Rainbow Pre-School & Extended Services

A single-level setting on a school site, with language woven into each half term’s learning: Rainbow’s East Site at Bantock Way combines preschool education with care beyond the school day. This is the Biggleswade branch at St Andrew’s Lower School, with capacity for 53 children in total. Preschool attendance starts at two, and the current preschool terms cover children aged two to five.

At the 27 January 2022 inspection, Ofsted judged the provision Good and safeguarding effective, praised the support for children with SEND, and identified two improvements: greater challenge for the most able children and better involvement of parents in learning. These findings describe practice at that visit.

Morning, afternoon and all-day preschool attendance sit alongside breakfast, after-school and holiday clubs. The strongest practical attractions are the choice of preschool patterns, a planned introduction to the child’s key worker and a defined system for additional needs.

Learning and Activities

The Early Years Foundation Stage provides the learning framework, bringing communication, physical development, relationships and other areas of learning into children’s play. Rainbow’s own planning gives Communication and Language attention each half term alongside another area, with activities shaped by children’s interests and a matching book. A core value is also taught each half term.

In January 2022, children sustained their chosen play and contributed ideas to adults and friends. Dough-making developed into pretend milkshake-making at the children’s suggestion, with staff encouraging them to use utensils and resources. Children helped shape the activity.

In January 2022, adults repeated story vocabulary, modelled its use and allowed time for children to answer prediction questions. Experiments moved from group to individual exploration, with comparison and estimation bringing conversation into practical investigation.

Outdoor and Community Life

The East Site occupies a purpose-built school building arranged on one level. Garden areas include different surfaces and planting beds, while accessible toilets and low storage put everyday resources within reach. For a family considering physical access, these are concrete features to weigh alongside the child’s individual requirements.

In January 2022, fixed equipment gave children opportunities to practise climbing and balance. Cleaning outdoor resources with water and brushes brought smaller hand movements into active play too.

Rainbow also has a Physical and Nutritional Co-ordinator, known as PANCO, at each of its two sites. Across both sites, the role supports balanced menus and physical activity; each half term brings attention to three foods and three forms of movement, communicated through newsletters. The programme connects activity at preschool with ideas families can use at home.

Relationships and Communication

Before attendance begins, an induction meeting introduces the child to their key worker through an activity while parents discuss registration information with the manager. Familiarity starts before regular sessions.

Email confirmation identifies the child’s key worker. The two-session weekly minimum is intended to support familiarity and settling.

Across both sites, staff are trained in 5 to Thrive, an approach linking positive parenting with connected relationships, and are continuing to incorporate it into practice.

Inclusion and Wellbeing

A Head of SEND coordinates provision with managers and staff. Support follows an assess, plan, do and review cycle, with parents involved in assessment, planning and decisions. The policy also provides routes to further assessment and Education, Health and Care assessments, with requests developed together with families.

Visual timetables help explain session routines. Bilingual books, culturally relevant toys and multilingual signs support children using English as an additional language.

The East Site’s collection procedure requires adults to wait outside the gates while staff escort children out; staff manage the gate between children and pass on messages and forms. Authorised collectors and a family password are part of the procedure. Families need to keep collection arrangements up to date so staff can follow those checks.

Sessions and Attendance

Preschool operates Monday to Friday during school term time for 39 weeks a year. Mornings run from 9am to noon, afternoons from 12.15pm to 3.15pm, and the all-day pattern from 9am to 3.15pm. Children can attend mornings, afternoons or a mixture, subject to the two-session weekly minimum.

Allocated preschool sessions normally stay in place for the academic year. Changes are handled at the start of a half term, subject to capacity; ending attendance requires written notice and takes effect at the end of the half term in which notice is received. Paid sessions remain chargeable through that period. This is a useful choice for a predictable weekly routine, but requires advance planning when family arrangements change.

Breakfast Club starts at 7.30am, with its finish time needing confirmation; After School Club runs from 3.30pm to 6pm. Preschool children can use these services, as can children attending St Andrews C of E Primary school. Holiday Club opens from 7.30am to 6pm on weekdays outside term time, with a two-week Christmas closure. Breakfast and after-school bookings are made ahead of each half term through completed forms, on a first-come basis.

Getting There

The East Site address is St Andrews Lower School, Bantock Way, Biggleswade, SG18 8UQ. The school car park is closed to parents during school hours unless Rainbow has agreed otherwise; The Orchard Centre and The Central Square are the nearest car parks.

General enquiries go to enquiries@rainbow-preschool.co.uk, with an online Register Interest form allowing families to select the East Site. Being based at a school does not guarantee a Reception place: families still apply through the local authority admissions process.

Funding and Paid Extras

Rainbow accepts funded preschool attendance, including 30 hours for eligible working families, 15 hours for three- and four-year-olds, and 15 hours for eligible two-year-olds receiving additional support. Preschool funding is used during term time and preschool hours; private sessions beyond entitlement are charged. Although the working-family entitlement covers younger children nationally, Rainbow’s preschool entry begins at two.

Funding covers 38 weeks, while preschool operates for 39; funded families receive their normal sessions free for the extra week. Families complete funding paperwork each term and keep eligibility codes renewed every three months. The supervised lunch interval can use remaining funded entitlement, or is charged separately when entitlement has already been used.

Morning and afternoon snacks are free, including for funded attendance; lunch is either brought from home or ordered as a separately charged hot meal from the caterers serving St Andrews Primary School. Hot lunches are ordered each Friday for the following week, and Rainbow publishes a no-nut policy and excludes popcorn.

Parents supply nappies and wipes, while Rainbow supplies summer sun cream. New starters receive a polo top, book bag and home learning challenge book for an initial contribution. Current prices come in the nursery’s written quotation, and preschool invoices are payable in advance each term.

• Challenge and communication. In January 2022, stretching the most able children and involving every parent in learning needed further attention. At a visit, ask how activities are extended for your child and how the key worker shares learning you can build on at home.
• Attendance and breakfast timing. Preschool requires at least two weekly sessions, with changes and termination tied to half-term boundaries. Breakfast information gives differing finishes of 8.45am and 9am; confirm which applies to your booking.
• East Site parking. School-hours access to the car park needs prior agreement, with The Orchard Centre or The Central Square offering alternatives. Factor that arrangement into the practicalities of collection.
• Food and personal care. Lunch and nappies need separate planning: hot meals carry a charge, packed lunches come from home, and parents supply nappies and wipes. Families managing allergies should confirm current handling arrangements alongside the no-nut policy.

Rainbow’s East Site suits families seeking morning or afternoon preschool, as well as those combining both sessions with care before or after the school day. Its planned key-worker introduction, language-led half-term planning and structured SEND processes give parents concrete arrangements to assess. The single-level building adds a useful physical detail.

The positive January 2022 assessment came with clear improvement points. Term-time attendance, half-term change rules and separate lunch arrangements require a predictable family routine.