The Saplings Pre-School

A toy car, a length of tubing and a basket capture the character of The Saplings Pre-School's January 2023 nursery day: children experimented, missed their target and adjusted their solution. Learning took shape through practical play. This Tadley setting occupies premises at Burnham Copse Primary School on Newchurch Road and has 42 places in total.

At its 31 January 2023 inspection, Ofsted rated the provision Good and found safeguarding effective. The strongest examples concerned conversation, relationships and children working things out for themselves; the improvement priorities concerned more consistent guidance for staff and fuller exploration of children's cultural backgrounds.

Acorns caters for babies under two, Seedlings for children aged two to three, and Saplings for those over three. Attendance can be booked by the hour, giving families a way to fit childcare around part of their day.

Rooms and Ages

Acorns, Seedlings and Saplings separate the offer into baby, toddler and older-child stages. Acorns serves the youngest children, Seedlings covers the two-to-three age band, and Saplings takes children over three. These are age groupings, rather than a measure of how many children share a room or attend together.

Learning and Activities

The EYFS provides the framework for children's learning, development and care: communication, movement and relationships sit alongside early reading, number work, creativity and exploration of the world. These are the everyday foundations of early-years education. Communication work gives children opportunities to express ideas and practise listening, while literacy connects sounds with letters and introduces reading and writing.

Creative learning includes making art, dancing, role-play and experimenting with materials. Number work covers counting, shapes and measurement. Together, these areas give families a useful picture of the intended learning: children communicate, make, move and investigate, rather than spending the day on a single type of activity.

In January 2023, familiar songs gave children different ways to participate. Younger children responded to rhythms through movement; older children sang and added actions. Wheels on the bus became an opportunity to invent sounds within a familiar song, bringing language practice into something children already enjoyed.

Problem-solving was equally concrete that January. Children sent a toy car through tubing towards a basket, then changed the basket's position after unsuccessful attempts. The value lay in trying an idea and revising it.

Outdoor and Community Life

Outdoor play in January 2023 included aiming a large ball at a basketball net. Children practised adjusting the force of their throws, giving a physical activity a clear element of experimentation. The net supplied a target; repeated attempts gave children a reason to persevere.

Activities linked to Chinese New Year also formed part of the January 2023 account. However, children's own languages and family cultures needed greater attention. An occasional celebration and a sustained understanding of the people in the setting are different things, and that distinction remains a useful discussion point for families.

In January 2023, Ofsted found that the special educational needs coordinator worked successfully with families and practitioners to support children's progress, including children with delayed speech. One practical example used real objects to explain a change of routine, followed later by photographs and symbols. A knife and fork signalled mealtime, making the next step understandable before relying on spoken instructions alone.

The current team structure includes a SENCO role.

Relationships in January 2023 were built through small, repeated interactions: individual story reading, laughter over a book and children comforting an upset friend. Staff encouraged considerate behaviour, while children practised recognising emotions in other people. These examples describe care during the January 2023 visit.

Home and nursery routines connected in January 2023 through a song used for tidying. Families adopted it at home, giving children a familiar cue in both places. The application process also includes a Parent Induction Pack after a place is accepted, covering emergency contacts, health information and parental permissions. This is practical preparation for joining; it helps establish the information staff need about an individual child.

Sessions and Attendance

Hourly attendance is the current booking option. For historical context, the 2022-23 calendar set out term-time opening from 8.30am to 4pm, Monday to Friday, and included a full-day charging option alongside hourly care. Those hours belong to that calendar, rather than a promise about today's timetable.

General enquiries and visit arrangements can be made by telephone or email. Applications use a downloadable form, returned in person to the management team. After accepting a place, families complete the induction paperwork and return it in person too. Current prices should form part of the nursery's written quotation.

Getting There

The address is Burnham Copse Primary School, Newchurch Road, Tadley, RG26 4HN. Sharing a school site does not guarantee a Reception place: families still need to follow the local authority admissions process.

Funding and Paid Extras

For 2022-23, the funding arrangements covered 15 hours Universal EYE from the term following an eligible child's third birthday, an additional 15 hours Extended EYE where applicable, and 15 hours Age 2 EYE for eligible families. That calendar placed funded attendance within Hampshire school terms and said EYE could not be claimed during school holidays. These are dated funding terms, rather than a current eligibility or attendance guarantee.

• Consistency of teaching. In January 2023, guidance and monitoring did not give every practitioner equal clarity about what children should learn or how to support it. Discuss how staff now plan and review learning across the age groups.
• Family cultures. The January 2023 improvement priorities included making fuller use of children's home languages and heritage. For multilingual families, everyday representation matters alongside celebration activities.
• Shaping an hourly place. Attendance can be booked by the hour, while joining involves an application and induction paperwork. At a visit, what timetable, settling arrangements and written terms for funding, meals and consumables would apply to your child's proposed booking?

The Saplings Pre-School suits families seeking hourly attendance for a baby, toddler or older preschool child on the Burnham Copse Primary School site. Its January 2023 examples give the clearest reasons to consider it: children tested ideas with everyday equipment, used songs to practise language and received practical help to understand routines.

The same dated assessment leaves two worthwhile priorities to explore: consistent teaching across practitioners and a deeper place for children's family cultures. Hourly bookings are the present practical attraction; the full-day option belongs to the 2022-23 arrangements. Choose around the child's proposed pattern of attendance and the individual support they need.