Thorpe End Preschool, Teddies

A church-hall preschool with parent involvement built into its organisation, Teddies combines play indoors and outside with practical steps towards independence. Its home is St David’s Church Hall in Thorpe End, Norwich, and it welcomes children from their second birthday until they move to primary education. There are 26 places in total.

Ofsted rated the preschool Good on 11 June 2024 and found safeguarding effective. The detail gives that judgement substance: children helped one another with puzzles, negotiated roles in their play and handled everyday tasks such as pouring drinks. Those observations describe a preschool where social learning and practical confidence mattered alongside planned activities.

Morning and afternoon sessions sit alongside breakfast and lunch clubs, giving families several ways to organise attendance. This is also a voluntary committee-run setting: parents can contribute to its decisions, fundraising and upkeep rather than simply receive updates.

Learning and Activities

The EYFS provides the framework for children's learning, development and care, with play supporting their growing skills. At Teddies, children can move between activities inside and outdoors, combining organised experiences with opportunities to choose their own play. Changing themes and creative activities give that day its variety.

In June 2024, staff used children's interests and developmental needs to plan activities, then observed their learning to identify what to work on next. That connects planning to the child rather than expecting everyone to follow an identical route. Books, songs, puzzles and train play featured in the children's day, offering different ways to join in.

The same month's observations captured learning between children as well as learning led by adults. Older children offered help with jigsaws, while friends discussed who would drive their train. These small exchanges gave children opportunities to practise cooperation, explain their ideas and respond to someone else.

There was a clear teaching limitation, too. In June 2024, staff sometimes stopped at skills children had already mastered instead of adding a further challenge. A counting activity illustrated the point: children were not encouraged to move beyond familiar numbers. The improvement priority was to develop staff's teaching so that activities extended learning further. For parents, enjoyment and participation therefore sit alongside a useful question about how the next challenge is chosen.

Outdoor and Community Life

Indoor and outdoor play are part of the preschool's current approach, rather than separate strands of its description. Children have opportunities to move between the two, allowing their play to change setting during a session.

Family support also has a visible physical result. Fundraising has enabled the preschool to replace sheds and buy resources. Regular committee meetings take place each half term, and parents can also contribute through events or practical skills. That gives families different ways to participate according to their time and interests.

Relationships and Communication

Tapestry, the online learning journal, lets parents see observations, photographs and videos, comment on entries and contribute observations from home. It makes communication two-way: something a child does outside preschool can become part of the conversation about their learning. Tapestry also shares documents such as policies and protocols; the preschool plans to use its Memos feature for news and updates and its Activities feature for home learning.

In June 2024, staff gathered information from parents about children's needs and preferences and passed it around the team. Children sought cuddles, shared books with adults and received prompt comfort when upset. These are concrete examples of how staff relationships worked during that period, rather than a general promise about settling.

Everyday routines helped children understand what happened next. During June 2024, a bell signalled tidying, and the morning gathering included choosing weather symbols and identifying the day. Children also practised managing coats, selecting cups and bowls and pouring their own drinks. School preparation took this practical form: doing more for themselves and participating in a group.

Inclusion and Wellbeing

At the June 2024 inspection, Ofsted found that children with special educational needs and/or disabilities made good progress, supported by early identification and targeted work on communication, attention and listening. The deputy manager held the special educational needs coordinator role and shared learning from training with colleagues at that time.

The current team includes a special educational needs coordinator and designated safeguarding lead roles, and staff receive safeguarding and paediatric first-aid training. Accident details are recorded through Tapestry for parents to acknowledge. These are specific arrangements for support and communication, separate from the dated safeguarding judgement.

Illness rules have a direct effect on attendance. Following sickness or diarrhoea, children must remain away until 48 hours after symptoms have ended; children who feel unwell and have needed Calpol should also stay home until better. Families need to build those rules into their childcare planning.

Sessions and Attendance

Monday to Thursday is the attendance pattern. Morning sessions finish at noon and can begin at either 8.30am or 9am; afternoon sessions run from noon until 3pm. Full-day sessions are also offered across those days, while flexible options allow families to shape attendance around their routine.

Breakfast club runs from 8am until 9am, and lunch club from noon until 1pm. These are separate named booking options, useful when a family needs an earlier start or attendance over lunchtime. In June 2024, the preschool operated during term time.

To join the waiting list, families complete the application form and email it to the preschool. Enquiries can be made by telephone or email, and visits can be arranged before joining.

Getting There

The address is St David’s Church Hall, St David’s Drive, Thorpe End, Norwich, Norfolk NR13 5HR. The church hall is the setting itself, giving families a precise destination for enquiries and visits.

Funding and Paid Extras

Teddies offers government-funded childcare of up to 30 hours per week from a child's second birthday. That describes the preschool's funding offer rather than a promise that every child qualifies for that entitlement.

• Extending learning. The June 2024 improvement priority concerned taking children beyond skills they already knew. At a visit, ask how staff now choose and demonstrate the next step in an activity.
• Attendance combinations. Morning sessions have two starting options, with afternoon, breakfast and lunch bookings also offered. Discuss the combination you intend to use, including how it works across term dates.
• Funding and extras. Funded hours are offered from age two. Request a current written quotation covering your intended attendance, meals and non-food consumables so you can assess the whole arrangement.
• Parent participation. Half-termly committee meetings and fundraising are part of this voluntary setting's organisation. Consider whether meetings, events or contributing practical skills would suit your family.

Teddies suits families seeking morning or afternoon preschool attendance, as well as those combining a full day with breakfast or lunch club. Indoor and outdoor play, Tapestry communication and opportunities for parent participation give its offer a clear shape.

The June 2024 picture included affectionate relationships, cooperative play and growing independence. The teaching improvement remains the useful counterweight: families should look for activities that stretch an already confident child as well as engage one who is still learning the basics.