Goostrey Pre-School

A village pre-school based in a Scout Hut, with mixed-age friendships and a working relationship with the local primary school: Goostrey has a clear community identity. Children attend from two years to school age, and the setting has 30 places in total. Its base is Goostrey Scout Hut & Youth Centre on Main Road.

Ofsted rated Goostrey Pre-School Good on 11 July 2022, including the quality of education. That judgement sits alongside two specific priorities: clearer ordering of children's learning and better observation of staff practice. These matter more than the grade alone because they concern how interesting activities become sustained learning.

Morning, extended lunchtime and full-day sessions give families different ways to use the pre-school. The strongest reasons to consider it are its village connections, individual key-person arrangements and practical support for children who are still developing independence.

Learning and Activities

The Early Years Foundation Stage provides the framework for children's learning, development and care. Here, its practical meaning includes learning through play, building communication and developing everyday skills, with parents involved in the progress check for younger children. It is the common foundation for early-years provision rather than an extra programme unique to Goostrey.

Two named groups feature in the team structure: Butterfly Group has an Early Years Teacher leading it, while another practitioner works with the Caterpillars. Children of different ages also build friendships across the pre-school. For a younger child, the social experience therefore includes older children rather than only peers of the same age.

In July 2022, staff used children's interests to develop activities. A tractor in a nearby field prompted exploration of machinery and water moving through pipes; a pretend journey to Hawaii began with a flight-simulation video and continued at an outdoor make-believe beach. These were concrete ways of connecting conversation, imaginative play and questions about how things work.

The same July 2022 account included children experimenting with melting ice to release toy dinosaurs. Children also tended fruit and vegetables in an allotment, discussing seeds and deciding whether raspberries were ready to pick. The physical experience of growing food gave them something real to observe and talk about.

The limitation was the connection between those activities. In July 2022, staff did not reliably identify the next learning steps or arrange them in a clear order, so children's knowledge was not being built as systematically as it could be. An engaging activity and a carefully sequenced curriculum are different things. Both deserve attention.

Forest School is an additional activity supported by the funded-hours supplement. It adds an outdoor learning approach alongside the Early Years Foundation Stage; its place within the charge structure matters when comparing attendance costs.

Relationships and Communication

Each child is allocated a key person, giving families an identified practitioner responsible for their child's records and day-to-day attention. Parents are notified if that person changes. This is a useful continuity arrangement: information about a child's needs has a clear home within the team.

Weekly email updates keep parents connected with pre-school life. A Health Visitor also works alongside the setting, and families can pass questions to the team for discussion with her. These are two different channels, one for routine communication and another for health or development concerns.

Inclusion and Wellbeing

At its July 2022 inspection, Ofsted found safeguarding effective and described structured, personalised support for children with special educational needs and/or disabilities, including staff training alongside parents. That is a dated assessment of practice, rather than a guarantee about an individual child's future support.

Current arrangements begin with detailed registration questions about medical conditions, allergies, additional needs, existing plans and professionals involved with a child. Families can also identify languages used at home and whether a bilingual support plan is needed. This gives the team practical information to use when planning care.

Children do not need to be toilet trained to attend. Nappy changes are logged on the Famly app, and parents supply nappies or pull-ups, changing wipes and nappy bags. The changing area has a warm setting and a safe surface; steps and seats help children use the toilet independently. These details matter for two-year-olds whose self-care skills are still developing.

For children needing additional intimate-care support, a Health Care Plan or Intimate Care Agreement is drawn up with parents. The safeguarding policy also includes a designated lead role, trained cover when the lead is away and paediatric first-aid cover while children are present. These are arrangements for responding to needs and concerns, rather than a separate claim of effectiveness.

Sessions and Attendance

The address is Goostrey Scout Hut & Youth Centre, 220 Main Road, Goostrey, Crewe, CW4 8PE. Core opening hours run from 9am to 3pm, Monday to Friday, with a term-time calendar that includes half-term breaks.

Morning Session runs from 9am to noon; extended lunchtime sessions finish at 1pm after the same start; full day sessions run from 9am to 3pm. Breakfast Club provides an earlier option from 8.15am to 9am. The lunchtime extension is a useful middle choice between a morning and a full day, while Breakfast Club changes the start of care rather than the afternoon finish.

Registration enquiries go to the manager through manager@goostreypreschool.org.uk. The registration form gathers emergency contacts, authorised collectors and a collection password, alongside the child's health and development information. Parents also send a complete change of clothing each day, including socks and underwear.

Funding and Paid Extras

Both paid sessions and funded childcare are offered, with 15 hours (universal) funding and 30 hours (extended) funding named in the arrangements. Funding declarations are completed each term, and invoices are issued before each half term for advance payment. Families should use the nursery's current written quotation for prices.

Children attending all day bring lunch from home, while the pre-school supplies snacks; on funded hours, snacks contribute to a separately charged voluntary supplement. Its food policy records individual dietary needs and uses individual Health Care Plans for food allergies or intolerances.

Non-food supplies have different arrangements: parents bring nappy-changing supplies, while the funded-hours supplement contributes towards wipes and sun cream as well as additional activities, events and celebrations. Funded-session terms also describe a consumable fee. How it relates to the voluntary supplement matters for the family's budget.

The nursery describes its relationship with Goostrey Community Primary School as having the school's full support. Attendance does not guarantee a Reception place, and families still apply through the local authority admissions process. The relationship is part of the community setting, rather than an admissions entitlement.

• Learning progression. In July 2022, clearer sequencing of the curriculum and better staff supervision were improvement priorities. On a visit, ask how activities now connect to the next learning steps and how teaching is observed and developed.
• Funded-session charges. The terms describe a voluntary supplement and a funded-place consumable fee, while families also provide nappy-changing supplies. Ask whether the consumable fee is part of the voluntary supplement or an additional charge, and request a written breakdown of what it covers.
• The afternoon finish. Full-day sessions end at 3pm, and Breakfast Club extends the morning. This suits a school-style timetable, but families needing care later in the afternoon must account for that finish.
• Food allergies. The food policy uses individual Health Care Plans and discourages food swapping. Allergy-affected families should confirm how their child's plan will work with packed lunches and shared snack times.

Goostrey suits families seeking village-based, term-time care with a choice of mornings, lunchtime extensions or full days. Key-person continuity, weekly emails, a Health Visitor connection and support for children in nappies give the offer practical substance.

The July 2022 Good judgement provides a positive inspection position, balanced by clear priorities around curriculum progression and staff supervision. The most useful decision is whether its community setting, session choices and 3pm finish match the child's needs and the family's week.