Barrow Pre-School Playgroup

A parent-led charity with a practical approach to preparing children for school, Barrow Pre-School Playgroup combines play with learning to manage coats, lunchboxes, conversations and feelings. Its home is the Methodist Church Rooms in Barrow upon Soar. Children can start at two, and the setting has capacity for 34 children in total.

Ofsted rated the playgroup Good on 8 June 2023. Number hunts, imaginative construction and supported independence gave that judgement substance, alongside two areas requiring attention: listening during group activities and keeping children engaged as routines changed.

Term-time attendance includes morning and afternoon sessions, with children also able to stay all day. The parent committee gives families another way to participate: helping run the charity, rather than simply using its childcare.

Rooms and Ages

Rabbits is the group children join in the year before starting school, with structured activities and stories in the carpet room alongside time for play. These are groups with different responsibilities attached to them, rather than a reason to assume a particular class size.

For Rabbits, school preparation reaches well beyond recognising letters. Children find their own name for self-registration, discuss the calendar and weather, and take turns counting the group with a counting wand. Those activities give familiar routines a learning purpose: recognising a name, talking about time and connecting counting with the children around them.

Learning and Activities

The Early Years Foundation Stage provides the shared requirements for learning and care, with play supporting language, physical development, relationships and early literacy and maths. Barrow builds themed weeks around children's interests, connecting activities across those areas. The child's current enthusiasm helps shape what happens next.

Rabbits adds a weekly letter sound, explored through games, activities and occasional worksheets. Children practise recognising that letter and identifying words that begin with its sound. Number recognition uses puzzles, challenges and hunts, with numerals chosen according to a child's interests and ability.

Writing preparation starts with hands and fingers. Children work on muscle strength and pencil control before attempting significant letters, such as the beginning of their name; water and paintbrushes, shaving foam and sand offer alternatives to pencil and paper. Progression follows readiness. The emphasis is on building the skills that make writing possible, rather than expecting every child to produce the same result.

In June 2023, children searched the playroom for matching numbers and marked their discoveries on paper attached to clipboards. Another activity used cardboard boxes to create a pretend robot, with drawing its features bringing early writing into imaginative construction. Steps and soft matting also provided a place to practise climbing and jumping. These examples show how movement, mark-making and number recognition could sit within play.

Outdoor and Community Life

Village walks connect children with their wider community, while visiting companies bring additional experiences each term. These extend learning beyond the playgroup's usual activities without turning every experience into a formal lesson.

In June 2023, learning also included encounters with ponies and minibeasts, plus library visits that introduced children to books beyond the setting. The animals offered something concrete to observe and discuss; the library gave reading a place in community life.

Relationships and Communication

A key person works with each child's family to understand their needs and interests and helps them settle. The initial settling session includes a parent or carer, giving staff time to learn about preferences and important information. Further sessions can be arranged when a child needs more time. A favourite toy or comforter can come too, labelled with the child's name.

Tapestry, the online learning journal, records observations and learning for parents to access. Families can also share interests from home, achievements, behaviour goals and other priorities for staff to support. That creates a useful connection between what matters to a child at home and the activities planned at playgroup.

Inclusion and Wellbeing

At the June 2023 inspection, Ofsted found safeguarding effective and SEND support good, with individual plans and additional funding used for one-to-one help. Current arrangements include a SENDCO role, safeguarding lead roles and staff training in first aid and safeguarding.

Children do not need to be potty trained before starting. Toilet training is supported when a child shows readiness, including managing clothing and washing hands, so joining the group does not depend on already mastering those tasks.

In June 2023, books helped children connect feelings with colours, while tooth-cleaning activities and a tally of children's responses brought oral health into discussion. Children also practised putting on dressing-up clothes independently. Small, manageable tasks gave them opportunities to do more for themselves.

Sessions and Attendance

Morning sessions run from 9.15am to 12.15pm, Monday to Friday. Afternoon sessions run from 12.15pm to 3.25pm on Monday, Tuesday, Thursday and Friday; Wednesday finishes after the morning. Children can attend all day on the longer days. The playgroup operates during term time and closes for school holidays.

A 9am start is a separately payable early-start option and is outside funded entitlement. Families therefore need to distinguish the standard morning session from that earlier start when planning attendance and costs.

The playgroup operates a waiting list and advises contacting it at least a term before the intended start. Enquiries can be made through the contact form, by telephone or by email.

Getting There

The address is Methodist Church Rooms, North Street, Barrow upon Soar, LE12 8QA.

Funding and Paid Extras

Funded childcare is offered for two-, three- and four-year-olds on a term-time basis. The routes include 15 hours for eligible two-year-olds whose families receive qualifying support, starting from the term after their second birthday, the universal 15-hour entitlement for three- and four-year-olds, starting from the term after their third birthday, and 30 hours for eligible working parents of three- and four-year-olds. Working-parent funding requires an entitlement code in advance; eligible two-year-old support requires the family's confirmation letter before starting.

Private sessions and attendance beyond funded hours are charged separately. Non-funded fees are payable in advance for the term, while invoices for additional sessions are sent at the start of each term. Current prices come in the playgroup's written quotation; its fees and funding page explains the charge structure.

Parents provide a packed lunch for all-day attendance, including funded attendance; snacks change daily and include fruit or vegetables, with milk or water, and children practise pouring and serving. The playgroup asks families to make packed lunches nut free.

Moving on to School

The playgroup describes close working with Hall Orchard Primary School: summer-term group visits include exploring the school and eating lunch in its hall. Children also visit their allocated schools, teachers are invited into playgroup, and children with additional needs can have individual visits with their key person. These arrangements support familiarity; attendance does not guarantee a school place, and families still use the local authority admissions process.

• Wednesday and holiday coverage. Wednesday ends at 12.15pm, and the playgroup closes during school holidays. Families needing afternoon or year-round care should weigh those fixed limits against the longer days elsewhere in the week.
• Group time and transitions. In June 2023, older children answered together rather than practising listening and turn-taking, and some children lost learning time during tidying and changes of activity. On a visit, ask how those routines now keep children involved.
• Lunches and personal supplies. All-day children bring lunch, and packed lunches must follow the playgroup's nut-free request. Allergy-affected families should confirm current practice; also ask what to bring for toileting and personal care.
• Settling before starting. A parent can attend the first settling session, with further sessions arranged if needed. Use a booked visit to discuss how the key person would adapt that process to your child.

Barrow suits families seeking term-time mornings, afternoon sessions or combined all-day attendance, especially those who value a parent-led setting and practical preparation for school. Rabbits brings detail to that preparation: recognising names, handling lunch packaging and becoming familiar with school routines all have a clear place.

The June 2023 Good judgement sits alongside concerns about group discussion and transitions. For families whose timetable fits the Wednesday finish and holiday closures, the combination of play, family communication and school-transition work gives this playgroup a clear purpose.