Medstead Pre-school and Nursery

Woodland learning gives Medstead Pre-school and Nursery its strongest character. Outdoor Explorers takes children into woodland on the grounds of Medstead Primary School, where natural materials, changing weather and manageable challenges become part of learning. Alongside it, Early Learner sessions give children approaching school a more structured opportunity to practise new skills.

The setting has 38 places in total; extended provision serves enrolled preschool children aged two to four. At its May 2024 inspection, Ofsted judged it Good, found safeguarding effective and recognised personalised learning that supported progress, including for children with SEND. Later compliance findings matter alongside that judgement. They concern supervision during transitions and are covered below.

Morning and afternoon sessions sit alongside breakfast, early drop-off and afternoon extensions. This gives families several ways to shape attendance rather than a single fixed day.

Learning and Activities

The EYFS provides the foundation: children develop language, physical skills and emotional understanding through play, exploration and active learning, alongside early reading, mathematics and creative experiences. Themes change each half term, while a sequenced curriculum connects new learning with what children have already encountered. The practical value is continuity, with room for individual interests rather than identical tasks for everyone.

Early Learner sessions are intended for children in their final preschool year. They combine structure with flexibility, introducing experiences in science and music alongside writing, numbers, letters and ICT. School preparation here therefore includes several kinds of learning, rather than resting solely on early literacy.

In May 2024, practitioners built language into play by repeating vocabulary, explaining unfamiliar words and sustaining conversations with older children. Younger children and those needing extra help heard adults describe what they were doing. These are concrete ways to make communication part of ordinary activity rather than a separate exercise.

Outdoor and Community Life

Outdoor Explorers runs on Monday, Thursday and Friday mornings in woodland close to the preschool, within the primary school grounds. Children work with natural resources, observe growth and weather, and practise judging appropriate risks. The physical setting matters: woodland gives them changing things to investigate across the seasons.

In May 2024, older children also used the onsite forest school, where outdoor exploration included learning about nature and handling supervised risks. An interest in insects led to making bug hotels, with books extending the investigation. Children marked hazards with flagged poles, turning safety into something they could recognise and act on themselves.

Communication support includes sign language and individually adapted visual aids for children with SEND. The staff structure includes an assistant SENCo role, and learning support is offered where the setting agrees it can meet a child's needs. Those mechanisms are more useful to families than a broad promise of inclusion: they identify tools and a role around which an individual conversation can be built.

In May 2024, children approached practitioners for help and invited them into their play. Adults demonstrated expected behaviour and helped children make sense of difficult emotions. Families received information about their children's developing skills. Together, these observations describe the relationships supporting the nursery day at that time.

There were also clear improvement points in May 2024. Hygiene support for younger children was inconsistent, including recognising when noses needed wiping, and staff needed to strengthen children's self-care habits. Learning did not include planned opportunities to understand online safety. These concerns deserve attention alongside the positive account of learning.

Following a September 2025 regulatory call and an October 2025 visit, Ofsted found repeated non-compliance involving staff deployment and risk assessment around transitions, while recording corrective action on both occasions. The September response revised procedures for children moving indoors from the garden; October brought further work on staff understanding and closer oversight of whether procedures were followed. The documented corrective steps matter, but so does the recurrence. The May 2024 safeguarding judgement should be read with that later history.

Sessions and Attendance

Morning sessions run from 9.05am to 12.05pm, with afternoons from 12.05pm to 3.05pm. An additional lunch hour runs from 12.05pm to 1.05pm. The stated weekday opening window is 8.05am to 3.05pm, with separately bookable provision extending attendance on either side.

Breakfast Club runs from 7.50am to 9.05am and includes breakfast; Early Drop-Off runs from 8.20am to 9.05am and excludes it. Both options serve enrolled preschool children and children attending Medstead C of e Primary School, aged two to eleven. Afternoon extensions are for enrolled preschool children aged two to four, booked by the hour, with options from 3.05pm until either 4.05pm or 5.05pm.

Getting There

The address is Roedowns Road, Medstead, Alton, Hampshire, GU34 5LG. In May 2024, the setting occupied its own building within Medstead Primary School's grounds; nursery attendance does not guarantee a Reception place, and families still use the local authority admissions process.

An online contact form, telephone and email provide enquiry routes, and visits can be booked. The school-ground setting and woodland provision are useful reasons to see how the indoor and outdoor parts of the day connect.

Funding and Paid Extras

Funding covers up to 15 hours for three- and four-year-olds, and for two-year-olds with an acceptance letter; 30 hours is offered to children meeting the extended-funding eligibility criteria. Funded hours can cover childcare between 9.05am and 3.05pm. Private hours are also offered, including hours beyond a child's funding, and payment through Tax-Free Childcare is accepted.

Breakfast is included in Breakfast Club, while Early Drop-Off excludes breakfast. Current prices come in the nursery's written quotation; the session and funding information explains the attendance options and funding window.

• Supervision during transitions. September and October 2025 both brought corrective action concerning children being accounted for during changes of activity or location. At a visit, ask how the revised procedures work and how staff practice is monitored.
• Matching sessions to family life. Funding can cover the 9.05am to 3.05pm window, while breakfast and afternoon extensions widen attendance. Which combination of sessions, funded hours and additional charges would your written quotation cover, including food and consumables?
• Your child's learning and care. Outdoor Explorers, visual communication aids and the May 2024 hygiene and online-safety improvement points give a visit useful substance. Ask how those activities and support arrangements would work for your child, and how the improvement points have been addressed.

Medstead suits families seeking morning or afternoon preschool sessions, as well as those combining them with breakfast or hourly afternoon extensions. Outdoor Explorers and Early Learner sessions give the offer a clear shape: woodland investigation alongside preparation for school.

The Good judgement from May 2024 provides a positive assessment of education at that date. The repeated transition-supervision concerns in 2025 are a material counterweight, even with corrective action documented. Families should give the day-to-day application of those procedures as much attention as the learning offer.