Bubbles Pre-School

Children’s own ideas shape the day at Bubbles Pre-School, with the Bubbles Curriculum aiming to make resources more accessible so children can create their own play spaces. Based at Southwold Community Centre in Bicester, this preschool gives children room to decide what to make, investigate and play. The practical emphasis is on participation: adults join children’s explorations and help them develop their ideas.

Ofsted rated Bubbles Outstanding on 19 July 2024. The setting has 32 places in total and welcomes children aged two years six months to five years. Its current curriculum approach began in September 2025, so families should distinguish that newer offer from the practice assessed in July 2024.

Attendance can combine shorter mornings with longer sessions, with a minimum commitment of sessions on two days each week. That makes the timetable an important part of the decision alongside the educational approach.

Learning and Activities

The EYFS provides the framework for children’s learning and care, covering language, physical development, relationships, literacy, mathematics, creative expression and understanding their surroundings. At Bubbles, these areas sit alongside the Bubbles Curriculum, which puts children’s interests and choices into the planning of play and resources.

Since September 2025, its approach has been named 100% child-driven practice: children develop their own lines of enquiry, with educators helping them explore and express their ideas. The practical changes include moving away from adult-designed displays and making resources accessible for children to choose. Rather than assigning a fixed purpose to a role-play space, the approach lets children decide what those materials become. This is a meaningful choice for parents who value children having substantial influence over their day.

Assessment remains part of that child-led approach. Staff establish a starting point when children join, initially concentrating on the prime areas of learning. They then track development, identify individual next steps and share end-of-year assessments before the move to Reception. Speech and language assessment tools provide another way to examine development. The curriculum overview explains how observation and parent partnership fit around children’s play.

In July 2024, children helped devise activities by discussing what interested them and suggesting how their ideas could develop. Adults used questions to encourage practical thinking, including how to select something suitable to stand on to reach an activity. Books connected with the subjects children were exploring. These examples give parents a concrete picture of discussion and problem-solving within play, rather than a timetable built solely around adult instructions.

Outdoor and Community Life

Community contact also featured in July 2024. Children visited a local residential home, where they played and talked with older residents and learned skills from them. The value of that experience lay in direct contact between generations: children could build relationships with people beyond their own families and preschool friends.

A Key Person is allocated when a child joins. This practitioner works with the family during settling and continues supporting the child’s development afterwards, giving parents a consistent relationship through which to discuss their child.

Emotional support is also built into the curriculum approach. Educators help children recognise feelings, communicate and resolve disagreements, while working with parents on wellbeing. In July 2024, children negotiated turns with a favourite toy and staff helped them work through smaller disputes. The emphasis was on giving children practice in reaching a solution themselves.

At its July 2024 inspection, Ofsted found that care was highly inclusive, support reflected individual children’s needs, and safeguarding arrangements were effective. During that month, staff and parents exchanged examples of activities children enjoyed, and children made games at home connected with their preschool experiences. That link gave families a practical way to carry learning between home and preschool.

Further vocational training is encouraged for the team. For parents, the more useful everyday connection is the Key Person arrangement: it links settling, ongoing development and family communication rather than treating each as a separate task.

Sessions and Attendance

The address is Southwold Community Centre, Holm Way, Bicester, OX26 3UU. Three-hour sessions run from 8.30am to 11.30am, and five-hour sessions from 8.30am to 1.30pm, Monday to Friday. Tuesdays, Thursdays and Fridays also offer six-hour sessions ending at 2.30pm and seven-hour sessions ending at 3.30pm, both starting at 8.30am.

Families can combine session lengths, but children must attend on at least two days each week. Requested combinations are subject to availability and are not guaranteed. The minimum concerns days of attendance, so it matters even for a family choosing only short mornings.

Joining starts with an Initial Enquiry Form, which adds a child’s name to the waiting list. General enquiries can also be sent to info@bubblespreschool.org.uk. This is a booking process rather than an indication of spare places.

Funding and Paid Extras

Bubbles accepts government funding for two-, three- and four-year-olds. Its funding terms include up to 15 funded hours each week from the term after a child’s third birthday, and the Government’s 15 or 30 hour entitlment for working parents where eligible. Families can use some or all of their funding; additional unfunded hours are charged privately.

Children staying for five, six or seven hours bring a packed lunch; morning snacks are provided, with another snack for those staying beyond 1.30pm. Snacks carry a separate, non-compulsory charge, so lunch from home and the snack charge are separate parts of the arrangement.

Childcare vouchers and Tax Free Childcare are accepted. Obtain current prices in a written quotation from the nursery, with the funded hours, paid hours and snack arrangements set out separately in line with the session and funding terms.

• A newer curriculum approach. The September 2025 move to 100% child-driven practice followed the July 2024 judgement. During a visit, ask to see how adults develop a child’s chosen activity and use observations to plan the next step.
• Afternoon booking wording. Afternoon sessions are offered alongside mornings in the general session description, while the detailed timetable gives an 8.30am start for all sessions. Confirm the afternoon arrangement before planning attendance around it.
• Staffing across ages. The maximum child-to-staff ratio is stated as six to one, and the youngest accepted children are under three. Ask how staffing is organised for the different ages within a session; the overall figure alone does not explain that deployment.
• Two-day commitment. Even shorter bookings require attendance on at least two days per week, and preferred combinations are not guaranteed. Families needing a single weekly morning should weigh that rule before joining the waiting list.

Bubbles suits families seeking 3 Hour Sessions in the morning, 5 Hour Sessions or longer days, provided they can meet the two-day attendance requirement. Its strongest current point of character is the space given to children’s own ideas, supported by a Key Person and assessment shared with families. The Outstanding July 2024 judgement provides a strong inspection position; the later curriculum change deserves close attention. The timetable and packed-lunch arrangement are equally important to whether it fits family life.