All Saints Playgroup

An allotment behind All Saints Church gives All Saints Playgroup a character beyond its indoor play space: children grow produce, harvest it for snacks and get busy in a mud kitchen. This Cheltenham setting has capacity for 22 children, with a current age range of two to five. Its day centres on play, practical independence and sharing experiences with other children.

At its January 2025 inspection, Ofsted rated the playgroup Good and judged its safeguarding arrangements effective. The useful detail beneath that judgement includes outdoor exploration, language-rich conversations and everyday tasks that children learn to manage themselves. There were also two clear priorities: drawing children towards activities they tend to overlook, and giving two-year-olds more guidance during play they choose themselves.

Attendance is term-time, with morning, afternoon and all-day patterns. Families can follow their child's experiences through a weekly Diary and an individual Learning Journey, while parents may stay during settling.

Learning and Activities

The early years foundation stage provides the framework for children's learning, development and care. Here, that means learning through play indoors and outdoors, with activities initiated both by children and by adults. Art, dance and movement sit alongside opportunities to practise everyday skills and learn to share.

In January 2025, staff used conversation throughout play, adding vocabulary and talking children through what they were doing. Books also prompted discussion: adults read expressively and invited children to talk about pictures and stories. These are concrete ways of giving children something to say, rather than treating language as a separate lesson.

Number work during that month included counting, recognising written numbers and simple calculations for children ready for a greater challenge. Chinese New Year brought several areas of learning together: children compared Chinese and English words, explored the dimensions of noodles and practised cutting and early writing. A celebration became a starting point for language, mathematics and hand control.

Children's choices mattered, but they also exposed the next step for teaching. In January 2025, some children repeatedly preferred small-world play, and staff had further work to do in using those interests to draw them towards other experiences. For parents, the distinction is useful: enjoyable free choice and a sufficiently varied learning day need to work together.

Outdoor and Community Life

The allotment is a working part of the playgroup. Children help grow vegetables, fruit and flowers, then sometimes eat their harvest at snack time. The mud kitchen gives them another use for soil and water, with messy mixing rather than a finished product as the point of the activity. A secure outdoor play area provides a separate place to play; outdoor time is weather-dependent.

In January 2025, children visited the allotment daily. They compared natural finds with reference pictures, discussed dimensions and moved minibeasts carefully into a bug hotel. Digging, climbing, sliding and crossing tree stumps added physical challenges. The same space supported movement, observation and care for living things.

Family events give the year a recognisable rhythm. A Nativity play takes place in the church each Christmas, while the annual Easter Bonnet Parade involves families making bonnets. Sports Day and Family Picnic & Graduation combines a picnic, a preschool celebration and sporting activities. These occasions give parents shared experiences of playgroup life beyond individual progress updates.

Relationships and Communication

Parents can remain with their child while they settle, allowing the separation to reflect the child's needs. Communication continues through a Diary completed each week, with families encouraged to contribute news from home. That news is shared during circle time, giving a child's home experiences a place in conversations with friends.

Learning Journeys keep an individual record of children's experiences and are accessible to parents. A private Facebook group also carries end-of-day updates. The combination serves different purposes: a view of the day's activities, a longer account of development and a route for families to contribute their own observations.

Inclusion and Wellbeing

The staff structure includes a SENCO and deputy SENCO, alongside safeguarding lead and deputy safeguarding lead roles. At the January 2025 inspection, Ofsted found that staff supported communication through language modelling and strategies developed with outside professionals, including help for children who found spoken communication harder.

In January 2025, children practised putting on coats, changing shoes, handling lunch packaging and cleaning their teeth. Sand timers helped them share popular toys. These small routines matter because they give children practical responsibilities and a visible way to take turns.

At that time, the team included six core staff, with two bank staff and a volunteer helper providing additional support. Staff held early-years qualifications at levels 2, 3 and 5. Those are inspection-time staffing details rather than a measure of the group a child will encounter on a particular day.

Sessions and Attendance

All Saints Playgroup operates during term time and closes for school holidays. Opening hours are 9am to 3pm from Monday to Thursday, and 9am to 1pm on Friday. Morning, afternoon and all-day attendance patterns are offered; the opening window should be distinguished from the individual session booked.

The playgroup occupies the John Wood Room at All Saints Church, All Saints Road, Cheltenham, GL52 2EY. Enquiries can be made through the contact form, by telephone or by email. Application and registration forms accompany the joining process.

Funding and Paid Extras

Funded childcare is accepted for two-, three- and four-year-olds, alongside privately paid childcare. Attendance follows the term-time calendar. Current prices should come in the playgroup's written quotation, with billing and fee terms set out in its Terms and Conditions.

Families provide a packed lunch when children stay for lunch, and bring nappies when needed. Children also need spare clothing, a named water bottle and coat, plus wellingtons for allotment activities; spare wellingtons are kept for forgotten pairs. Planning for outdoor mess is part of the practical routine here.

• Two-year-olds' independent play. In January 2025, the youngest children needed more guidance at some points during activities they chose themselves. During a visit, ask how adults support a two-year-old who has chosen an activity but needs help to develop it.
• Breadth of learning. January 2025 improvement work included using children's favourite interests to involve them in less-favoured activities. Ask for an example of how small-world play leads into another area of learning.
• Term-time attendance. School holidays are closure periods, and Friday has an earlier finish than the other weekdays. This pattern needs to fit both the family's working week and its holiday arrangements.
• Funding and the booked session. Funding is accepted for two-, three- and four-year-olds. Before joining, ask for a written outline of how the chosen morning, afternoon or all-day pattern uses funded hours and what additional charges apply.

All Saints Playgroup suits families seeking term-time morning, afternoon or all-day attendance, with hands-on outdoor play and regular opportunities to contribute news from home. Its allotment gives children purposeful things to grow, investigate and manipulate, while the Diary and Learning Journeys make family communication a concrete part of the offer.

The January 2025 priorities deserve attention alongside the Good judgement. The strongest fit is for parents who value a playgroup rooted in practical activity and shared routines, and who want to understand how staff extend children's interests and support younger children during independent play.