Peter Pan Pre-School

In February 2024, practical play shaped Peter Pan Pre-School's day: a mud kitchen, running on a hill and everyday tasks that developed independence. Based at Queen Street Institute in Middlewich, it has 36 places in total. At its February 2024 inspection, Ofsted judged it Good, found safeguarding effective and recognised the progress supported by individual plans for children with special educational needs and/or disabilities.

Children attending that February were aged two to four. The strongest practical thread was learning through doing: opening packaging, handling cutlery and experimenting with paint gave ordinary activities a clear purpose.

The early years foundation stage sets the requirements for children's learning, development and care, so play and daily routines contribute to learning rather than simply filling the day. In February 2024, children recalled earlier colour-mixing activities and predicted what would happen next. Staff followed their interests while building learning into familiar routines.

The role-play kitchen made hand control part of imaginative play that February. Children practised opening real packaging, developing movements useful for later writing. Outdoors, wooden spoons and a water wheel added opportunities to handle tools in the mud kitchen; running on the hill also involved taking turns through a narrow space. Dancing and playing cymbals brought larger movements into musical activities.

In February 2024, staff gathered information about children and their families when they first started, helping establish relationships and support settling. Clear behaviour messages and adults modelling manners gave children consistent examples to follow.

Support that February included interventions supplied by external professionals, a communication device button and additional staff for individual attention. These were concrete mechanisms for responding to children's needs, rather than relying on one approach for everyone.

At lunchtime in February 2024, children washed their hands, opened lunch items, used cutlery and cleared their rubbish. Independence was built into the routine. Teaching about healthy food choices and oral health needed greater consistency, however, and staff training needed a closer connection to individual children's needs.

Links with a local primary school supported transition through visits and conversations that February. This was preparation for the move to school, with opportunities to discuss what came next.

Peter Pan Pre-School is at Queen Street Institute, Queen Street, Middlewich, CW10 9AR.

In February 2024, it operated on weekdays during term time, with sessions running from 9am to 3pm. It also provided funded early education for children aged two, three and four at that time. That attendance rhythm made the pre-school a term-time provision rather than an across-the-year offer.

• Healthy habits. In February 2024, teaching about food choices and oral health needed more consistent attention. Ask how these topics now feature in daily routines.
• Training linked to children. In February 2024, staff could choose training, but it needed to address individual children's needs more precisely. The practical question is how training choices now connect to the children attending.
• Term-time attendance. The February 2024 pattern was weekday sessions from 9am to 3pm during term time. Which current attendance arrangements would fit your family's week?

Peter Pan Pre-School merits consideration for families drawn to practical play, independence and support tailored to individual needs. Its February 2024 term-time session pattern would suit families seeking care within that weekday window. The points to weigh are specific: consistent teaching about healthy habits and training that responds closely to children's needs.