St Saviours Preschool

Imaginative café play and children balancing on narrow walkways give St Saviours Preschool its character in January 2025. At its 29 January 2025 inspection, Ofsted rated the preschool Good and found safeguarding effective. The setting operates at St Saviours Church in Bournemouth and has capacity for 26 children.

Children attending in January 2025 were aged two to four. The strongest practical thread in that snapshot is independence: children made choices about their play, requested materials and tackled everyday tasks themselves.

The early years foundation stage is the framework for children's learning, development and care, with play providing opportunities to practise language, movement and social skills. In January 2025, defined activity areas helped children concentrate, while imaginative play gave their ideas somewhere to go.

An imaginary café brought early writing into a purposeful activity: children made marks to take orders. Elsewhere, pretend drinks combined mud, sand and paper, giving children reasons to request resources and explain their thinking. Board games provided practice in waiting for a turn.

Physical challenge had a concrete form that January. Children balanced along narrow walkways, with staff encouraging different movements. Activities involving pincers also gave children practice in controlling small movements, connecting playful tasks with skills used later for writing.

At the January 2025 inspection, Ofsted found that staff assessed children's development accurately, planned their next steps and worked with parents to support progress, including directing families towards external agencies when concerns arose.

Everyday care also offered opportunities for independence in January 2025. Children poured drinks, spread butter on crackers and served fruit with tongs. Staff helped when tasks became difficult, explaining how to handle tools.

Support for feelings was practical too. During that month, staff sought to understand children's needs and used learning targets to help them recognise emotions and change their responses. Communication with parents included updates about development and guidance for supporting learning at home.

The address is St Saviours Church, 32 Colemore Road, Bournemouth, BH7 6RZ.

In January 2025, attendance followed school terms, with the preschool opening each weekday. Session times were 8.30am to 3pm on Monday, Wednesday, Thursday and Friday, and 8.30am to midday on Tuesday. That shorter Tuesday matters for families planning a consistent working week. Government-funded places formed part of the provision at that time.

• Mathematics in play. In January 2025, staff did not consistently help children extend mathematical ideas during their activities. Ask how number work is now developed within everyday play.
• Feedback to staff. Feedback did not consistently translate into better teaching in January 2025. Ask what has changed in how staff receive and act on guidance.
• Term-time attendance. The January 2025 timetable included a shorter Tuesday and school-term opening. Before joining, confirm how the current attendance arrangements fit your working week.

St Saviours suits families drawn to preschool play that gives children practical responsibilities and room for imaginative ideas. The January 2025 picture includes purposeful early writing, physical challenges and everyday independence, alongside clear development points in mathematics and staff feedback. Its term-time timetable is especially relevant to families whose childcare needs follow school terms.