Horfield Welly Pre-School

Campfire cooking and child-chosen play give Horfield Welly Pre-School a practical, active character. Based at Manor Farm Boys Club on Wellington Hill in Bristol, this charity-run setting combines outdoor exploration with books, conversation and opportunities for children to do things for themselves. Its parent-led committee also gives families a direct role in how the pre-school runs.

At its March 2024 inspection, Ofsted rated the provision Good, found safeguarding effective and judged that children made good progress, including those with special educational needs and/or disabilities (SEND). The detail matters: children formed close relationships with their key person, used books enthusiastically and developed independence, while group activities and the visibility of letters needed further attention.

Welly welcomes children aged two to five and has capacity for 36 children in total. Term-time attendance has no minimum session requirement, allowing a gradual start with one morning each week.

Rooms and Ages

In this pack-away pre-school, construction, imaginative play, creative work and physical activity have their own areas. Resources sit within children's reach for independent selection.

The main hall sits alongside a small quiet room and another room used for construction and larger activities. Access deserves attention: the latter is reached by steep stairs, while an alternative route to the quiet room uses a ramped corridor followed by smaller steps. These are shared activity spaces, rather than a reason to assume separate age-based classrooms.

A fenced, level tarmac area supports messy activities, music and mark-making, with free-flow access during the morning.

Learning and Activities

The Early Years Foundation Stage provides the framework for learning and development: communication, movement and relationships sit alongside early reading, mathematics, creativity and discovering the world. Welly translates that into play, conversation and practical tasks. Its curriculum puts curiosity, resilience, respect, communication and problem-solving into everyday terms rather than treating them as separate lessons.

Loose parts make this concrete. Pine cones, shells, buttons and nuts and bolts invite sorting, counting and invention, with staff extending children's ideas. One resource can serve imaginative play or number work.

The core books program of study uses stories, songs, rhyme and repeated language to encourage participation. Adults model conversation and listening; group singing and songs during routines add repetition. Familiar books sit alongside new choices.

Children manage the art process: choosing materials, attaching paper to easels, using a drying rack and washing brushes. Outdoor water painting adds another medium. Threading, weaving and tweezers help prepare hands for writing.

In March 2024, children sought out adults to share books, experimented with chalk and paint, and encountered counting during ordinary activities. Group work included learning about a butterfly's life cycle. Some children became distracted by the props, however, interrupting others' attention. Enjoyable resources were present, but the organisation of a shared activity did not consistently hold everyone.

Outdoor and Community Life

Forest School builds outdoor skills and decision-making through den building, tree climbing, bug hunting, foraging and campfire cooking. Sessions have previously taken place at Westbury Wildlife Park.

Regular outings also take children to shops, a park, a field and a local forest school area. These extend learning beyond the materials indoors, giving children real surroundings to investigate and talk about. In March 2024, the sports hall was another useful physical resource: children tackled an obstacle course and practised movement skills.

Fundraising has paid for sports coaches, dance classes, animal encounters and zoo trips, turning families' efforts into practical enrichment.

Relationships and Communication

Pre-start home visits introduce the key person and allow discussion of children's needs. Families can also speak with the SEND coordinator about additional support.

Tapestry is an online learning diary parents can access and contribute to. It records the observation-and-review cycle used to respond to children's interests and needs.

The manager holds an Early Years Teacher qualification, and the deputy also carries the SENCo role. Those roles bring educational experience and additional-needs coordination into the team structure. Families can participate more directly too, through storytime, gardening, craft activities or sharing a skill, as well as through the volunteer committee.

Inclusion and Wellbeing

Support mechanisms are specific. Children may receive individual work or small-group activities, visual timetables, speech and language interventions, or sensory experiences. Picture Exchange Communication System (PECS) is used as a visual way to help children communicate and participate in routines. The zones of emotional regulation approach helps children identify feelings through colour.

With parental permission, the SEND coordinator can seek specialist advice, including from speech and language services, educational psychologists and The Bristol Autism Team. Individual education plans are reviewed, and personal-care needs can have a separate provision plan. These are practical arrangements families can discuss around their own child's requirements.

At the March 2024 inspection, Ofsted found that visual prompts alongside spoken language helped children with SEND make choices and understand routines, and that settling arrangements supported children's emotional development. That is useful evidence about practice at the time, rather than a guarantee about an individual child's experience.

Safety learning includes handwashing, using scissors, responding to an injury and recognising private body parts through NSPCC PANTS. Chicken Clicken is used to introduce online safety through a story. Weekly emails share safeguarding advice with families, linking these everyday lessons with conversations at home.

Moving on to school is supported through liaison with receiving schools, invitations for new teachers or practitioners to meet children, and discussion of additional arrangements. SEND records are transferred with parents' permission. This is transition support, helping the next setting understand the child.

Sessions and Attendance

The address is Manor Farm Boys Club, Wellington Hill, Horfield, Bristol BS7 8ST. From September 2026, opening hours are 9am to 3pm, Tuesday to Friday during term time.

Children can attend one morning per week, with no minimum booking requirement and free session swaps. Waiting-list enquiries go by email, including the child's name and date of birth, parent contact details and whether siblings previously attended.

Funding and Paid Extras

Welly accepts funding for eligible two-year-olds and for children aged three and four, subject to availability. Its funding information covers Free Entitlement for 2 year olds, Working Family Entitlement and Free Entitlement for 3/4 year olds; entitlement depends on the applicable scheme and family circumstances. Attendance is term-time, and paperwork is required before the pre-school applies for universal hours on a family's behalf.

Paid attendance sits alongside funded childcare. The help with fees page explains funding routes and other childcare-cost support.

• The longer opening day. The opening day extends from September 2026, alongside one-morning bookings and free session swaps. At a visit, ask how your preferred pattern fits the longer day and which hours would be funded or paid.
• Steps and shared spaces. Construction activities use a room reached by steep stairs; the alternative route to the quiet room still includes steps. Families whose children need help with mobility should discuss how each activity space would be accessed and used.
• Literacy and group attention. In March 2024, improvements were required to give children more exposure to letters and print and to keep everyone engaged during group learning. Ask to see how these two areas now work in practice.
• The complete attendance cost. Funded and paid childcare sit alongside one another. Request a written quotation for your chosen attendance pattern before committing.

Horfield Welly suits families who value practical play, outdoor exploration and a meaningful role for parents. Forest School, open-ended resources and the core books program of study give that choice substance. The March 2024 Good judgement supports the overall picture, while the concerns about group attention and early literacy deserve a place in the decision.

Its attendance arrangements suit a child starting with one morning a week or a family using more regular term-time attendance with session swaps. The longer opening window adds practical scope, but the shared spaces and steps make the fit with an individual child's needs just as important as the timetable.