Romsey Mill Pre-school, Hemingford Road

Train carriages, counting songs and a bear called Romsey give this Cambridge pre-school a recognisable character. In September 2022, children worked out how to connect a train circuit through repeated attempts, while familiar songs made space for language and early number learning. Small experiences carried the learning.

Romsey Mill Pre-school, Hemingford Road caters for children aged 2 to 4 at Romsey Mill Centre and has 24 places in total. At its September 2022 inspection, Ofsted rated it Good and found safeguarding effective. The strongest practical distinction is its pre-school age range: this is provision for toddlers and preschool children rather than babies.

Learning and Activities

The early years foundation stage sets the framework for children's learning, development and care, with play providing opportunities to practise communication, movement and early mathematical ideas. In September 2022, these strands appeared together in ordinary activities: children experimented with a train set, used numbers during play and joined a counting song in which monkeys were taken away. Number learning was connected to something children enjoyed doing.

Romsey bear accompanied familiar songs in September 2022. Practitioners also talked through children's play and introduced vocabulary while children cut wooden fruit. These examples show how conversation and practical activity could work together, giving children words for their actions rather than separating language learning from play.

Physical activity had tangible resources behind it. In September 2022, children jumped from wooden logs, rolled large hoops in the hall and climbed the steps of a climbing frame. Balancing and climbing gave them different ways to practise controlling their movements. Digging in sand and planting flowers in mud brought hands-on exploration into the day.

There was a qualification to this picture. In September 2022, staff did not consistently help children explore resources in their own way and extend their learning. The improvement priorities were to make better use of opportunities to deepen learning and strengthen teaching consistency across the team. The balance matters for children: extending learning should leave space for their own imagination and play ideas.

Relationships and Communication

In September 2022, settling was given time rather than hurried. Practitioners learned about children and their families from the beginning and adjusted support to individual needs. This matters for a child making an early separation from home: getting to know the family was part of the settling process itself.

Friendship skills were also taught through everyday situations in September 2022. When children found playing together difficult, adults helped them think about another child's feelings and use their hands kindly. Independence appeared in smaller routines too, including handwashing and using a fork to eat fruit. Snack time combined healthy food with adults demonstrating table manners.

Inclusion and Wellbeing

At the September 2022 inspection, Ofsted found good support for children with special educational needs and/or disabilities and those learning English as an additional language, with children progressing well from their starting points. During settling that month, staff collected familiar expressions from children's home languages, providing a concrete way to make communication more familiar.

The September 2022 safeguarding arrangements included staff training, procedures for raising welfare concerns, recruitment checks and daily safety checks. These were features of practice at that time. They sit alongside the dated safeguarding judgement, rather than providing a separate present-day assurance.

Sessions and Attendance

The pre-school is based at Romsey Mill Centre, Hemingford Road, Cambridge, CB1 3BZ. In September 2022, it ran weekday morning sessions from 9am to 12pm during school terms. That dated pattern is useful context for families considering how a pre-school session fits around the rest of their day.

Applications use a downloadable form, which can be returned by email. The pre-school enquiry number is 01223 213162.

Funding and Paid Extras

Funded childcare and privately paid sessions are offered. The funding arrangements cover 15 weekly hours for children aged 3 and 4 across 38 term-time weeks, alongside support for eligible 2-year-olds through benefits or care-related entitlement and expanded entitlement for eligible working parents. Eligibility conditions remain part of those younger children's funding routes.

For working-parent entitlement, an eligibility code is brought to the pre-school for validation. Funding therefore involves an application and checking step, rather than following automatically from a child's age. The fees and funding page explains the routes; families should obtain a current written quotation for privately paid attendance.

• Children's own ideas. September 2022 improvement priorities included giving children more scope to shape their exploration and making teaching more consistent. On a visit, ask how practitioners now extend play while preserving children's choices.
• Morning attendance. The September 2022 pattern was 9am to 12pm on term-time weekdays. Before applying, ask whether that pattern still matches the attendance you need.
• Funding and everyday costs. Funded and privately paid sessions are offered. Ask how snacks and non-food consumables are treated in the quotation for your child's arrangement.

Romsey Mill suits families seeking pre-school provision for a child aged 2 to 4, with either funded attendance or privately paid sessions. Its September 2022 character was practical and relational: songs, movement and hands-on play sat alongside patient settling and support with friendships. The teaching priorities deserve attention too. The September 2022 morning pattern makes attendance timing a practical consideration alongside those teaching priorities.