Maids Moreton Pre-School

A shared woodland, a vegetable patch and a Mud Kitchen give Maids Moreton Pre-School a practical, outdoors-minded character. This independent preschool occupies its own grounds on Avenue Road in Maids Moreton, Buckingham, and has 30 places in total. Children can join from their second birthday. Its voluntary trustees oversee the charity, while staff run the children's care and learning.

At its July 2022 inspection, Ofsted rated the preschool Good, found safeguarding effective and judged that children, including those with special educational needs and disabilities, made good progress. That assessment gives families a dated quality benchmark; the everyday appeal lies in opportunities to build, investigate, grow things and play together.

Attendance can be organised around full days, mornings or afternoons, with a minimum booking of one session each week. The term-time calendar is an important part of the choice.

Learning and Activities

The Early Years Foundation Stage (EYFS) provides the framework for children's learning, development and care, with learning through play supporting communication, physical development, exploration and relationships. Here, the physical resources give those areas practical expression: instruments for making music, water and sand for investigation, and a Creation station for making things. Children have different ways to participate rather than needing to approach every activity through conversation alone.

Books sit alongside comfortable cushions in a quieter area. Elsewhere, small-world resources and construction materials support invented scenes and building, while the role-play space gives children opportunities to try out ideas with others. These are useful contrasts within the day: energetic, collaborative play can sit alongside looking at a book or working on a creation.

In July 2022, children sustained their interest in creative activities and negotiated roles in imaginative games. Staff also used a child's interest in commercial logos to draw him into further experiences. The practical lesson for parents is how an individual interest can become a starting point for learning, rather than something staff simply observe and leave alone.

Outdoor and Community Life

The Wooded Area provides outdoor learning through exploration and adult guidance. It is shared with Maids Moreton Church of England School, and activities include building dens, investigating insects, making constructions from sticks and taking impressions of bark. Different sounds, textures and smells give children material to investigate with their senses as well as their words.

On the preschool grounds, a covered outdoor space provides protection from sun and rain. Climbing and balancing equipment, scooters and trikes support movement, while the vegetable patch connects growing with food. The Mud Kitchen adds another place for hands-on play. These resources make the outside space part of learning rather than simply a break from indoor activities.

In July 2022, children grew onions and potatoes, watched changes in their plants and used digging tools. They also practised balancing and explored insects outdoors. Growing something to take home gave the activity a tangible purpose, connecting effort and observation with something children could eat.

Relationships and Communication

Individual knowledge shaped care in July 2022. Staff used assessments to plan children's next steps and could explain how they intended to extend each child's learning. Singing, stories and making marks supported communication, and children expressed themselves through speech, gestures and signs. That combination matters for children who communicate in different ways or are still developing confidence with spoken language.

The current staff team has training relating to autism, Down's syndrome and speech and language delay. Staff work with specialist teachers, therapists and advisers to support children's development. This is a concrete support mechanism: expertise beyond the immediate team can contribute to a child's care and learning.

Inclusion and Wellbeing

All staff have training in safeguarding, paediatric first aid and food hygiene. These are arrangements for managing care and risk; the dated safeguarding judgement belongs to the July 2022 assessment.

Personal independence was the improvement priority in July 2022. Children chose their play and companions, but adults sometimes completed manageable care tasks for them, including fetching a tissue and wiping a nose. Ofsted's July 2022 inspection asked staff to give children more opportunity to manage their own personal care. For a parent preparing a child for greater independence, the important distinction is between receiving help and being supported to try a task themselves.

Sessions and Attendance

The address is Avenue Road, Maids Moreton, Buckingham, MK18 1QA. The preschool is open Monday to Friday, from 8am to 3pm, across 38 weeks of the year. Its calendar follows autumn, spring and summer terms, each divided into half terms. This is a term-time arrangement, so families need a separate plan for the school holidays.

Full Day, Morning Session and Afternoon Session are the booking options. Children aged two and above can attend for a minimum of one session a week. Requests are handled in the order received, and any waiting list follows the date of each request. That is a clear allocation rule rather than an indication of how many places are free.

Morning Wrap around care runs from 8am to 9am during term time for children aged two, three and four. It can be booked for the term or with 24 hours' notice; an 8.30am to 9am option is also offered. Early drop-off from 8.45am does not require advance booking. Evening wraparound was suspended from September 2024, so it should not form part of a family's planned attendance pattern.

Enquiries can be made by telephone on 01280 8 24989 or through the preschool's Contact Us route.

Funding and Paid Extras

Funded and privately paid attendance are offered. Early Education Funding covers 15 or 30 hours a week for eligible three- and four-year-olds, starting in the term after the third birthday. Eligible two-year-olds can use 15-hour Early Education Funding or 30-hour Working Parents Funding from the term after their second birthday; the preschool's own entry age remains two. Funded attendance follows its 38-week term-time calendar.

Private fees are payable in advance each term, with other arrangements possible by agreement. A non-refundable registration charge applies to non-funded children. Current prices come in the preschool's written quotation, and the fees and funding information explains the payment structure. Two weeks' notice is requested when a child leaves, while funded children do not have to give notice.

• Personal independence. July 2022's improvement priority concerned adults doing care tasks children could practise themselves. During a visit, ask how staff now help children take increasing responsibility for those routines.
• Outdoor kit. Woodland learning calls for wellies and waterproof clothing, with hats and gloves in colder weather and covered arms and legs in warmer weather. Factor that equipment into preparations for attendance.
• The working-day fit. Attendance is term-time, and evening wraparound was suspended in September 2024. Families combining preschool with work need a schedule that fits those boundaries.
• Settling and everyday essentials. Children can start at two with just one session a week. Ask how that pattern supports settling, and what families need to provide or pay for in meals, snacks and everyday consumables.

Maids Moreton Pre-School suits families seeking morning or afternoon sessions as well as full-day preschool attendance, with an appetite for outdoor exploration. The woodland, covered outdoor space and vegetable patch give that choice substance. Specialist collaboration adds a practical mechanism for supporting individual development.

The Good judgement dates to July 2022, and personal-care independence remains a useful topic for a visit. The decisive practical constraint is the term-time timetable and suspended evening wraparound: this is a choice to fit carefully around the family's week.