earlier Breakfast Club option. Families needing care through school holidays should weigh that calendar against their working pattern.
• Lunch and allergies. Children bring lunch, and families are asked to exclude nuts and foods containing nuts. Allergy-affected families should confirm current practice and discuss their child's requirements before attending.
• Messy outdoor play. Mud-kitchen mixing and garden activities were part of learning in July 2025, and children are encouraged to take part in messy and physical play. Clothes children can manage themselves and a named change of clothing are practical preparations.

Little Ducklings suits families seeking term-time morning or afternoon pre-school sessions, including those who need Breakfast Club before the main session. Outdoor investigation, language-rich play and a familiar key person give the offer a clear shape.

The July 2025 findings provide a positive quality judgement with a specific reservation about broader mathematical learning. Parents who value practical play and involvement in a committee-run setting have good reasons to consider it, while the school-term calendar and separate consumables charge are important parts of the decision.