Farmborough Preschool

An outside classroom, a Wendy House and a playground reshaped with help from local businesses give Farmborough Preschool a recognisable character. Its setting within a primary school adds another practical strength: children can become familiar with a school environment while still learning through play. This is a small preschool, with capacity for 20 children, accepting children from two years old and providing early education for three- and four-year-olds.

At its January 2024 inspection, Ofsted rated the preschool Good and found safeguarding effective, with secure key-person relationships and positive support for children's communication. The strongest detail lies beneath that judgement: books, imaginative play, emotional understanding and everyday counting all featured in children's experiences. There were also clear teaching improvements to make.

A voluntary committee of parents helps run the preschool alongside staff. Fundraising contributes to activities and improvements, giving families a role in the organisation as well as in their own child's learning.

Learning and Activities

EYFS provides the foundation for learning through play, with group activities, adult-guided experiences and activities children choose themselves. Birth to 5 Matters is also used alongside it. The balance matters for parents: children have opportunities to pursue their interests, while adults introduce experiences and ideas rather than leaving the whole day to independent play.

In January 2024, younger children worked with glue and torn tissue paper to make models, practising the hand movements needed for increasingly precise tasks. Older children took family roles in imaginative games. These are different kinds of learning: manipulating materials builds physical control, while acting out familiar situations gives children reasons to talk, negotiate and respond to one another.

Books supplied another route into conversation that January. Younger children considered pictures and anticipated what might happen next; older children remembered parts of stories. Adults introduced unfamiliar vocabulary and gave children time to absorb it. Snack routines also became opportunities to count pieces of fruit and explore what happens when another piece is added.

The inspection identified an important limit to this activity-rich picture. At the January 2024 inspection, Ofsted asked staff to connect activities more precisely to each child's next learning steps and make better use of opportunities to extend their thinking. Enjoyment and purposeful teaching both matter. A busy activity needs to help the particular child taking part.

Outdoor and Community Life

The outdoor space includes a sensory crocodile, a swing set, a Wendy House and an outside classroom. These give children several ways to use the playground, from physical movement to pretend play, rather than relying on a single piece of equipment.

Volker Highways supported the refurbishment of the hard-surfaced area, including work around the mud kitchen and the addition of coloured stencils. Wainwrights supplied asphalt for the resurfacing. These practical contributions have shaped the space children use, making the local business links tangible rather than simply names on a supporter list.

Fundraising also supports yoga and music sessions. That gives the parent committee's work a direct connection to children's experiences, extending its contribution beyond administration and building projects.

In January 2024, children had established trusting relationships with their key person and settled readily into preschool life. Familiar adults and predictable routines worked together: a bell and song signalled tidying up, and children responded by putting toys away. Clear cues gave them a shared way to understand what happened next.

Emotional understanding received deliberate attention that January. Children matched pictures with facial expressions and talked about feelings in the context of friendships. This made emotions something to recognise and discuss through concrete examples, rather than an abstract conversation detached from their own experiences.

Staff gathered information about children's starting points and used observation to identify gaps in learning in January 2024. Group activities were adjusted for younger and older children's attention spans. Those details help explain the value of the teaching improvement identified above: knowing a child's starting point needs to translate into the activity and the adult's response during it.

The staff team undertakes continuing professional development, and paediatric first-aid training features within its training. These are practical arrangements, distinct from the dated safeguarding judgement.

Transition work was another useful feature in January 2024. Staff worked with other settings children attended and liaised with Reception teachers about transition books. For children moving between settings or preparing for school, that creates a way to share information and introduce the next stage through something they can use and discuss.

The preschool's address is Farmborough Vc Primary School, The Street, Bath, BA2 0FY. Its accommodation is a specially converted room within the school, with a refurbished outdoor area. The school-site setting is therefore part of the everyday physical arrangement, rather than just a nearby connection.

In January 2024, opening hours were 9am to 3pm, Monday to Friday, during school terms. Those hours describe the arrangement at that time. They should be read as a dated opening window, rather than a choice of separately named booking sessions.

Funded nursery education is offered for three- and four-year-olds. The preschool also accepts children from two years old; these are separate facts, so accepting a younger child should not be read as a promise of funded attendance for that child.

The preschool describes strong links with Farmborough Church Primary School. Attending the preschool does not guarantee a Reception place, and families still apply through the local authority admissions process. Familiarity with a school setting and transition activities can help preparation, but the school-place decision remains separate.

• Individual learning. The January 2024 teaching priorities concerned matching activities to children's next steps and extending their thinking. During a visit, ask for an example of how an activity is adapted for children who need different levels of challenge.
• Attendance and costs. The January 2024 opening pattern followed school terms, while funded education is offered for three- and four-year-olds. What attendance arrangements and written charges, including food and consumables, would apply to your child's proposed place?
• School-site expectations. The preschool has links with Farmborough Church Primary School and occupies space within a school. Treat preparation for Reception and the application for a Reception place as separate decisions.

Farmborough Preschool suits families seeking play-based early education from two years old, a small overall setting and a preschool experience connected to school life. The outside classroom, imaginative-play resources and community-funded playground improvements give its offer substance.

The January 2024 judgement supports a positive assessment, with a specific qualification: activities needed more precise links to individual learning and greater challenge. For parents, the decisive question is how the enjoyable experiences translate into progress for their own child.