Kimberley Pre-School Playgroup

A purpose-built lodge, a wooded patch and plenty of make-believe give Kimberley Pre-School Playgroup its character. Kettlebrook Lodge combines construction, role play and creative activities with an enclosed garden, so children have several ways to explore the same idea: build it, act it out or take it outdoors.

Children can join from age 2 and stay until they begin school; the playgroup has 26 places in total. At its February 2023 inspection, Ofsted rated the provision Good overall. That judgement sits alongside concrete examples of children practising independence, sharing their ideas and learning through everyday play, rather than a day organised solely around adult-led tasks.

Full-day, half-day and afternoon attendance options operate during term time. The practical appeal is choice within a school-day opening window, rather than early starts or evening care.

Learning and Activities

The EYFS provides the framework for learning and care: children develop language, physical skills, early understanding and independence through play and everyday experiences. Here, wooden blocks and Lego give construction a practical emphasis, while puzzles and games introduce numbers, letters, colour and shape. Children can handle materials and try ideas out, rather than simply listen to explanations.

Small-world play includes toy farms, dinosaurs, villages and dolls’ houses. The home corner extends that make-believe into shops, emergency services and a vets, with dressing-up and caring for toy babies also part of the offer. These are useful settings for children to practise conversation, negotiate roles and invent a story together.

Books are accessible in a cosy book corner, and stories and singing bring children together at each session’s end. Painting, cooking and tactile activities sit alongside a mark-making table for drawing and early writing. The balance gives children routes into expression through movement, materials and language, rather than requiring everyone to enjoy the same activity.

In February 2023, lunchtime stories and songs took place in smaller groups, helping children concentrate and listen. Staff also used children’s interests when planning activities. Those observations give substance to the play-based approach, while remaining a picture of practice at that date.

Outdoor and Community Life

An enclosed garden includes a covered space for free-flow play, with water, sand, bikes, a playhouse and climbing equipment. Pavement chalk adds another way to make marks outdoors. The physical offer extends indoors too, with equipment for balancing, jumping, throwing and other large movements.

Weather permitting, children explore a small wooded area through forest school experiences centred on nature and outdoor discovery. This adds a different setting from the garden’s play equipment, although the weather condition matters when weighing how much woodland activity a child might experience.

In February 2023, walks and a nearby depot supplied learning material: children watched refuse vehicles, and staff helped them explore how the lorries worked. Climbing, lifting and messy play also featured. The useful point is the connection between learning and things children could observe or do themselves.

Toilet training is not an entry requirement. For families with a younger child, that removes a specific hurdle to starting preschool and sits alongside an emphasis on developing everyday independence.

In February 2023, children practised using open cups and took turns helping at snack time, serving fruit and toast to friends. They also washed their hands and were encouraged to manage toilet visits themselves. These small responsibilities gave children opportunities to do things for themselves and contribute to the group.

At the February 2023 inspection, Ofsted found safeguarding effective and described staff obtaining professional advice and working with parents on referrals when children needed additional support. Today, the team includes two Special Educational Needs Coordinators (SENCOs), and staff have safeguarding and paediatric first-aid training. Those roles and training describe the support arrangements; the dated inspection supplies the judgement on their effectiveness.

The same February 2023 picture carried two important limitations. Parents did not consistently have opportunities for progress discussions, and informal group supervision gave staff less individual coaching and less time to discuss their key children. Both became improvement priorities. For parents, the issue is how well information about a child moves between home, staff and the people supporting that child.

Sessions and Attendance

The playgroup opens Monday to Friday, 9am to 3pm, during term time. Full days run from either 9am or 9.30am until 3pm; half days start at those same times and finish at noon or 1pm. Afternoon options run from noon or 12.30pm until 3pm.

That gives families choices over both the start and finish of a shorter day. It also makes the calendar a decisive consideration: the term-time model needs to fit the household’s arrangements during school holidays. Enquiries can be made through the contact form or by telephone on 0115 938 9205.

Funding and Paid Extras

The playgroup offers up to 30 hours of childcare. Funded places are offered for eligible children aged 2, 3 and 4. Funded full-day and half-day patterns operate on five days each week during term time; eligibility remains a condition of the funded offer. Paid sessions are offered too, and families should obtain current prices in the playgroup’s written quotation.

Getting There

The address is Kettlebrook Lodge, Eastwood Road, Kimberley, Nottingham NG16 2HX. The purpose-built premises bring the indoor activity areas, garden and wooded space into one setting, giving families a concrete picture of the environment their child would use.

• Term-time calendar. Opening hours finish at 3pm and attendance follows term time. Families needing later care or school-holiday cover should weigh that boundary against the choice of shorter and full days.
• Progress conversations and staff support. February 2023 improvement priorities concerned regular parent discussions and individual staff supervision. At a visit, ask how progress meetings and time to discuss key children now work.
• Food and personal-care arrangements. Toilet training is not required before joining. At a visit, ask what to bring for lunch and personal care, and how these arrangements work on funded sessions.

Kimberley Pre-School Playgroup suits families seeking term-time full days, shorter half days or afternoon sessions for children from age 2. Its strongest practical assets are the purpose-built lodge, varied pretend-play and construction resources, and the combination of garden and woodland exploration. The Good judgement dates to February 2023; the improvement priorities make communication and individual staff support the points to weigh alongside those strengths.