Chrysalis Pre-School

Vegetables to dissect, ice to investigate and scales to test a prediction: practical exploration gives Chrysalis Pre-School at Lincoln Hall its character. This High Road setting in Loughton serves children aged three to five. At its 17 January 2024 inspection, Ofsted judged it Outstanding overall, with children showing enthusiasm for learning and confident communication.

In January 2024, children examined vegetables, compared their properties and watched time-lapse footage of their growth. Handling real objects connected their investigations with changes over time.

Bumblebees provides preschool provision with outdoor learning space and preparation for the move to school. Opening hours are 7.30am to 6.30pm, Monday to Friday, across the year; the shorter sessions and full-day pattern documented in January 2024 are detailed below.

Rooms and Ages

Bumblebees caters for children aged 36 to 60 months, with a phonics programme and a substantial outdoor area extending learning beyond the indoor space.

The outdoor provision matters because activities can continue beyond the room. For preschool children, this gives physical exploration a place alongside language and early literacy. Preparation for school is part of the room's emphasis, with circle times and adult-led activities accompanying the phonics work.

Learning and Activities

The early years foundation stage provides the framework for children's learning, development and care: their day brings together play, communication, physical activity and exploration. It is the educational foundation here. The additional experiences give that foundation its local character.

Weekly French, Multi-Sports and Stretch & Grow, a scheduled activity session, supplement Bumblebees' phonics and circle-time work. Language and sports add different experiences to the week.

In January 2024, mathematical thinking emerged from an ordinary dough activity. Children predicted which pretend cakes would weigh more, then used digital scales to test their ideas. The useful sequence was question, prediction and comparison. An adult supplied the equipment rather than simply supplying the answer.

Language had similarly concrete starting points. During a minibeast hunt that January, staff introduced vocabulary about animal features; stories used props to support children's imagination. Children also discussed animals and thawing ice in an Arctic play environment. These examples connect new words with something children can examine or talk about, making conversation part of the activity itself.

Outdoor and Community Life

In January 2024, experiences beyond the setting included visits to an elderly care home and taking food to a local food bank. Children also exchanged information with children in Canada and Africa. These activities brought other lives and communities into their learning, rather than leaving the wider world as an abstract topic.

Visitors included police, dentists and paramedics that January. Alongside outings, these encounters gave children opportunities to discuss different kinds of work with the people who do it. For families who value learning through conversation and real experiences, that is a substantial part of the setting's appeal.

Relationships and Communication

In January 2024, staff began by gathering information from parents about children's development, interests and backgrounds. This gave them something specific to work with from the start. A child's home experiences could inform the activities and support offered during the day.

Communication then continued through spoken daily handovers, an online journal and meetings with parents. Together, these channels let parents and staff discuss how children were learning and being cared for. Parents had more than one opportunity to contribute information, rather than relying on a single formal appointment.

Staff also made room for children to think. In January 2024, questions were followed by time to consider an answer, and adults acknowledged children's effort. The practical value lies in the interaction: a child can attempt an explanation, revise an idea and take part in a conversation at their own pace.

Inclusion and Wellbeing

At the January 2024 inspection, Ofsted found safeguarding effective and identified well-coordinated support for children with special educational needs, with the special educational needs coordinator working alongside families, practitioners and external agencies to put individual strategies and resources in place.

Home languages were represented in books and role-play materials in January 2024, and staff learnt relevant words. That made children's backgrounds part of the room's everyday resources. Inclusion was expressed through practical choices about what children could hear, read and use in their play.

Coaching, mentoring and training supported practitioners that January, alongside access to counselling and opportunities to raise concerns with leadership. Support extended to the adults responsible for children's day.

Sessions and Attendance

Chrysalis Pre-School operates at Lincoln Hall, 125 High Road, Loughton, IG10 4LT. Its opening window is 7.30am to 6.30pm on weekdays, and it operates across the year.

In January 2024, sessions ran from 7.30am to 1pm or 1pm to 6.30pm, with full-day care from 7.30am to 6.30pm. These dated arrangements accommodated shorter attendance as well as full days.

Enquiries for the High Road setting use 020 8502 2912 or admissions@chrysalisnursery.co.uk. Keeping the High Road address attached to an enquiry helps identify the intended Chrysalis setting.

Getting There

Lincoln Hall has a forecourt area for parents to collect and drop off children. This is a useful practical feature when considering how preschool attendance fits into a family's daily routine.

Funding and Paid Extras

In January 2024, the preschool provided funded early education for two-, three- and four-year-old children. That dated funding provision does not change the current three-to-five age range described above. Families should obtain current prices in the nursery's written quotation.

• The Bumblebees day. Phonics, outdoor learning and weekly French, Multi-Sports and Stretch & Grow feature in its programme. On a visit, ask how these fit around child-led play and what the Stretch & Grow session involves for this age group.
• Attendance and funding together. The January 2024 arrangements combined shorter sessions with full-day care and funded early education. Ask for a written proposal covering your intended attendance, funded hours and any meal or consumable charges.
• Individual support. In January 2024, support involved families, the special educational needs coordinator and external agencies. A visit is an opportunity to discuss how that coordination would work for your child's particular needs.

Chrysalis Pre-School suits families seeking practical, conversational learning for preschool children, with outdoor activity and preparation for school sharing the day. Its January 2024 examples are persuasive because they show children testing ideas, using new words and encountering people beyond the setting.

The attendance arrangements documented in January 2024 served both families wanting shorter sessions and those needing full days.