Fledglings Pre-School

A pre-school garden equipped with community-grant funding, play organised around children's interests and a place within the grounds of Upshire Primary Foundation School give Fledglings Pre-School its character. This is an Upshire setting with a clear connection to school life, but attending it does not guarantee a Reception place at the primary school.

At its June 2023 inspection, Ofsted rated Fledglings Good overall and found safeguarding effective. The strongest detail lies beneath that judgement: children persevering with drawings, practising conversations and learning to handle tools carefully. These observations belong to June 2023, rather than describing today's children or staff practice.

Fledglings accepts children from 9 months to 4 years and has 52 places in total. Morning and afternoon attendance, with a lunchtime link for an all-day stay, operates during term time.

Rooms and Ages

Hatchlings, Nestlings and Fledglings are the room names. Across the pre-school, learning through play emphasises communication, cooperation and social skills, while parents' views contribute to children's learning. The free-flow environment gives children opportunities to explore through play.

The age span makes this a choice for families with babies as well as older preschool children. For a parent comparing settings, the useful distinction is between the whole pre-school's capacity and the arrangements in the room their child will actually join. The 52-place total describes the setting as a whole.

Learning and Activities

The Early Years Foundation Stage provides the framework for children's learning, development and care. Here, learning through play brings communication, social development and exploration into the day; the framework is the foundation, while the particular activities give it shape.

Termly topics include All about me, Shapes and colours, Story books and Christmas. Planning draws on children's interests, family life and individual learning needs, with topics also supporting movement between rooms and towards school. That gives a familiar subject a practical purpose: a child's experiences outside pre-school can help shape what happens inside it.

In June 2023, children turned an encounter with a ladybird into a drawing activity, revising the shape and markings until satisfied. Elsewhere, counting stacked bricks brought early maths into construction play, and an animated story about an octopus drew children into books. These were small, concrete examples of learning emerging through ordinary play.

The June 2023 inspection identified two weaknesses: staff did not consistently stretch learning far enough, especially for more able children, and changes of activity around handwashing and lunch sometimes left children unsettled. Both matter to the daily experience. An engaging activity needs an appropriate next step, and the interval between activities needs attention too.

Outdoor and Community Life

Tesco Community Grant funding paid for new equipment in the pre-school garden to support physical development. The garden therefore has a practical learning purpose alongside indoor play, giving children another setting in which to develop movement skills.

Learning at home also has concrete resources. Transport-themed materials include bingo, matching activities, number work and cutting exercises. These give families specific activities to use together, rather than only broad encouragement to continue learning at home.

Relationships and Communication

Parents' views form part of planning, and specific learning plans are used for children who need them. Speech and language programmes support children whose speech development needs additional attention. The practical value is a route from recognising an individual need to planning support for it.

Current staff roles include a SENCo, a deputy SENCo, designated safeguarding leads and responsibility for speech and language support. There are also room leadership roles for Hatchlings and Fledglings, plus outdoor and behaviour-management coordination. These responsibilities identify who handles different aspects of care; they do not, by themselves, establish the quality of that care.

Inclusion and Wellbeing

In June 2023, staff exchanged information with other professionals and used pictures and visual prompts to help children communicate and take part in routines. Small-group conversations gave children opportunities to speak, listen and wait for a turn. For families considering support needs, these are concrete examples of the methods used at that time.

Daily conversations about feelings and accessible displays were also part of the June 2023 day. Children practised sharing resources, while dental role play prompted discussion about looking after their teeth. Carefully handling hammers and metal tacks introduced responsibility through an actual task. Care and learning overlapped in these everyday experiences, rather than sitting in separate parts of the timetable.

Sessions and Attendance

Attendance runs Monday to Friday during term time. Morning sessions are 8.45am to 11.45am, afternoons are 12.15pm to 3.15pm, and the lunch session bridges them from 11.45am to 12.15pm. Families can use mornings, afternoons or both with lunch for an all-day stay.

Applications involve completing a form and returning it to the manager. The pre-school office can be contacted on 01992 805153 or at preschool@upshire.essex.sch.uk. This provides a direct route for applications and fee enquiries.

Getting There

The address is Upshire Primary Foundation School, Upshire Road, Waltham Abbey, EN9 3PX. Fledglings is overseen by a committee of the school's Governing Board and forms part of its extended services provision.

That connection does not confer an automatic Reception place at Upshire Primary Foundation School. Families still apply through the local authority's primary admissions process, so choosing pre-school and applying for school remain separate decisions.

Funding and Paid Extras

Funded childcare is offered, with eligibility determining whether a child can receive 15 hours or 30 hours. Paid attendance is also part of the fee arrangements. Current prices come in the pre-school's written quotation; the fees page gives the office contact route.

• Challenge and changes of activity. In June 2023, extending learning for more able children and organising handwashing before lunch needed attention. On a visit, ask how staff now plan the next step in an activity and manage these intervals.
• Care for the youngest children. The age range starts at 9 months, alongside provision for preschool children. Ask how your baby's settling, sleep and care will work in the room they join.
• Term-time attendance. Morning, afternoon and linked all-day stays follow the term-time pattern. Families needing care through school holidays will need an arrangement that covers those weeks.
• A linked lunchtime. The lunch session joins the morning and afternoon bookings.

Fledglings suits families seeking term-time mornings, afternoons or a linked all-day stay, with play-based learning and a school-site setting. Interest-led topics, the garden investment and planned speech and language support give parents concrete reasons to consider it. The June 2023 judgement provides a positive dated assessment, balanced by clear questions about extending learning and organising changes of activity. Its connection to Upshire Primary Foundation School is useful context, while Reception admission remains a separate application.