Peter Pan Pre-School

A hall that can become an obstacle course, a garden open to children's own choices, and parents helping to run the charity: Peter Pan Pre-School has a clear community character. Based at The Methodist Hall in Lower Weston, Bath, it combines mixed-age play with a practical emphasis on independence. Children select resources, help with snacks and take books home to share. Everyday tasks become part of learning.

At its 23 February 2024 inspection, Ofsted judged the provision Good and found that teaching helped children progress from their individual starting points. There was also a specific improvement point: support recognising children's different backgrounds needed to begin more promptly. That matters alongside the positive picture of purposeful play.

There are 24 places in total, distinct from the number of children attending across different days. The usual starting point is the term before a child's third birthday, continuing to school age; the setting also accepts two-year-old funding. Morning, afternoon and full-day sessions run during term time, Tuesday to Friday.

Learning and Activities

The Early Years Foundation Stage provides the framework for learning through play, covering children's relationships, language and physical development alongside literacy, mathematics, creativity and understanding their surroundings. Peter Pan uses Birth to 5 Matters and Development Matters 2021 as guidance, rather than presenting them as alternatives to that framework. Adult-led group activities sit alongside time for children to pursue their own interests.

Resources sit within children's reach in the hall, and the role-play area changes with their interests, becoming a vets or train station. Children independently use cameras, electronic toys and a listening station. The book corner and lending library connect reading here with books shared at home.

Circle Time brings children together for news and achievements. Smaller key-person groups might use Beebots, make pictures or explore counting; songs, instruments and rhymes provide shared activity alongside individual choices.

Independence is concrete here. Children serve drinks, spread bread and clean cups at morning snack; afternoon helpers organise tables and distribute cups and napkins. Alongside managing clothing, toileting and lunches, these jobs make self-care part of the day.

In February 2024, children explored their facial features before creating portraits with cotton buds, investigated the sound inside a shell and tested toy cars on guttering. These were small, tangible investigations rather than abstract explanations. Staff also used children's chosen play to extend an activity, including practising throwing a ball towards a hoop.

Outdoor and Community Life

Children choose when to use the all-weather garden. Raised beds hold fruit, vegetables and flowers, alongside bikes, scooters, climbing equipment and a mud kitchen. A play house, seated area and bug hunting give children quieter alternatives to wheeled play.

Towards day's end, the hall can be cleared for parachute play, obstacle courses and music and movement. One adaptable space supports both quieter exploration and energetic group activity.

Fidgety Feet brings storytelling together with music and dance, while Tropical Discovery provides hands-on encounters with creatures. Local outings include exploring sculptures and looking for letters and numbers in the surrounding area. These experiences connect stories, living things and early literacy with something children can see or do; they are additions to the daily play-based curriculum.

Relationships and Communication

Settling begins with a home visit and an approach agreed with parents. Repeated pre-admission visits and termly New Starter events give families opportunities to become familiar with the setting.

A key person plans around each child's interests and development. Tapestry, the online learning journal, combines staff photographs and observations with parents' home news. Three informal consultations a year, daily conversations and weekly activity plans keep families involved in learning.

Parent involvement extends beyond communication. The charity has an elected volunteer committee, and parents can help with events or volunteer in the setting once their child has settled. That creates opportunities to take an active part in its community life, with practical responsibilities as well as social contact.

Inclusion and Wellbeing

The team includes a SENCO and designated safeguarding roles. Observations and family discussions inform a My Plan, an individual support plan reviewed every six weeks with the child's and family's views included. Support has a regular point for adjustment.

Quiet spaces support small-group work or a child needing a calmer place. The setting has experience accommodating children using walking frames and wheelchairs, and working with speech and language, occupational and physiotherapy professionals. Communication with other childcare settings includes a Communication Diary and joint planning. For school transition, support can include photo books, accompanying visits and inviting school staff into the pre-school.

At the February 2024 inspection, Ofsted found safeguarding effective and identified tailored communication support through signing and small-group activities. The improvement point concerned the speed of putting measures for children's different backgrounds into practice, including support for children learning English as an additional language. Families for whom this is relevant have a specific issue to explore.

Sessions and Attendance

The address is The Methodist Hall, Kennington Road, Lower Weston, Bath BA1 3EA. Peter Pan opens Tuesday to Friday, from 9.15am to 3.30pm, during school terms. Morning sessions run from 9.15am to 12.15pm, afternoons from 12.30pm to 3.30pm, and full days from 9.15am to 3.30pm.

Children must attend at least three sessions across two days each week, with a maximum of 25 hours per child weekly. Applications use a form and carry a non-refundable registration charge. A waiting list operates, and oversubscription priorities favour returning children, then siblings, followed by children approaching school entry and other applicants, with application date used within the latter groups. The pre-school can offer alternative sessions and may ask older children to attend afternoons to balance its mixed-age provision.

The pre-school team handles applications through peterpanpreschoolbath@gmail.com. A scooter and pushchair shelter, supported by the Bath and West Community Energy Fund, provides somewhere for those items while children attend.

Funding and Paid Extras

Peter Pan accepts the 15-hour universal entitlement, working-family funding and two-year-old funding for families receiving additional support. Funding is delivered term-time, with entitlement covering 38 weeks annually; the setting places no restrictions on which parts of its day or week funded hours can cover. Eligibility conditions still apply, including a current working-family code outside its grace period when the child starts, and the weekly attendance maximum remains 25 hours.

Private attendance and hours beyond funding are charged. For universal and working-family funded attendance, snacks carry a separate, non-mandatory charge; a voluntary donation supports enhancements including Yoga, Story Telling and dance sessions. Children receiving the additional-support two-year-old funding incur no extra costs unless attendance exceeds 15.5 hours. Current prices come in the pre-school's written quotation, with the charge structure explained on its fees page.

Lunch comes from home for morning-session children, while the pre-school supplies snacks that are separately charged for private attendance and subject to the funded arrangements above. Its policy asks families to keep nuts and nut products out of packed lunches and to share allergy and dietary information at registration.

Parents supply nappies and wipes when needed and apply sun cream before attendance. Invoices arrive half-termly and are payable within two weeks; sickness or holidays during term do not reduce fees. Reducing sessions or ending attendance requires four weeks' notice, and fees will be waived if the sessions are reallocated within that period.

• Attendance commitment. The minimum is three sessions across two days, and mornings may be replaced by alternative offers under the admissions policy. Discuss how morning, afternoon or full-day attendance would fit your week during a visit.
• Recognition of family backgrounds. In February 2024, measures acknowledging children's backgrounds were not always introduced promptly. Ask how these now begin during settling, especially if your child is learning English as an additional language.
• Funded extras. Universal and working-family funded hours have a non-mandatory snack charge and a voluntary enhancement donation, while additional-support two-year-old funding has different terms. Establish which arrangement applies to your child before budgeting.
• Food allergies. Packed lunches come from home and the pre-school has a nut-exclusion policy. Families affected by allergies should confirm current snack and packed-lunch practice before starting.

Peter Pan suits families seeking mornings, afternoons or full days during term time, with mixed-age play and parent involvement. The adaptable hall and freely accessible garden support children's choices and independence. Weigh those strengths against the minimum attendance commitment, funding-category extras and February 2024 improvement point on recognising family backgrounds.