Weaverham Pre-School

Woodland exploration, a room for emotional support and weekly outings to Weaverham Library give Weaverham Pre-School a clear character. Daily outdoor play sits alongside quieter spaces for reading, sensory exploration or time with an adult.

At its June 2022 inspection, Ofsted judged the provision Good, found safeguarding effective and reported very good progress from children’s starting points, including for children with special educational needs and/or disabilities. That is a dated judgement. Two improvement points from the same visit, outdoor supervision and opportunities for independence, remain important questions for families considering the setting.

The pre-school accepts children aged two to five and has capacity for 40 children in total. Caterpillar Room serves two- to three-year-olds, with Butterfly Room for children aged three to four. Its home is at Weaverham Primary Academy on Northwich Road, and attendance follows a term-time calendar, with a main daytime pattern and wraparound care.

Rooms and Ages

Caterpillar Room combines an open-plan layout with wet play and interest-led resources; its separate sensory room gives younger children somewhere quieter when the main room feels too busy.

Butterfly Room supports independent exploration through role play, books and wet play, with direct access to a sheltered outdoor classroom for messy activities in less inviting weather.

The shared library adds another change of pace. Puppets and story sacks support group storytelling, while beanbags and small sofas make space for children to look through books themselves. Musical instruments are used at song time. Reading here has both a social side, sharing a story with a key worker, and an independent one.

Learning and Activities

The Early Years Foundation Stage provides the framework for children’s learning and development: play, conversation and practical exploration build language, physical skills and growing independence. Alongside that foundation, Forest School brings learning into the woodland through nature-based activities and exploration; Butterfly children have weekly sessions.

Woodland activities include building dens, making leaf pictures and imaginative play. Children handle natural materials and practise caring for their surroundings.

Indoors, the Role Play Area has a shop, kitchen, dolls and dressing-up resources, with additions shaped by children’s interests. These give children starting points for inventing stories and playing together.

In June 2022, staff brought counting into hiding-and-finding games and introduced descriptive vocabulary during snacks. Children also experimented with water and containers, working together while trying to avoid spills. Those examples show how everyday play can carry mathematical ideas, language and persistence, rather than treating learning as a separate seated exercise.

Outdoor and Community Life

Daily outdoor exploration extends across a garden, woodland and bike track. The garden includes growing space, water play and places for reading and making marks; both age-group rooms have direct access. Waterproof clothing is provided, supporting outdoor activity through changing weather. Children also use Weaverham Academy’s playground for riding bikes.

Weekly visits to Weaverham Library bring children to Rhyme Time, where stories, songs and browsing books form the session. Afterwards, trips can include Weaverham park for climbing, swinging, sliding and a snack. These outings extend the day beyond the pre-school’s own resources and give books and physical play a community setting.

In June 2022, children also helped tend a local care home’s garden and experienced a fire-engine visit. They built dens and climbing structures, while staff introduced safe use of small tools and fire. These are examples from that period, rather than promises about the current activity calendar.

Relationships and Communication

Settling plans are tailored with parents. Families can explore the rooms and outdoor spaces together before starting, and each child has a Key Worker who gets to know them.

Tapestry, the online learning journal, carries photographs, videos and written entries about children’s experiences. Parents can contribute their own pictures and videos, so communication works in both directions. Parent appointments with the key worker provide a separate opportunity to discuss progress, alongside everyday conversations with staff.

In June 2022, practitioners demonstrated conversation, gave children time to respond and adapted support for individual speech and language needs. Adult interaction was central to that support.

Inclusion and Wellbeing

ELSA is a programme supporting children’s emotional wellbeing, with a dedicated room equipped to help them think and talk about feelings. A separate intervention area provides a quieter setting for individual and group work with an Early Years SENCO. Parents and outside agencies contribute to planning support around the child’s needs.

An Action for Inclusion meeting takes place before a child with additional needs starts. Together with the sensory room and intervention space, this gives families specific mechanisms to discuss, rather than a general promise of inclusion. The sensory room contains illuminated resources, mirrors, cushions and books, and can be used when the main room feels too stimulating.

Physical care also allows for participation: the changing table has steps that children can climb with support. In June 2022, however, adults sometimes handled fruit preparation and pouring drinks rather than giving children the chance to try. Opportunities for independence were therefore uneven, despite encouragement with bathroom routines and handwashing.

At that same June 2022 visit, staff occasionally lost awareness of where children were playing outdoors. The improvement required closer oversight across the outdoor spaces. For a setting with substantial garden and woodland provision, how adults maintain that awareness is a material part of judging the everyday experience.

Sessions and Attendance

The address is Weaverham Primary Academy, Northwich Road, Weaverham, Northwich, CW8 3BD. Opening hours run from 8am to 6pm, Monday to Friday, during term time; the main daytime hours are 9am to 3pm, with wraparound care on either side. This separates the central pre-school day from the longer opening window.

Wraparound care can be paid for privately or covered using a child’s funded hours. Breakfast and an afternoon snack come with that service at no extra charge. Families needing childcare through school holidays should weigh the term-time pattern carefully: holiday closures are part of the attendance model.

Joining uses an application form, which can be returned by post or handed in at Weaverham Academy reception, followed by a conversation with the manager about starting. Show-rounds can be booked by telephone on 01606 852148, option 5. Attendance at the pre-school does not guarantee a Reception place at the school; families still use the local authority admissions process.

Funding and Paid Extras

Funded childcare includes 15 hours a week for eligible two-year-olds, universal funding of up to 15 hours a week during term time from the term after a child’s third birthday, and 30 hours for eligible families. Delivery is term-time, and funded hours can also cover wraparound care. Eligibility conditions remain relevant: the longer entitlement is not an automatic offer to every family.

Children bring a healthy snack, and lunch can be brought from home or purchased separately, with cooked food prepared in Weaverham Academy’s kitchen. Milk or water with snacks is free, as is each child’s water bottle; the allergy policy asks families to disclose dietary needs so staff can plan accommodation. Allergy-affected families should discuss current arrangements before starting.

• Outdoor oversight. In June 2022, staff were sometimes unaware of children’s whereabouts across the outdoor area. During a visit, ask how supervision now works between the garden, outdoor classroom and woodland.
• Independence in daily routines. In June 2022, adults sometimes peeled fruit and poured drinks for children instead of encouraging them to try. Ask how snack times and other care routines now give children manageable responsibilities.
• Term-time childcare. The 9am to 3pm daytime pattern and wraparound service support different daily schedules, but the pre-school closes for school holidays. The calendar needs to fit the family’s wider childcare arrangements.
• Individual support planning. An Action for Inclusion meeting, ELSA room and separate intervention space provide concrete starting points for discussing additional needs. Families should use the settling conversation to agree how those arrangements will work for their child.

Weaverham suits families choosing either a term-time daytime place or a day extended with wraparound care, especially those who value woodland activity, regular library outings and access to quieter support spaces. The strongest practical combination is energetic outdoor exploration alongside room to step back, read or work with an adult.

The June 2022 improvement points deserve direct attention during a visit, especially outdoor oversight. Individual settling plans and structured support meetings give families useful ways to discuss their child’s needs, while the holiday calendar is a firm consideration for working arrangements.