Mylor Pre-School

Balance bikes, camp beds and sign-supported greetings give Mylor Pre-School a recognisable character: children can practise balancing outdoors, rest after lunch and use gestures alongside speech. This is a village pre-school with a practical emphasis on learning through play, rather than a day organised entirely around adult-led activities.

Based in Mylor Bridge, the non-profit setting welcomes children aged two to four during term time and has 20 places in total. At its June 2025 inspection, Ofsted rated it Good and judged safeguarding effective. The strongest details concern what children actually do: explore living things, practise communication and move between indoor activities and outdoor play.

Morning and afternoon sessions are offered, with an earlier Breakfast Club option. That gives families more than one attendance pattern, although the term-time calendar remains an important part of the choice.

Learning and Activities

The early years foundation stage provides the framework for children's learning, development and care: here, play includes opportunities to build language, physical coordination, early writing and number skills. Activities are planned using Development Matters, with adults guiding children towards experiences relevant to their learning while leaving room for them to follow their interests.

The room has places for construction and books, imaginative domestic play, investigation and number work, alongside water, sand, dough and creative materials. These give children different ways to approach an idea. A child can build, make marks, pretend or investigate rather than needing to engage through the same activity as everyone else.

Circle time combines movement with spoken greetings and makaton, a form of sign language. Later, songs and stories bring children together again. Puppets, props and sounds support story time, giving children something concrete to connect with the words they hear. Counting is also worked into everyday routines rather than reserved for a separate number activity.

In June 2025, an ocean activity used a model octopus to explore its tentacles and introduce new vocabulary. Other play included caring for toy babies and decorating dough. These examples show how a familiar object or imaginative game can become a starting point for conversation, observation and creative choices.

Outdoor and Community Life

Outdoor play includes balance bikes and spaces for digging and pouring with sand and water. The practical difference is movement: children can work on balance and coordination as well as the smaller hand movements involved in handling materials. Waterproof clothing, wellies and sun hats are provided, with families able to send their own if preferred.

In June 2025, children watched chicks and caterpillars grow and picked apples and strawberries from the garden. Nature learning therefore involved living things and food they could observe directly. Dancing led by an external provider was also part of the experience at that time, alongside riding bikes and tricycles and practising climbing and running.

Relationships and Communication

The daily routine makes space for both activity and recovery. After lunch, puzzles and books provide a quieter period; children who need sleep or rest can use camp beds, while others continue playing. That is a useful care detail for families whose child still needs a daytime nap.

In June 2025, staff gave children time to consider questions and answer, and regularly used signs to support conversation. Parents' feedback at that time included being kept informed about their children's activities. These are concrete aspects of communication: children had time to contribute, and families received information about the day.

A designated safeguarding lead and deputy lead form part of the staffing structure. Staff have paediatric and emergency first-aid qualifications, and employment checks include DBS checks before work begins. The arrangements combine safeguarding responsibilities, first-aid training and pre-employment checks.

Inclusion and Wellbeing

A SENCo role supports children with special educational needs. The arrangements include regular SENCo training, collaboration with parents and outside agencies, and review of provision as children's needs are identified. For families needing additional support, the useful detail is the mechanism for discussing and reviewing needs rather than a general promise that every difficulty can be met in the same way.

Independence is built into the routine through finding names, collecting snack equipment and practising pouring or spreading. In June 2025, two improvement priorities were helping children recognise the effect of their behaviour on other people and giving them more opportunities to do everyday tasks independently. Both matter beyond an activity table, including sharing play materials, tidying and managing outdoor clothing.

Sessions and Attendance

Mylor Pre-School operates during term time, Monday to Friday, with the main day running from 9am to 3pm. Morning sessions run from 9am to noon and afternoon sessions from noon to 3pm. Breakfast Club provides earlier care, with options from 8.30am to 9am or 8.45am to 9am.

The setting is at The School Room, Comfort Road, Mylor Bridge, Falmouth, TR11 5SE. Families can make an enquiry using the application form, telephone or email. The parent-and-community committee runs the pre-school, and fundraising supports the premises and resources, giving families a route to contribute to its operation as well as use its childcare.

Funding and Paid Extras

Funded childcare is offered alongside paid sessions. The funding arrangements include 15 hours for three- and four-year-olds from the term following their third birthday, a 30-hour entitlement subject to eligibility, and 15 hours for eligible two-year-olds. Attendance follows the term-time pattern. Current prices come in the nursery's written quotation; the fees and funding page explains the session and snack structure.

Snacks are supplied during both sessions and carry an optional separate charge; children staying for lunch bring a lunch box from home. Families also supply nappies and wipes where their child needs them, so these should be packed alongside spare clothing and a water bottle.

• Everyday independence and sharing. The June 2025 improvement priorities concerned children's understanding of others and opportunities to manage tasks themselves. During a visit, ask how staff now support disagreements over toys and help children handle tidying, snacks and wet-weather clothing.
• Term-time attendance. Morning and afternoon sessions, plus Breakfast Club, offer different starting points, but the setting operates during term time. Families needing childcare throughout school holidays should weigh that calendar against their working pattern.
• Additional support. A SENCo works with parents and outside agencies, with provision reviewed as needs emerge. Discuss how that process would apply to your child's communication, care or learning needs before joining.

Mylor Pre-School suits families seeking term-time morning or afternoon sessions, with an earlier Breakfast Club start where needed. Its appeal lies in tangible details: sign-supported greetings, an activity room that allows children to choose, outdoor movement and somewhere to rest after lunch.

The June 2025 Good judgement provides a clear inspection position, while the two improvement priorities keep the assessment balanced. Families who value play, nature and involvement in a community-run setting have useful reasons to consider it, alongside the practical limits of its term-time timetable.