Epiphany Pre-School

A church setting, a garden for outdoor challenges and an emphasis on growing independence give Epiphany Pre-School its character. Based at Holy Epiphany Church in Bournemouth, it has capacity for 26 children and accepts children aged two to five. Its activities bring together creative play, movement, communication and early mathematical ideas.

At its June 2024 inspection, Ofsted rated the provision Good, with children making good progress, while identifying improvements in uninterrupted play, teaching about healthy food choices and matching activities to children's understanding. Those qualifications matter alongside the grade. The strongest examples involved children doing things for themselves, from handling scissors to helping younger children with lunchtime routines.

Attendance can be built around morning or afternoon sessions, lunch club or an all-day booking, during term time. That gives families more than one way to use the pre-school, although its calendar needs to fit the household's arrangements during school holidays.

Learning and Activities

The early years foundation stage provides the framework for learning and care: children develop communication, physical skills, social understanding and early ideas about numbers and language through play. Epiphany's current activities include imaginative play, books, exploring other cultures and investigating number by adding and taking away. Child-led exploration sits alongside activities introduced by adults, giving children both opportunities to choose and occasions to try something new.

In June 2024, mathematics was a clear emphasis. A clock puzzle helped younger children recognise numerals, while staff introduced comparisons between quantities. These are useful examples of how early number learning can be attached to objects and play rather than treated as a separate lesson.

Sensory and practical activities also featured that month. Children made pictures with herbs and spices, encountered words including cinnamon and rosemary, and practised opening jars. Tweezers and coloured pom-poms offered another small-scale handling task. Together, these examples show how vocabulary and hand control could be developed within the same activity.

The qualification is important: some activities in June 2024 were beyond children's understanding, and reminders about tidying or moving elsewhere sometimes broke their concentration. That month, leaders were not effectively checking how staff adapted activities to extend children's learning and development. Interesting resources alone were not enough. Children also needed time to pursue an idea and activities pitched to what they could grasp.

Outdoor and Community Life

The garden gives children space to attempt physical challenges, explore outdoors and build relationships through shared activity. In June 2024, children used a climbing wall independently. That concrete example helps explain the garden's practical role: outdoor play could involve judgement and coordination as well as movement.

Creature Teachers has visited the pre-school, adding a named visitor to its activity programme. Trips out also form part of the offer. These sit alongside imaginative role play, physical activities and parachute play accompanied by songs, rather than replacing the everyday opportunities to explore and practise.

In June 2024, children chose resources independently and had warm relationships with staff. Adults encouraged them to attempt practical tasks themselves, demonstrating how to open a jar before giving a child a turn. The emphasis was on allowing an attempt, rather than doing the task immediately for them.

At the June 2024 inspection, Ofsted found safeguarding effective and strong support for children with special educational needs and/or disabilities and those learning English as an additional language, with assessments identifying learning gaps and visual resources supporting communication and emotional needs. This is a useful combination of mechanisms: noticing a difficulty and then adapting how information is presented.

Everyday independence was visible in June 2024 too. Older children helped younger ones locate lunchboxes, children reminded one another about handwashing, and snack-time rubbish was separated for recycling. Staff helped children express discomfort during lively play and supported turn-taking. These small routines made care and social learning part of the day, rather than separate topics.

Parents received photographs and updates about learning in June 2024, providing material they could use to continue activities at home. Current priorities include independence, a positive self-image and preparation for school. The practical thread is consistent: children are encouraged to communicate, make choices and participate in their own care.

Food education needed more attention in June 2024. Staff explained handwashing and supported sensible eating habits, but did not consistently use opportunities to help children understand healthier food and drink choices. This sits alongside the wider question of how well adult guidance extends an ordinary routine into learning.

Sessions and Attendance

Morning sessions run from 9am to 11.30am; afternoons run from 12.30pm to 3pm. Lunch club occupies the intervening period, from 11.30am to 12.30pm, and the all-day option runs from 9am to 3pm. These are separate booking choices, so families can distinguish a shorter session from a day that includes lunchtime.

Opening is Monday to Friday, during term time. School holidays therefore require a separate family arrangement. The difference matters for parents whose working year continues beyond the pre-school calendar, as well as for those deliberately seeking attendance that follows school terms.

Getting There

The address is Holy Epiphany Church, 46 Castle Lane West, Bournemouth BH9 3JT. Enquiries can be made by telephone, email or the contact form, providing a direct route for discussing a proposed attendance pattern.

Funding and Paid Extras

Epiphany accepts funding for two-year-olds and for children aged three and four, including 30-hour funding. Its attendance offer is term-time only, and private morning, afternoon, lunch-club and all-day bookings are also offered.

The funding and fees page sets out those booking choices. Funding participation and the session timetable are separate considerations: families need a pattern that fits their week as well as the appropriate entitlement.

• Time to stay absorbed. In June 2024, transitions sometimes interrupted children's chosen play. During a visit, explore how tidying and changes of activity now protect sustained concentration.
• Activities and food learning. June 2024 findings included tasks beyond children's understanding and missed opportunities to discuss healthier choices. Ask how staff adjust an activity and use eating routines to build understanding.
• Term-time fit. Morning, afternoon and all-day bookings provide different attendance options, but opening follows term time. Plan school-holiday arrangements alongside the regular weekly pattern.
• The practical visit discussion. With lunch club among the booking options, ask what children need to bring for eating and personal care, and request a written quotation for the intended bookings.

Epiphany suits families seeking morning or afternoon preschool sessions, with lunch club and an all-day option for a different weekly pattern. Its garden, creative activities and emphasis on independence give parents concrete reasons to consider it.

The June 2024 picture also calls for a purposeful visit discussion about uninterrupted play, appropriate activity levels and food education. For a family comfortable with term-time attendance, the appeal is the combination of practical learning, outdoor challenges and flexible session choices within a clearly bounded day.