Holding Hands Pre-School

A farm setting, home-grown vegetables and a sensory pod give Holding Hands Pre-School a recognisable character. Streams and animals sit alongside space for outdoor exploration at Mares Farm in Old Amersham. This is a setting where gardening and everyday tasks have a practical place in children's learning, rather than being occasional additions to the day.

Ofsted rated the pre-school Outstanding at its October 2022 inspection. That judgement is a dated assessment, while the current daily offer combines movement in the gym, child-chosen activities and quieter opportunities to rest. There are 40 places in total, and children are accepted from 11 months until school age.

Attendance is term-time, with morning and afternoon sessions, a full-day option and breakfast and after-school provision. The flexibility has a clear boundary: families choose their sessions, but book each one in full.

Learning and Activities

The early years foundation stage sets the requirements for children's learning, development and care: play, conversation and practical experiences help children build skills across their day. Here, a choice board gives children a say in which activities they join. Cooking, gardening, science play and miniature-world play are among the choices, alongside everyday errands such as shopping at Tesco. These turn familiar tasks into opportunities to make decisions and explore how things work.

Movement has its own space in the gym. An early play period gives children time to be active with their friends before a Mindfulness session, which uses breathing and encouragement to help them settle emotionally. Adult-supported activities also develop reasoning, mathematical understanding and taking turns. Children can choose their play, while staff introduce opportunities to stretch their thinking.

In October 2022, books prompted experiences beyond reading together: children sent photographs and a letter to an author and received a personal reply. Staff also staged a Gruffalo pantomime at Christmas. Those examples show how stories could become shared projects, with children contributing their own ideas and creations.

Outdoor and Community Life

The garden connects growing food with preparing and eating it. Children help make snacks, including soup using vegetables they have grown, and practise serving themselves and clearing up. There is a useful thread running through these activities: children see a task through, rather than simply watching an adult complete it.

Indoors, the story corner, messy play room and sensory pod provide different kinds of space alongside the gym. Music, scarves and streamers give children ways to move and express themselves; outdoors, the garden provides room to explore and play. The physical offer supports changes of pace within a session.

In October 2022, weekly outings had planned learning purposes. Museum visits introduced local history, journeys by public transport took children to nature reserves, and buying seeds at the market linked money with growing food. These are inspection-era examples, rather than a promise of the present trip schedule, but they give a concrete picture of the learning beyond the pre-school that informed its assessment.

Relationships and Communication

At its October 2022 inspection, Ofsted found safeguarding effective and strong support for children with special educational needs and/or disabilities, including advice from other professionals and a private speech and language therapist paid for by the pre-school. That combination matters: specialist input was connected to children's learning rather than left entirely to families to arrange.

In October 2022, each child's key person sent a personalised email every week, explaining their experiences and ways to continue learning at home. A parent portal could operate in different languages. These arrangements gave families specific information about their child and a way to understand the next steps in their learning.

Current support includes a SENDCO and deputy SENDCO, alongside designated safeguarding lead and deputy roles. Members of the staff team hold paediatric first aid qualifications. Applications can come directly from parents, and referrals are accepted from Brokerage, Carers Bucks and Family Centres. These are practical routes into the setting for families already working with support services.

Inclusion and Wellbeing

Toilet learning is approached with regular parent communication and practical advice as children move out of nappies. Handwashing and other personal hygiene skills are part of the session, making self-care something children practise during ordinary activities.

Children who need a nap have a calm space to rest, while afternoon activities include quieter games and puzzles. The sensory pod offers another setting within the pre-school's shared spaces. For families balancing activity with their child's need for rest, these changes of pace are relevant details.

Children help prepare their snacks, while families send a packed lunch; breakfast food is included in the breakfast session. Snacks are included in invoiced private session fees, but form part of the separate consumables charge attached to funded sessions.

Sessions and Attendance

Holding Hands operates at Mares Farm, High Street, Amersham, HP7 0HR, during school terms aligned with Buckinghamshire school dates. There is no minimum number of sessions to book. Allocations are made term by term, and each selected session must be taken and paid for, or covered by applicable funding, as a complete booking.

The morning session runs from 9.15am to 12.15pm. The afternoon booking runs from 12.15pm to 4.15pm, encompassing the lunchtime period before afternoon activities. A full-day preference can also be selected on the application form. This gives families a choice between shorter attendance and a day spanning both sessions.

Breakfast runs from 8am to 9.15am and can be used on an ad hoc basis. Lunch bookings require a packed lunch from home. After-school provision operates Monday to Thursday, with bookings from 4.15pm until either 5.15pm or 5.30pm. Missed sessions because of illness or holidays cannot be exchanged for another session.

Applications include preferred days, session choices and a requested start date, alongside information about allergies, dietary needs and additional support. The contact form, email and telephone provide enquiry routes.

Funding and Paid Extras

All funding streams are accepted, and funded hours can be applied to breakfast, morning, lunch and afternoon bookings where applicable. After-school sessions are privately paid and cannot use funded hours. Attendance remains term-time; acceptance of funding does not by itself establish a family's eligibility.

For children receiving free pre-school sessions, a separate consumables charge applies per three-hour session. It covers snacks, sunscreen, emergency nappies and access to the farm facilities and animals. That charge is included within invoiced private session fees, so the funded and privately paid arrangements differ. Families provide lunch in either case.

Parents who struggle with the consumables cost are invited to discuss their circumstances individually. Current prices come in the nursery's written quotation; the charges and session information explains the booking and charging structure.

• Lunch within the afternoon booking. The afternoon session begins at 12.15pm, while afternoon activities follow lunch. Ask how that combined period would work for your child's eating and rest routine during a visit.
• Termly commitments. Sessions are allocated by term, must be booked in full and cannot be swapped after sickness or holidays. This suits a predictable weekly pattern better than attendance that changes frequently.
• Funded-session extras. The consumables charge covers food items as well as sunscreen, emergency nappies and farm access. Discuss the complete written quotation alongside the funded hours you intend to use.
• Event days replace ordinary provision. The Christmas Party is scheduled for 18 December 2026, and the parent stay and play session for 4 January 2027. Normal nursery services do not run on these event dates, so families need to plan around the calendar.

Holding Hands suits families seeking morning or afternoon sessions, as well as those combining them into a full day with breakfast or after-school care. Its farm setting, garden, gym and child-chosen activities give it a clear identity, with practical independence threaded through shopping, growing food and preparing snacks.

The October 2022 Outstanding judgement carries weight, but it belongs to that assessment. Today's decision also turns on the term-time calendar, whole-session booking rules and different charges for funded and private attendance. For families whose routines fit those arrangements, there is a substantial, concrete offer to consider.