St Mary's Playschool

A former village school, a sensory room and church story sessions give St Mary's Playschool a recognisable Great Baddow character. Its Church Centre setting combines indoor spaces for different activities with enclosed outdoor play, while Ladybird Room and Butterfly Room organise the day around younger children and those preparing for school. Play leads the learning.

At its January 2023 inspection, Ofsted rated the playschool Good and found safeguarding effective. That judgement is a dated assessment, rather than a description of today's practice. The main improvement concerned the organisation of activity changes: children sometimes had to stop before finishing, or approached an activity before it was ready.

Children can join from age 2 and remain until almost 5, with capacity for 78 children in total. Attendance is term-time only, with morning, afternoon and full-day options. For parents, the combination is useful: a preschool setting with several session lengths, rather than one attendance pattern for every family.

Rooms and Ages

Ladybird Room takes children from 2 years and emphasises self-chosen play, sensory exploration and early communication, physical development and relationships, using materials such as water, soil and shaving foam. These are hands-on experiences: children can investigate textures and practise expressing what they discover, rather than spend their session following a sequence of adult instructions.

Butterfly Room serves preschool children and combines free-choice and adult-led play with phonics, counting, shape activities and group stories, supporting the social routines and independence involved in moving to school. The distinction between the groups is about the stage of learning as well as age. Children move into Butterfly Group in birth-date order.

The building has four classrooms, a hall, an indoor playroom and a sensory room. These spaces give the playschool more than a single room in which to organise its activities. The sensory room also forms part of its provision for individual SEND support, including time with an adult away from the larger group.

Learning and Activities

The EYFS provides the required framework for learning and care: children develop language, movement and relationships through play, alongside early literacy, mathematics, creative work and exploration of the world. At St Mary's, the practical emphasis includes conversations, rhymes, books, physical activity and opportunities to investigate. The framework is the foundation of the day, rather than an extra programme.

Room routines make that approach concrete. Younger children have substantial periods of free-choice play, while the preschool timetable brings in sound work, counting and shape activities. Group songs and stories sit alongside physical play. This gives families a clearer picture of school preparation than a promise of readiness alone: the day includes both shared routines and opportunities for children to make choices.

In January 2023, children used book photographs while making lanterns and fortune cookies for Chinese New Year. A shoe-pairing game brought mathematical thinking into social play, and pretend food preparation gave children another reason to talk together. These examples show how practical activities carried learning at that time; they are not a current events timetable.

Outdoor and Community Life

Outside, two enclosed spaces accommodate scooters, bikes, water play and a mud kitchen. Outdoor play takes place in both morning and afternoon, weather permitting, with activities also including growing plants, looking for small creatures and building dens. Children can use their whole bodies as well as their hands, extending the play that happens indoors.

St. Mary's Church is part of the playschool's local life. Children visit regularly for stories, and families are invited to church services each term. These are meaningful features for parents weighing the role of church activities in their child's week. Other possible outings include Great Baddow Library; the visits are possibilities, not a fixed schedule.

St Mary’s Helping Hands supports fundraising and social events, with Quiz Nights, Christmas Fayre and Summer Fete among the regular events. Fundraising has helped purchase resources including a playground shelter and the mud kitchen. Parent involvement therefore has a practical connection to the spaces children use.

Relationships and Communication

Settling is planned with families and adjusted to their pace. Staff gather information about the child before the start and can change their approach as the child becomes accustomed to playschool. A familiar comforter can come along too. For a child who needs continuity between home and a new group, those arrangements provide specific ways to retain something familiar.

Each child has a key person who observes development and keeps a progress record. Learning journals bring together photographs, observations and next steps, with families able to contribute experiences from home. Those contributions can inform individual planning, so communication is more than a collection of pictures sent out after an activity.

Class Dojo is the online platform for sharing learning and contacting the setting. Stay-and-play opportunities and consultations provide face-to-face discussion, while the room lead can answer questions as the day finishes. Families therefore have several ways to communicate, including when the person collecting is not the parent who wants to discuss progress.

Moving between groups is supported by an adult the child knows well. Children also become familiar with the other group through shared lunchtime and outdoor experiences. A familiar adult remains involved during the change, giving the move a practical continuity rather than treating it simply as a new room allocation.

Inclusion and Wellbeing

A full-time SEND coordinator works with key persons on individual educational plans, and parents take part in regular discussions about their child's learning. The graduated approach involves assessing needs, planning support, putting it into practice and reviewing its effect. This creates an identifiable process for discussing concerns and adjusting provision.

Wheelchair access and accessible toilets form part of the arrangements, alongside liaison with professionals such as speech and language therapists and educational psychologists. Applications for additional inclusion funding can be made when a child's needs exceed what the setting's core budget can support. For children with more complex needs, the start date depends on completing the necessary preparations, which can include training, risk assessment and a healthcare plan.

At the January 2023 inspection, Ofsted found that staff adapted activities to include children with individual needs, incorporating physiotherapy exercises and signing to support speech. That is a useful example of support being integrated into the playschool day at the time, rather than treated only as a separate intervention.

Medication arrangements require written parental consent, appropriate labelled packaging and a witnessed record of administration. Children prescribed lifesaving medication must have it with them, in date, and have a care plan. These are concrete requirements for families managing a medical condition, with preparations established before attendance.

Sessions and Attendance

The address is Church Centre, The Chase, Great Baddow, Chelmsford, CM2 7JU. Opening hours are 9am to 3.30pm from Monday to Thursday, with Friday ending at noon. The playschool operates during term time, so its attendance model needs to fit alongside a family's school-holiday arrangements.

Five patterns are offered. Morning sessions run from 9am to noon, Monday to Friday; Morning + Lunch runs from 9am to 1pm, Monday to Thursday. Full Day is 9am to 3.30pm, while Lunch + Afternoon runs from noon to 3.30pm and Afternoon from 1pm to 3.30pm, all Monday to Thursday. Friday is therefore a morning-only option.

Two sessions a week are recommended rather than routinely required, although a single session may be unsuitable if it would hinder a child's settling. Once preferred days have been agreed, families are expected to keep them for the term. The waiting list is organised by birth order within each term, with requested start dates and sessions recorded; order of application is used if required.

General enquiries and applications can be made through the contact form or by telephone on 01245 471683. A visit with the child is required before a place is offered. This is part of assessing whether the setting can meet the child's needs.

Funding and Paid Extras

Funded childcare is offered through FEEE, funded places for eligible two-year-olds and working-parent funding, including the extended 30-hour entitlement for eligible working parents. Funding is used during term time, and FEEE can cover the lunchtime period. Additional hours beyond a child's entitlement are paid for privately; current prices come in the nursery's written quotation.

Parents supply packed lunches, while snacks attract a voluntary contribution; these arrangements also apply when funded hours cover attendance. The playschool has a no-nut policy, including chocolate spreads, and plans snacks around notified allergies.

Nappies and wipes come from home; staff supply sunscreen for children staying all day once permission is given, with a summer-term contribution requested. Parents also apply sun cream before attendance. A holding deposit may be requested when joining and is credited against the first term's fees. Charges are organised termly.

School preparation includes an individual transition profile and liaison with primary-school teachers, who can visit to discuss children's needs. For children with SEND, transition can also involve the receiving SENCO and additional meetings. These arrangements support the handover of information and care.

• Holiday coverage. Attendance is term-time only, and Friday finishes at noon. Families needing care throughout the working week or school holidays should weigh those boundaries against their arrangements.
• Activity changes. In January 2023, some changes between activities interrupted children's play or began before preparation was complete. During a visit, ask how staff now manage these transitions and help children anticipate what comes next.
• Church involvement. Regular church stories and termly services are part of the offer. Consider how those experiences fit your family's preferences.
• Food and individual care. Lunch comes from home and the playschool operates a no-nut policy. Allergy-affected families should confirm current food-handling practice; families needing additional support should discuss the preparations required before their child starts.

St Mary's suits families seeking term-time preschool education with a choice between mornings, afternoons and full days. Its appeal lies in the detail: sensory play for younger children, a preschool routine that introduces shared learning, enclosed outdoor spaces and a structured system for discussing individual needs.

The January 2023 Good judgement provides a useful assessment of its quality at that point, with the organisation of activity changes the clear reservation. For parents who value church involvement, direct communication and a planned handover to school, this is a setting with a coherent character. Its hours and term-time calendar are the practical deciding factors.