Clanfield Community Pre-School

A willow dome, snack-time produce grown in the garden and a forestry area give Clanfield Community Pre-School its outdoor character. Children choose between indoor and outdoor play throughout sessions, with space to build, dig and investigate.

This charity-run, parent-committee setting sits within the grounds of Petersgate Infant School in Clanfield. It serves children aged two to four and has 52 places in total. The mixed-age key groups share a free-flow environment, so children can play together across the age range rather than spending their day in separate age-band rooms.

Ofsted rated the pre-school Good at its 3 March 2023 inspection. The practical offer is term-time attendance, with morning, afternoon and all-day options, plus earlier starts and later finishes. Its school setting also brings opportunities for familiarity with the next stage of education, although attending the pre-school does not guarantee a Reception place.

Learning and Activities

The Early Years Foundation Stage (EYFS) provides the framework for learning through play, covering language, physical development and relationships alongside areas such as early maths and literacy. Here, children choose resources and activities within that framework, with staff following their interests. The emphasis is on exploring ideas rather than producing identical finished work.

Several indoor spaces make that approach tangible. In the home corner, a play kitchen, lounge space and dressing-up resources give children material for shared pretend play. They can negotiate roles, exchange ideas and rehearse everyday situations. Small world play uses natural materials and follows children's interests, allowing familiar experiences and imaginary stories to sit alongside each other.

The book corner offers a quieter alternative. Its sensory tunnel contains blankets and cushions, giving children somewhere to pause away from busier play. That matters in a free-flow setting: choosing an activity can also mean choosing some quiet time. The craft area puts the making process ahead of a prescribed result, while instruments in the music corner support experiments with rhythm and sound. Singing takes place daily, alongside dancing activities.

In March 2023, drum play and conversations about Goldilocks combined listening with language. Children handled miniature hammers and pins to work with wooden shapes, and designed patterns using buttons and beads. Practical play connected coordination with creative choices.

Outdoor and Community Life

Little Explorers is outdoor learning in natural surroundings, using interactive experiences to support curiosity and communication. The outdoor provision gives that idea plenty of substance. Children grow fruit and vegetables in the vegetable garden for their snacks, connecting planting and tending with food they later eat. The mud kitchen includes a pit children can dig in, adding larger physical movements to imaginative play.

Loose parts, blocks and bricks support construction, alongside riding space for scooters and bikes. Filling and emptying in the stone pit bring early maths into outdoor play, while shared resources encourage cooperation.

Calm Skies provides outdoor yoga weekly when the weather permits, using the outdoor classroom. That classroom also offers space for books, creative activity and quieter time. Elsewhere, the willow dome provides shelter, while climbing and balancing equipment adds physical challenge. A dinosaur garden and potion station give children further starting points for imaginative investigations.

The forestry area includes a bug hotel, shelter-building opportunities, natural crafts, real tools and a fire pit. Its activities include tree climbing and building fires, making outdoor challenge a meaningful part of the offer. Families who value this kind of exploration should consider how comfortable their child is with hands-on, sometimes messy activity.

In March 2023, experiences extended beyond the play spaces: police officers visited to introduce their work, children went to shops and children made feeders while learning why birds need extra food in winter. These were concrete encounters with occupations, everyday transactions and caring for living things, rather than abstract topics alone.

Relationships and Communication

A welcome pack introduces each child's allocated key person. Other staff build relationships too, while the key person gives families continuity across the mixed-age, free-flow day.

EY Log, a secure online learning journal, shares observations, photographs and video with parents. Termly progress updates complement these glimpses of daily activity; newsletters and important messages arrive by email.

In March 2023, children sought comfort from their key people, and younger children practised everyday independence by buttering toast and washing their hands before meals. Staff sometimes gave children inconsistent instructions because communication between adults was uneven. Strengthening that communication was the improvement action, a useful point to keep alongside the positive account of relationships.

Inclusion and Wellbeing

At the March 2023 inspection, Ofsted found safeguarding effective and reported steady progress for children, including those with special educational needs and/or disabilities, supported by teaching adapted to differing needs. Those are dated judgements. Current support arrangements include a SENCO role, designated safeguarding lead roles and paediatric first-aid training across the team.

The medicine arrangements are specific: staff administer prescribed medication in its original packaging, with the child's details and directions, after parental permission is completed. Children needing an inhaler or epi-pen require a Health Care Plan, and the device must accompany them whenever they attend. This gives families a defined process for sharing medical needs and agreeing the response.

Emotional learning also has concrete resources. Dragon cards use Deano Democracy, Ruby Rule, Lenny Liberty, Toby Tolerance and Colin Consequence to discuss choices, rules and treating others well. A feelings board helps children recognise emotions. These turn daily expectations, such as sharing and listening, into conversations children can return to.

Lunch can be brought from home or ordered as a separately charged hot meal from Petersgate Infant School. A snack bar offers fruit and vegetables with items such as crackers, while milk and water are supplied during the day.

Sessions and Attendance

The pre-school operates during term time. Morning attendance runs from 9am to noon, or to 1pm with lunch; afternoon attendance runs from 1pm to 3pm, or from noon with lunch. All-day sessions are also offered, with an early start from 8am and a later finish until 4pm.

Lunch options and extended hours offer flexibility, but families needing holiday childcare must arrange it separately.

The address is C/O Petersgate Infant School, Green Lane, Clanfield, Waterlooville, PO8 0JU. Enquiries can be made by email to enquiries@clanfieldcommunitypreschool.co.uk or by telephone on 07539 796455. A voluntary parent committee oversees the setting, giving parents a route to participate in its management as well as their child's learning.

Funding and Paid Extras

Government funded 15 hours and Extended 30 hours are offered, with funding from age two and funded hours usable between 8am and 4pm during term time. Eligibility remains separate from the pre-school's participation in funding. Private childcare is also offered; current prices should come in a written quotation, with the funding arrangement and additional hours set out together.

Families provide nappies and wipes when needed, and bring sun cream for summer attendance. Hot lunches are charged separately, with a packed lunch as the alternative. Tax-free childcare and childcare vouchers are accepted. The fees and funding information sets out the attendance choices and charge structure.

Moving on to School

In March 2023, children visited the on-site school to support their transition. Sharing a site can make school surroundings familiar, but pre-school attendance does not guarantee admission to Reception. Families still apply through the local authority admissions process.

• Term-time cover. Morning, afternoon and all-day attendance sit within a term-time-only offer. Families needing care during school holidays will need a separate arrangement for those periods.
• Staff communication. In March 2023, inconsistent messages from adults sometimes left children uncertain about what to do next. At a visit, ask how staff now coordinate instructions across the free-flow spaces.
• Outdoor challenge. The forestry area includes real tools, a fire pit and tree-climbing opportunities. Ask how these activities are introduced and supervised for your child's stage of development.
• The funded-hours quotation. Funded attendance can run between 8am and 4pm, while hot lunches carry a separate charge and families supply nappies, wipes and summer sun cream. Ask for a written breakdown of the funded arrangement, including how snack and other consumable costs are handled.

Child-chosen play, gardening and forestry activities make Clanfield appealing for hands-on explorers. Weekly yoga, weather permitting, and the sensory tunnel provide quieter alternatives.

It suits families choosing mornings, afternoons or all-day attendance during term time, with earlier starts and later finishes. The March 2023 Good judgement sits alongside a staff-communication improvement action. Parent-committee management also offers families a role in shaping the setting.