Pedmore Pre-School & Pedmore Activity Club

A Tuesday borrowing library, movement sessions in the school hall and seasonal Forest School give Pedmore a recognisable character: play-based preschool with practical connections to the primary-school setting around it. Pedmore Pre-School & Pedmore Activity Club operates within Pedmore C of E Primary School in Stourbridge, offering preschool care for children aged 3 to 5. It has 40 places in total, a whole-setting capacity rather than a measure of the number attending any particular session.

Ofsted rated the setting Outstanding at its 7 July 2022 inspection. The current offer combines a purpose-built preschool setting with outdoor provision throughout the year. Morning and afternoon sessions operate during school term time, with a lunchtime option between them.

The strongest reasons to consider Pedmore are concrete. Children can take a library book home, use the school hall for physical activity and have a key person who works with their family. Parents also contribute to learning records and can volunteer in sessions. This is a preschool where involvement means more than receiving updates.

Learning and Activities

The Early Years Foundation Stage guides the programme: children develop language, relationships and physical skills alongside early literacy, mathematics, creative expression and understanding the world. Pedmore translates that framework into a mixture of play children organise themselves and activities led by practitioners. Children have room to choose, while adults introduce experiences and help them build skills.

Each session starts with half an hour of free play before children gather in small groups to exchange news and discuss the day. Later activities include individual work with an adult and group experiences, as well as tasks children choose and pursue themselves. That sequence gives children both a gentle beginning and opportunities to practise listening, making decisions and finishing something they have started.

Communication runs through the curriculum rather than being confined to a separate activity. Adults join play, demonstrate a skill, offer questions or clues, then step back when appropriate. Planned teaching can also happen individually or in small groups, including targeted work on speech and communication. For a parent, the useful distinction is between simply providing resources and actively helping a child use them to learn.

Library takes place on Tuesdays. Children select a book to borrow and return it the following week, giving families a regular opportunity to share reading at home. PE in the school hall happens once a week and combines movement, music and physical development. These are specific additions to the preschool routine, with a clear purpose for children rather than an unexplained programme name.

In July 2022, children used drawings and conversation to create stories of their own. Writing also entered imaginative play through invitations to a doll's picnic, while large sheets of paper gave children another way to practise making marks. Those examples show how early literacy can grow from something a child wants to communicate, rather than from a worksheet alone.

Outdoor and Community Life

Outdoor activity is available throughout the year in the purpose-built setting. Forest School adds learning in a natural outdoor environment, with Monday-afternoon sessions during the first autumn half term and throughout the summer term. Its seasonal timetable matters: families considering that experience should distinguish it from the outdoor activity available as part of the ordinary preschool day.

In July 2022, children investigated seasonal changes in the forest school area and played outside in different weather conditions. The school hall provides a separate physical space for the weekly movement session. Together, the outdoor provision and hall use give children opportunities to move and explore beyond the indoor room.

Relationships and Communication

A personal key person helps each child settle and works with parents on their needs and interests. This gives families a particular practitioner with responsibility for connecting home information to the child's preschool experience. Staff undertake further training internally and through external opportunities, keeping professional development part of their work.

Tapestry, the online learning journey, holds observations that staff and parents can use to follow a child's development. Families contribute information about learning at home, helping staff see more than what happens during preschool hours. Written summaries are shared twice a year and include the next steps in learning. The combination gives parents both ongoing detail and a periodic account of progress.

Participation can be practical, too. Parents may sign a rota to help in sessions or contribute their own skills and interests. Examples include gardening, knitting and talking with children about work. For families who want an active role, this creates ways to contribute to the day as well as discuss it afterwards.

Inclusion and Wellbeing

At its July 2022 inspection, Ofsted found safeguarding effective and praised the precise planning undertaken with parents and external agencies for children with special educational needs and/or disabilities, alongside the progress children made. Those are dated judgements; the current arrangements include a Special Educational Needs Co-ordinator and a Designated Safeguarding Lead.

Children with additional needs may have individual or group plans containing specific targets, worked on at preschool and at home, with input from other professionals where relevant. Sharing targets gives parents and practitioners a common direction for support. Summer transition meetings pass information to children's primary-school settings so their next teachers can understand strengths and areas needing further work.

Collection arrangements include a daily record and a password when someone other than a parent or known carer collects a child. Parents are asked to keep unwell children at home, with a 48-hour recovery period following sickness or diarrhoea. These are practical policies families need to build into their care arrangements.

Sessions and Attendance

Morning sessions run from 9am to midday; afternoon sessions run from 12.30pm to 3.30pm. Lunchtime care bridges midday to 12.30pm. The preschool operates during school term time, so its attendance pattern needs to fit around school holidays rather than provide year-round cover.

Funded hours can be used for a morning or afternoon session, or combined with lunchtime. A full funded day runs from 9.30am to 3.30pm, including lunch, and a flexible start from 9am to 9.30am can extend it for an additional charge. Additional unfunded sessions can also be purchased. Five staff-development days are set aside each year, coordinated with school training closures where possible.

Enquiries can be made by telephone or email. If a child leaves before reaching school age, the terms require at least one month's notice and payment of fees for that month. This is a useful commitment to consider alongside the chosen attendance pattern.

Getting There

The address is Pedmore C of E Primary School, Hagley Road, Stourbridge, DY9 0RH. Access is through Redlake Drive or the bridle path beside Pedmore Convenience Stores; families are instructed not to park on the bridle path or in the school car park.

Sharing the school site does not guarantee a Reception place. Families still need to apply through the local authority admissions process. In July 2022, children made familiarisation visits to the playground, sports field and hall, and visits were arranged for children moving to other schools. The benefit is preparation for the next setting, rather than an admissions advantage.

Funding and Paid Extras

Pedmore accepts universal 15 hour funding and extended 30 hour funding for eligible families, delivered during term time. Parents complete the local authority declaration and re-sign it each term; those using the extended entitlement must keep their eligibility code valid before each term begins. The opening times and fees page sets out the session structure, and current prices come in the preschool's written quotation.

Parents supply a healthy snack and water bottle, while lunch can be a separately charged school dinner or a packed lunch from home, eaten in the main school hall with preschool staff assisting. Lunchtime supervision carries a separate charge when it falls outside the child's funded hours, so food and care need to be considered separately.

Forest School carries a contribution towards its cost, and additional music sessions involve voluntary contributions notified to parents beforehand. An administration contribution includes a preschool polo shirt, but payment is not a condition of the child's place. These distinctions matter when comparing the funded education element with the total cost of a chosen pattern.

• Term-time planning. Preschool follows school terms and sets aside five staff-development days each year. Families needing care across holidays should account for those breaks when deciding whether the pattern fits.
• Settling and support. An individual introductory visit in the first autumn week is followed by an opportunity for stay and play. Use that visit to discuss how the key person will support your child's start and, where relevant, how individual learning targets will be shared.
• Food and additional charges. Snacks come from home, dinners cost extra, and lunchtime care may sit outside funded hours. Ask for a written breakdown for your intended sessions, including Forest School contributions and any non-food consumables.
• School-site access. Neither the school car park nor the adjacent bridle path may be used for parking. Consider that restriction alongside the Redlake Drive entrance when planning the daily journey.

Pedmore suits families seeking term-time morning or afternoon preschool sessions, as well as those combining sessions around lunch or using a full funded day. Its appeal lies in a tangible routine: Tuesday books to take home, weekly movement in the school hall, seasonal Forest School and a key person linking care with family information.

The Outstanding judgement belongs to July 2022. Today's decision also turns on practical fit: school-term attendance, the precise funded-day structure, access restrictions and charges beyond education. For parents wanting play-led preschool with opportunities to participate, there is a clear proposition here.