Little Explorers, Pavilion

A playing-field preschool with a mud kitchen, an investigation station and room to grow flowers: Little Explorers, Pavilion gives its community setting a practical purpose. Based in the Pavilion on Prestbury Playing Field, this not-for-profit preschool combines a shared playroom with a fenced outdoor area. Children can move between indoor and outdoor play after the register, giving exploration space to continue beyond the building.

Ofsted rated the setting Good at its April 2023 inspection, with teaching consistency and information-sharing between childcare providers identified as areas for improvement. There is capacity for 24 children in total; the children attending in April 2023 were aged two to four. Half-day and full-day attendance follow a term-time calendar.

A voluntary committee, usually drawn from attending families, manages the preschool. That gives parents a role in its organisation as well as their own child's experience. Links include Prestbury Parish Council, which provides the premises' facilities, and membership of Gloucestershire PATA (Parent and Toddler Association).

Learning and Activities

The EYFS sets the standards for children's learning, development and care: here, play, investigation, stories and practical tasks give children ways to explore and build skills. It is the common early-years framework, rather than a separate branded curriculum. The investigation station, construction area and messy-play space offer different starting points for children who want to build, test or make something.

In April 2023, water play involved children changing the position of guttering and blocks to investigate flow. When their arrangement did not work, staff encouraged another attempt and helped them consider what needed changing. It was a concrete example of children testing an idea through action, rather than simply watching an adult demonstrate it.

Storytelling had different forms for different ages in April 2023. Older children used a felt board and characters to reconstruct a story's order, while toddlers explored characters' emotions through pictures and conversation. Small-group activities also targeted communication and language, with listening and simple instructions forming part of the sequence. These examples give parents a useful picture of how a familiar activity can serve several areas of learning.

Outdoor and Community Life

The outdoor space is enclosed separately from the public playing field. A mud kitchen, flower-growing space and ride-on toys sit alongside equipment for sliding, balancing and climbing. Outdoor tables support role play linked to a termly story theme or children's interests that week, while easels, chalk and brushes provide ways to make marks on a larger scale.

Indoors, the playroom includes a comfortable story corner as well as the construction and investigation areas. The preschool has its own kitchen space for cooking activities and communal lunches. These are useful differences in pace: children have places for energetic exploration and somewhere to share a book.

Relationships and Communication

In April 2023, parents knew their child's key person and the next steps staff were working towards. Learning updates reached families through online communication and conversations at the day's end. That combination connected individual goals with everyday exchanges, rather than leaving parents to interpret activities on their own.

Current settling arrangements can be agreed with the child's key person and the manager. The charging terms recognise these agreed arrangements separately from the usual start-date payments. This gives settling a place in the booking discussion, with the child's relationships and the financial terms considered together.

Inclusion and Wellbeing

At the April 2023 inspection, Ofsted found safeguarding effective and the curriculum responsive to individual learning needs, with observations and parental information informing children's next steps. Current arrangements include designated safeguarding lead and deputy roles; staff have undertaken paediatric first aid and child-protection training. The preschool also provides information through its SEN & Disability Local Offer about identifying SEND and supporting children whose needs are already recognised.

Physical independence is built into the premises. Child-accessible toilets and hand-washing facilities support personal care, while a covered outdoor cloakroom lets children reach their own bags and coats. In April 2023, children managed coats, boots, drinks and lunch boxes themselves, with adults joining them for conversation at mealtimes. The facilities give children opportunities to practise these tasks, rather than relying entirely on an adult.

Sessions and Attendance

Half days run from 9am to 12.45pm, Monday to Friday. Full days run from 9am to 2.45pm, Monday to Thursday; Friday follows the shorter pattern. The preschool operates during school terms and closes for the local school holidays. Families needing holiday childcare therefore need an arrangement that covers those breaks.

The address is New Barn Close, Prestbury, Cheltenham, GL52 3LP, at the Pavilion on Prestbury Playing Field. Enquiries go to littleexplorerspavilion@outlook.com or 07729 313813.

Funding and Paid Extras

Funded childcare is offered through Achieving 2-year-old funding and Working Families 15 hours or 30 hours funding, within the usual term-time sessions. Hours purchased beyond a child's funded allocation are itemised separately on invoices. Families should obtain a current written quotation for paid childcare.

Parents supply packed lunches for children staying for lunch, and the preschool makes no food charge; semi-skimmed milk is supplied free. Parents also bring nappies, wipes, nappy bags and suncream, with no charge for those supplies from the preschool.

Additional activities can carry optional charges, including a music class or party performer. Families can decline a charged activity without losing their booked sessions. These are examples of possible extras, rather than a recurring programme with a fixed schedule.

A Refundable Administrative Fee is requested before the first invoice and sessions, and families can request its return up to the day their child leaves. Enrolment also includes a voluntary, non-refundable Sustainability Fund contribution towards running costs. Fees remain payable during illness and other absences, except bank holidays and planned closures; leaving or substantially reducing sessions requires four weeks' written notice or fees instead.

• School-term childcare. Half days cover every weekday, while full days finish at 2.45pm and run Monday to Thursday. Match both the afternoon finish and school-holiday closures to your household's childcare needs.
• Teaching and shared learning. In April 2023, less experienced staff sometimes missed opportunities to extend play, and information exchange with other settings was inconsistent. At a visit, ask how staff coaching and contact with another childcare provider now work for an individual child.
• Parent-supplied essentials. Lunches and personal-care supplies come from home, alongside optional activity charges and the enrolment terms. These responsibilities belong in the family's comparison of funded and paid attendance.
• Preschool rather than stay-and-play. Tiny Explorers, the baby-and-toddler stay-and-play group, stopped running in June 2026. Preschool sessions continue, so families should distinguish the preschool booking from the former toddler-group offer.

Little Explorers, Pavilion suits families seeking either morning-length half days or longer preschool days within school terms. Its appeal is concrete: free-flow outdoor play, a shared playroom with an investigation station, and facilities that let children practise personal care for themselves. Community management adds another point of connection for parents.

The April 2023 Good judgement sits alongside specific concerns about consistent teaching and communication between settings. Those matter when assessing the present experience. For families whose timetable fits, the playing-field setting and practical emphasis give this preschool a clear character.