Woodlands Preschool

Woodland play, French and Makaton give Woodlands Preschool in Weaverham a recognisable mix of outdoor activity and communication. Care is offered for children aged two to five, with a woodland area supporting the outdoor programme. Woodlands shares grounds with St Bede's Catholic Primary School, so preparing for school has a concrete connection to its surroundings.

At its June 2022 inspection, Ofsted rated Woodlands Good, judged safeguarding effective and found that children with additional needs received good support through outside advice and communication with parents. That judgement belongs to June 2022. Its practical detail is useful, but it should be read alongside the current activities and daily timetable.

Opening hours run from 8am to 5.30pm on weekdays, and the daily timetable includes an after-school club.

Learning and Activities

The early years foundation stage sets the framework for children's learning, development and care: here, play, conversation, movement and early reading give that learning a place in the day. Woodlands adds Talking French, an introduction to another language, and Makaton, which combines signs, spoken language and symbols to support communication. These provide different ways for children to practise expressing themselves.

PE & Yoga adds organised physical activity, while Outdoor Play & Forest School uses the woodland area for activities. The woodland setting gives outdoor learning a specific place rather than leaving it as an occasional change of scene. Imaginative Play is also part of the programme, alongside adult support that builds on what children already know when introducing a new skill.

The visual timetable gives the day a clear sequence. Free play leads into registration and activity time; snack is followed by rhymes and outdoor play. After supervised lunch, children have independent reading time before more play and tidying. This makes room for both shared routines and children's choices, rather than presenting the preschool day as one continuous organised activity.

In June 2022, children experimented together with wooden blocks to make a ramp for toy cars. Children kept the ramp steady and rolled toy cars down it in turn. Another activity involved finding letters in coloured foam, connecting early literacy with hands-on exploration. Recently hatched chicks prompted animated conversation and new vocabulary. These were examples from that period, rather than a promise of a recurring activity programme.

Outdoor and Community Life

During June 2022, outdoor experiences included bike riding and an obstacle course assembled by the children. Going beneath and over poles offered different physical challenges, while building the course required cooperation. Woodland walks took place regularly, and a recent outing had taken children to a running track. The combination brought movement beyond the indoor play space.

Woodlands Tots Group provides a separate opportunity for parents and young children to participate together. It runs on term-time Fridays from 9.15am to 10.30am, is free to attend and is suitable for children under four. Games, crafts and woodland activities give families a shared introduction to the setting's play spaces.

A key worker is allocated to each child to follow their development and set learning targets. Adult support is intended to build from children's existing knowledge, so a new task can be broken into manageable steps. For parents, the useful connection is between the person who knows their child and the next learning goal.

In June 2022, key workers assessed children when they joined and used those starting points to plan subsequent activities. Staff also met to discuss progress. Following the pandemic, they worked with parents on separation difficulties, adjusting support around children who needed help leaving their family for the preschool day.

Communication at that time included photographs and videos shared with parents. Health routines included toothbrushing, handwashing and reminders about covering mouths when coughing; fruit was offered at snack time. These are concrete examples of how everyday care and learning were linked in June 2022.

Preparation for school also had a practical form. In June 2022, children regularly visited the neighbouring school for celebrations, including Christmas and Easter, and its Reception teacher visited to read stories. Familiarity with a teacher and school activities can make the next stage less unfamiliar. Attendance at Woodlands does not guarantee a Reception place: families still apply through the local authority admissions process.

Sessions and Attendance

Woodlands is based at St Bede's Catholic Primary School on Keepers Lane, Weaverham, Northwich, CW8 3BY. Its current opening window is Monday to Friday, 8am to 5.30pm. The day-to-day timetable places the after-school club between 3pm and 5.30pm, following the preschool activities and tidy-up period.

These are different practical details: opening hours describe the operating window, while the after-school club is a named attendance pattern. The contact route includes an enquiry form, telephone and email, giving families a direct way to begin arranging care.

Funding and Paid Extras

Funded childcare is offered for two-, three- and four-year-olds. That identifies the ages covered by the offer; it does not establish an individual family's eligibility or guarantee a funded place. Current prices come in the nursery's written quotation, which should be considered alongside the attendance arrangement being chosen.

• Learning intentions and independence. The June 2022 improvement priorities were clearer learning purposes for activities and more opportunities for children to carry out tasks themselves. Children had limited opportunities to cut out their own pictures; ask how independent tasks now feature in the day.
• The school connection. Woodlands shares a site with St Bede's Catholic Primary School, and school visits formed part of transition work in June 2022. Familiarity is useful, but it does not replace the local authority application for Reception.
• Matching care to the working day. The opening window extends to 5.30pm, with an after-school club beginning at 3pm. Which preschool booking patterns and funded-hours arrangements can you combine, and who supplies or pays for meals and non-food consumables?

Woodlands suits families who value woodland activity and communication-led play, with Talking French and Makaton adding identifiable content to the preschool programme. It also serves families seeking after-school attendance, while the parent-and-child Tots Group offers a separate term-time activity for younger children.

The June 2022 Good judgement provides a dated assessment of quality. The strongest decision points are the outdoor setting, the key-worker arrangement and the school-site connection, balanced against the request for clearer learning purposes and greater independence. Families choosing it should give those everyday learning opportunities as much weight as the timetable.