Little Achievers Preschool Stoney Stanton

Fruit chopping, recipe cards and stories acted out together give Little Achievers Preschool Stoney Stanton a practical character: children learn by doing things for themselves. At its April 2025 inspection, Ofsted judged the provision Good and safeguarding effective. The strongest examples concerned ordinary tasks made into learning opportunities, from preparing a snack to helping another child join in.

Based at The War Memorial Playfields on Carey Hill Road, the preschool has a current age range of 24 to 60 months. The nursery is registered for 30 places. A large outdoor area and regular community outings extend the day beyond indoor play. Attendance is term-time, with adaptable hours and part-time options.

Learning follows the early years foundation stage, the framework for children's learning, development and care. In practice, this brings together play, communication, physical activity and growing independence.

In April 2025, children made play dough together using a recipe. Reading its numbers and measuring ingredients gave mathematical ideas a practical purpose; sharing the work also required patience and cooperation. Adults planned experiences around what children already understood, while children's interests helped shape their choices of resources and activities.

The book of the month gave storytelling a recurring thread in April 2025. Chosen around children's interests, it led to listening, retelling and acting out stories, with objects helping children explore what happened. This made books something to participate in, rather than simply sit through.

Physical play has space to develop outdoors. The preschool has access to a large outdoor area and offers regular local outings, giving children experiences of the surrounding community. In April 2025, physical activities included low hurdles and ball catching. Children walked in pairs to the outdoor play space, with older children taking a younger child's hand.

There is a meaningful limitation alongside these strengths. In April 2025, adults sometimes broke children's concentration during play they had chosen themselves by introducing questions or comments. The improvement priority was to make those exchanges more useful to learning. For parents, the issue is how adults judge when to join an activity and when to let a child continue independently.

Independence was built into everyday routines in April 2025. Children prepared fruit using safety knives, cleaned their snack crockery and tried putting on coats with patient encouragement. These are modest tasks with a clear purpose: children practise looking after themselves and contributing to the group.

At the April 2025 inspection, Ofsted found that the key-person system supported assessment and planning, staff worked with specialists including speech and language professionals, and parents were involved effectively in children's learning. This linked observations at preschool with support beyond it, rather than leaving individual needs to be addressed in isolation.

Social habits also received attention in April 2025. Older children shared play dough with younger ones, and small teams helped return resources at tidy-up time. Praise recognised effort and cooperation. Alongside physical activities, lunchtime conversations covered healthy eating, and children could help themselves to water.

Sessions and Attendance

Opening hours are 8.45am to 3.15pm, Monday to Friday, during term time. Adaptable hours, part-time attendance and support for changing routines are part of the offer. That gives families more than one way to use the preschool, within a daytime opening window.

The setting is closed during school holidays. This is a substantial practical consideration for parents whose working year continues through those breaks: preschool attendance and holiday childcare need to fit together.

Getting There

The address is The War Memorial Playfields, Carey Hill Road, Stoney Stanton, LE9 4LA. Enquiries and tour bookings are offered through the preschool's contact and booking routes.

Funding and Paid Extras

In April 2025, the preschool provided funded early education for two-, three- and four-year-old children. That is a dated account of participation, rather than a promise of an individual funded place.

• Term-time fit. Attendance runs within an 8.45am to 3.15pm opening window and stops for school holidays. Families needing care across the working year should weigh that calendar carefully.
• Adult involvement in play. The April 2025 improvement priority concerned interruptions during children's chosen activities. On a visit, ask how practitioners now decide when a question will help and when it will interrupt.
• Flexible attendance and funding. Adaptable hours and part-time options are offered. Ask how your proposed attendance would fit the current funded-hours arrangements and any associated charges.

Little Achievers suits families seeking term-time preschool with either part-time attendance or adaptable hours, and a day that makes practical independence part of learning. Its large outdoor area and community outings broaden the experience. The April 2025 examples give substance to that offer: children measured ingredients, explored stories and tackled everyday tasks themselves. The point to examine closely is how adult involvement supports children's own play, the specific area identified for further development.