Rolleston Pre-School Playgroup

Woodland den building and a back-up key person give Rolleston Pre-School Playgroup a recognisable character: outdoor learning alongside carefully planned relationships. In November 2024, a pirate story inspired children to turn outdoor equipment into an imaginary ship. Based on School Lane in Rolleston-on-Dove, it has 24 places in total and accepts children aged two and a half to four. That capacity describes the whole setting, not the size of a child's daily group.

At its 7 November 2024 inspection, Ofsted rated the provision Good overall. The important reservation concerned trustee notifications and suitability-check paperwork, rather than the children's learning experiences. Families should weigh both parts of that picture.

Attendance can include afternoon sessions and after-school sessions, with flexibility subject to maintaining continuity for children.

Learning and Activities

The EYFS provides the framework for children's learning, development and care, bringing play, communication and growing independence into the day. It is the common foundation for early-years provision; Rolleston's more individual character comes through in the story-led play observed in November 2024 and its Forest School activities, which include woodland den building.

In November 2024, a pirate story prompted children to turn outdoor equipment into an imaginary ship. Rope bridges and wooden benches became opportunities to balance, coordinate movements and judge manageable risks. Staff then extended the children's ideas by encouraging them to work out how to construct a flagpole. The story became something to act on, rather than simply something to hear.

Language also ran through the day's activities in November 2024. Children joined in repeated passages from a gingerbread-man story and discussed the characters' feelings, while staff introduced vocabulary through songs, books and conversation. Literacy and mathematics were woven into everyday activities. For parents, the useful distinction is the connection between an adult-led story and the children's own thinking afterwards.

Outdoor and Community Life

Forest School includes teamwork through den building and woodland snacks. Its off-site sessions have a separate risk assessment, while the team includes a Forest School leader. These are concrete arrangements around learning outdoors, rather than just a promise of fresh air.

Parents Stay and Play is also part of the Forest School material, giving families a named opportunity to take part. More broadly, parents can contribute through activities with their child, helping out and projects involving families and staff. This suits parents who want some involvement in the preschool's life alongside day-to-day conversations about their own child.

Relationships and Communication

A key person is allocated before settling begins, and the settling plan is agreed with parents. A back-up key person is identified too, then gradually introduced once the main relationship has begun to develop. That sequence matters: the child builds a familiar relationship first, with another adult prepared to step in during absence.

The key person is the family's initial contact for concerns and holds responsibility for developmental records and progress updates. Staff discussions take place twice each term to review children and emerging needs, with next steps shared across the team. Parents therefore have a clear contact, while planning also involves the wider staff group.

School preparation includes practical independence. In November 2024, children were learning to manage personal care and understand hygiene and healthy eating. The partnership policy also provides for working with schools and sharing information to support transition. This is preparation for the next stage, rather than a school-admissions advantage.

Inclusion and Wellbeing

At the November 2024 inspection, Ofsted found safeguarding effective and children, including those with SEND, making exceptional progress. Current support procedures give parents a more detailed picture of how concerns are handled: the key person works with the SENDCo or manager, and parents join discussions about targeted support.

A SEND Targeted Plan sets out the support, resources, responsible adults and frequency of interventions, with a review agreed at least once a term. Where needs exceed the setting's core funding, the admissions policy provides for an inclusion-funding application. More complex needs can affect the starting date while adjustments, training or a health care plan are prepared; families are kept involved during that preparation.

Toileting support allows children to develop independence, with changing carried out at a table in the children's toilets. Parents are encouraged to send spare clothes during potty training. For ongoing medical needs, a health care plan is completed with parents and reviewed every six months, or sooner if needed.

Sessions and Attendance

The address is School Lane, Rolleston-on-Dove, Burton-on-Trent, DE13 9AQ. Families can register by post, telephone or email, and receive a starter pack before their child begins.

Preschool children can attend up to 10 sessions each week, plus up to four after-school sessions. Early starter children are offered up to five weekly sessions during their first year, depending on availability; an afternoon booking can also include that day's after-school session. Flexible attendance must preserve the continuity of the setting's routines.

In November 2024, opening hours ran from 8.45am to 5.30pm Monday to Thursday, and from 8.45am to 3.30pm on Friday, during term time. Those are dated operating hours, distinct from the individual attendance arrangements above.

The waiting list is ordered by birth date, with additional priorities that include children in care and four-year-olds moving into the area. This is a durable admissions rule, not an indication of places currently free.

Funding and Paid Extras

Funded places are offered subject to the applicable early-years entitlement guidance and local conditions. In November 2024, funded early education covered children aged two, three and four. Current prices come in the preschool's written quotation.

• Trustee checks. In November 2024, changes in trustees had not been notified to Ofsted and required suitability-check forms had not been submitted, a breach of requirements and an offence; the deadline for submitting the forms was 29 November 2024. There was no effect on children's outcomes: the trustees had their own disclosure and barring checks and neither direct contact with children nor a management role. Ask how trustee changes and the required checks are handled now.
• Attendance and the total bill. Early starter bookings have a first-year session limit, while flexibility depends on continuity for children. Before committing, ask for your proposed timetable and written quotation, including how meals, snacks and non-food consumables are supplied and charged.
• Preparing for additional needs. A child with more complex SEND may start after necessary preparations are completed. Discuss the adjustments, expected timescale and targeted support plan together so the starting arrangements match your child's needs.

Rolleston suits families seeking afternoon attendance, sessions with an after-school extension, or a flexible pattern that preserves familiar routines. The story-led play observed at the November 2024 inspection, alongside current Forest School den building and a gradually introduced back-up key person, provides useful reasons to consider it. The November 2024 trustee-paperwork breach deserves a direct discussion alongside that positive picture. Parents who value imaginative learning and a defined route for individual support have concrete arrangements to assess here.