St. Joseph's RC Pre School

Language development gives this Derby preschool its character: communication assessments, loose parts play and a large classroom and access to outdoor areas all serve children learning to express their ideas. St. Joseph's RC Pre School occupies grounds shared with St Joseph’s Catholic Academy on Mill Hill Lane. It caters for children aged two, three and four, with 28 places in total.

At its 13 March 2023 inspection, Ofsted judged the provision Good across all areas, found safeguarding effective and praised SEND support involving outside professionals and shared approaches with parents. The detail beneath that judgement matters: children used pictures and signing to follow stories, practised independence and explored number through play, although teaching sometimes needed more challenge and better planning to hold everyone’s attention.

Morning, afternoon and core sessions, with extensions, give families several attendance patterns. Catholic children receive admissions priority, while applications are welcomed from families of every faith and none.

Learning and Activities

The Early Years Foundation Stage (EYFS) supplies the common framework for learning and care: children develop language, movement and social skills alongside early literacy, mathematics, creativity and understanding their world. Here, adults combine activities they organise with play directed by children’s interests.

Loose parts play gives that approach a concrete form. Children use resources imaginatively and talk about what they are making or doing. Communication also has an explicit place through Elklan Communication Friendly Setting accreditation, supporting the preschool’s emphasis on language development. Staff have experience supporting children who are learning English as an additional language. For those families, language is a continuing thread through the day.

In March 2023, children turned boxes into a train and were encouraged to work out its track. Mud-pie making brought counting into imaginative play: adults helped record a recipe through pictures and numbers, then children counted the soil and water needed.

That same month, chunky crayons and dry-wipe boards provided practice in making marks before writing. Stories involved actions, visual sequences and signing important words, giving children different ways to participate. The qualification is clear: some self-directed play needed greater challenge, and adult-organised activities did not consistently keep every child involved.

Outdoor and Community Life

A large classroom is complemented by access to a playground, field and wooded area. Shared outdoor spaces include a trim trail course and a small spinney in the school grounds, with a risk assessment before use. This adds physical challenges and woodland exploration to the indoor day.

The routine makes indoor and outdoor play a substantial part of both morning and afternoon sessions, with group activities around it. In March 2023, children rode tricycles around obstacles, balanced on beams and aimed balls through a net. Younger children also explored puddles while adults introduced words for the sounds they made. Movement and conversation worked together.

Relationships and Communication

Each child has a key person who supports the family and helps them settle during their first weeks. Small key-person groups are part of the arrangement, although they should not be confused with a room-size limit. The value is a continuing relationship with an adult who gets to know the child’s interests, development and needs.

Class Dojo, the communication app connecting staff and parents, carries messages, photographs and newsletters with parental consent. Each child has a portfolio where their key worker shares milestones; parents can contribute experiences from home. Learning journals collect observations, photographs and children’s work and go to families when children leave.

Assessments add structure to that relationship. Development tracking takes place three times in the school year, with additional reviews where appropriate. Every Child’s a Talker (ECAT) assessments cover all children and help identify speech and language concerns; Every Child’s a Mover assessments are used when staff identify concerns about large or small movements.

Inclusion and Wellbeing

A SENDCO leads support for special educational needs and disabilities. Staff assess needs, plan activities and targets, then review progress with parents. Work with Derby city council and Speech and Language therapists provides a route to specialist input.

Children can attend before they are fully dry during the day. Staff work with families on toileting, and key persons undertake changing where possible, with cover arrangements when needed. Parents supply nappies and spare clothes. This makes toilet learning part of the care relationship rather than an entry hurdle.

The staff team includes practitioners with level 2 and level 3 early-years qualifications and paediatric first-aid training. A designated safeguarding lead has a second lead for support and absence cover; key persons have supervision each half term.

When children move to another setting or school, developmental records are passed on with parental permission. That supports continuity: the next team can build on what is already known about the child.

Sessions and Attendance

The address is Mill Hill Lane, Derby, DE23 6SB. Opening hours are 7.30am to 4.30pm, Monday to Friday, during term time, following Derby City school term dates. Families needing care through school holidays therefore need an arrangement that covers those weeks separately.

The core session runs from 8.45am to 2.45pm. Morning attendance is 8.45am to 11.45am; the afternoon session runs from 11.45am to 2.45pm. Extensions comprise a morning addition from 7.30am to 8.45am and afternoon additions from 2.45pm to either 3.45pm or 4.30pm. This gives a choice between shorter sessions, the core day and additional time around it.

For September admission, applications received by 31 March that year receive priority; later applications are considered subject to places being available. Enquiries can be made through the contact form, by telephone on 01332 372453 or by email to stjosephspreschool@yahoo.co.uk.

Funding and Paid Extras

Funded childcare includes Universal 15 hours Government Funded Childcare, Working parents funding up to 30hours and 2 year old Flying starts for 15hours. Funding is delivered during term time and can be used across the session choices and extensions. Additional privately paid hours may be offered where space permits; current prices come in the preschool’s written quotation. The sessions and fees page sets out the charge structure.

Morning and afternoon snacks within core sessions are free, while families provide packed lunches; breakfast and snack tea during extension hours are optional and charged separately, including when those hours are funded. Families preferring to provide their own breakfast or snack tea can discuss that option with management. Parents also provide nappies and spare clothes.

Moving on to School

The preschool shares grounds with St Joseph’s Catholic Academy. Attendance does not guarantee a Reception place, and families still apply through the local authority’s school admissions process. Shared grounds and the transfer of developmental records should therefore be understood separately from a school’s admission decision.

• Challenge during play. In March 2023, some staff needed to extend children’s learning further and plan group activities more precisely. During a visit, ask how practitioners now adapt a task for children at different stages and keep everyone involved.
• Term-time timetable. Morning, afternoon and extended attendance fit different working patterns, but the preschool follows Derby City school terms. Match both session times and holiday coverage to your family’s working calendar.
• Application priorities. Catholic children receive priority, and the annual 31 March deadline matters for September entry. Families of all faiths and none can apply; consider those priorities alongside the application timing.
• Settling and communication. A key person supports the first weeks, while Class Dojo and assessment summaries connect home and preschool. At a visit, discuss how that relationship would work for your child, especially if speech, language or toileting needs extra support.

St. Joseph's RC Pre School suits families seeking term-time morning or afternoon sessions, a core day, or attendance extended around those patterns. Language development, structured assessment and access to a field, playground and woodland give the offer substance. The key-person arrangement and SEND planning mechanisms also give parents clear ways to participate.

The March 2023 teaching concerns deserve attention alongside the Good judgement. For a family comfortable with term-time care and the admissions priorities, the strongest reasons to consider it are its communication emphasis, outdoor opportunities and continuing link between parents and practitioners.