Kids Club Ely

A mud kitchen, a woodland area and access to the school spinney give Kids Club Ely's preschool a recognisable outdoor character. Its St John's Preschool sits within the grounds of Ely St Johns school, while the wider setting also runs breakfast, after-school and holiday care. The distinction matters: preschool follows the school-term rhythm, while the clubs serve different parts of a family's week and year.

Ofsted judged the setting Good on 24 February 2022, finding effective safeguarding and good support for children with special educational needs and/or disabilities. Kids Club Ely has 58 places in total. Preschool accepts children from two years and six months until they start school, and Holiday Club caters for ages four to eleven.

For preschool families, the attendance choices include mornings, afternoons and full days. Outdoor provision and an online learning journal add useful substance to the offer, but the February 2022 concern about communication with parents deserves equal attention.

Learning and Activities

The Early Years Foundation Stage sets out children's learning, development and care, with play and observations helping staff plan their next steps. Tapestry, the online learning journal, brings photographs, comments and observations together so parents can see experiences from preschool and contribute examples from home. It gives families something concrete to discuss, rather than relying solely on a brief conversation about the day.

In February 2022, planning took account of children's interests and their stage of development. Children chose the story for group reading by voting, practised sharing through pretend birthday-cake play and explored changing textures in a messy tray. These examples show learning woven into play: a story choice involves expressing a preference, while shared equipment creates a reason to negotiate with other children.

Language also ran through everyday activity in February 2022. Stories and songs were daily experiences, and staff introduced vocabulary during play. Independence had practical expression too: children managed dressing, handwashing and tidying equipment. For a parent thinking ahead to school, these are useful examples of preparation through ordinary routines rather than formal lessons.

Outdoor and Community Life

Artificial grass makes the large preschool outdoor space usable throughout the year. Alongside the mud kitchen are a sandpit, a play house and a woodland area, with access to the school's nature garden and spinney. The combination gives children several ways to play outdoors, from imaginative activity to exploring natural surroundings.

In February 2022, outdoor play included pedalling tricycles, using a slide and investigating puddles with containers and balance bikes. Leaves became material for imaginative games with brooms and rakes. The physical space supported movement as well as experimentation, rather than serving only as a place to run around.

For older children, Holiday Club combines free play with cooking, den building, creative activities and games. Use of the school playground adds football and play equipment to that mix. Children can attend regardless of their primary school, making this a separate option for families seeking school-holiday care rather than an extension restricted to preschool children.

Relationships and Communication

At the February 2022 inspection, Ofsted identified a specific improvement priority: some parents did not know their child's key person or the next learning steps they could support at home. Regular updates about the day were reaching families, but those updates did not consistently explain the individual learning plan. That is a meaningful distinction for parents who want to take an active part in their child's development.

Tapestry provides a current mechanism for exchanging that information. Parents can comment on staff observations and add photographs, videos or their own entries. Notifications can alert them to new observations, so the journal can become an ongoing conversation rather than a collection viewed only occasionally.

With written parental consent, another nursery or childminder can also receive access to the child's journal. That offers a practical way to share learning information when care is divided between settings. Families can also request that their child does not appear in other children's group observations.

Inclusion and Wellbeing

In February 2022, staff worked with families and other professionals on individual support plans. Children learning English were supported as they began using words and short sentences.

Current club procedures include signing children in, releasing them only to an authorised person and having a trained first aider available.

Preschool families supply lunch for lunch club and send healthy snacks in labelled containers, together with a named water bottle; water or milk is offered at snack time. Holiday Club children bring lunch and two snacks, and the club asks families to exclude foods containing nuts.

Sessions and Attendance

Kids Club Ely and St John's Preschool use Ely St. John's Community Room on St. John's Road, Ely, CB6 3BW, within the school grounds. Contact is available by telephone or through the contact form. The preschool waiting-list form accepts applications online, with confirmation sent by email; a paper form can also be returned to the Community Room.

Preschool operates during term time, Monday to Friday. Morning sessions run from 8.45am to 11.45am, afternoons from 11.45am to 2.45pm with lunch club, and full days from 8.45am to 2.45pm. The morning start can fall between 8.45am and 9am to accommodate school drop-offs. Half-day sessions are also offered.

Breakfast Buddies has two booking windows, 7.30am to 8.45am and 7.45am to 8.45am. After School Club starts at 3pm, with collection at 5pm, 5.30pm or 6pm. Holiday Club offers morning bookings ending at 1pm, 2pm or 3pm from an 8am start, an 8am to 6pm day, and afternoon bookings from 1pm or 2pm until 6pm.

Holiday bookings use Cheqdin, the online registration and booking system. Families must register and book through it; bookings made before registration are confirmed only after registration is complete and the registration charge is paid. Breakfast and after-school bookings are made by email. Preschool has its own term dates, including training-day closures, and some dates differ from the school's calendar. That makes the preschool calendar worth using when planning childcare across the term.

Funding and Paid Extras

Preschool offers Early Years Universal Funding, Extended Entitlement, Funded 2s funding and expanded entitlement for eligible working parents. Early Years Universal Funding provides 15 hours a week from the school term after a child turns three; eligible children may receive Extended Entitlement of up to 30 hours within the term-time attendance model. Private paid hours are also offered.

For preschool attendance, parents provide packed lunches and healthy snacks. Holiday bookings also require food from home.

Club terms include an initial registration charge and an annual charge thereafter. A deposit equivalent to a week's booking reserves an offered club place and is credited against the first invoice; refunds apply only to sessions actually taken. Booked club sessions remain payable when a child does not attend, and cancelling breakfast or after-school bookings requires four weeks' notice. The club fees and booking terms set out these arrangements.

The school setting supports transition links, but attending St John's Preschool does not guarantee admission to Ely St John's School.

• Individual learning conversations. The February 2022 improvement priority concerned parents knowing their key person and their child's next steps. At a visit, ask how those details are explained and how Tapestry entries connect with learning at home.
• A term-time preschool within a wider club offer. Preschool has its own closures, while holiday care is for children aged four to eleven. Families with a younger preschool child should plan around the preschool calendar rather than assume the holiday provision covers the same ages.
• Food from home. Packed lunches and snacks are part of the arrangements, and the club requests that foods containing nuts are excluded. Families managing allergies should confirm current food-handling practice before attendance.
• School links and school admission. The preschool occupies school grounds and has transition links, but its place does not secure a Reception place. Choose it for the childcare and learning experience, with the school decision kept separate.

Kids Club Ely suits families wanting a term-time preschool with morning, afternoon or full-day attendance, alongside separate breakfast, after-school and holiday options for older children. Its outdoor spaces and Tapestry journal give that offer practical substance. The Good judgement from February 2022 provides a dated quality reference; the parent-communication improvement priority remains an important question for a visit.