Little Saints Pre-School

Bug hotels, language support and a shared hall divided into play zones give Little Saints Pre-School its character. Based at All Saints Community Centre in West Ewell, this charity-run setting combines outdoor exploration with specific arrangements for communication and additional needs. The garden and secure hard-standing area extend play beyond the hall, including in wet weather.

Little Saints has capacity for 36 children aged two to four. Ofsted rated it Good at its inspection on 22 June 2021. Its trustee structure includes parents, former parents, staff and local community members, giving families a route into the organisation as well as their child's daily care.

Attendance centres on term-time mornings, with a conditional lunch-club extension. That timetable is a significant part of the choice here.

Learning and Activities

The Early Years Foundation Stage provides the framework for care and learning: children develop communication, independence, movement and early literacy and mathematics through play. At Little Saints, this takes practical forms such as discussing stories, exploring shapes, making marks and choosing activities indoors or outside. The framework is the foundation; the nursery's named outdoor and language programmes add more specific experiences.

Individual Learning Plans start with children's interests. Staff combine observations during play with planned individual and group activities, including planting, cooking and exploring books. This gives a child's current enthusiasms a place in planning rather than making every activity follow a fixed topic.

The hall accommodates construction, imaginative play, science and quieter reading. Magnets and a microscope give children tools for investigation; balance beams, a climbing frame and bikes offer different physical challenges. The book corner has cushions, puppets and changing reading material, providing an alternative to more active play.

Story discussions encourage children to contribute ideas and ask questions. Musical movement and drama make room for acting out experiences, while song time includes instruments and opportunities to talk about an object brought from home. Children help put equipment away, so practical routines also become part of learning to participate in a group.

Outdoor and Community Life

Little Saints Go Wild is the nursery's outdoor learning programme, combining nature exploration with individual and shared activities. Children make bird feeders, work with natural materials and investigate wildlife through bug hotels and nest building. The mud kitchen adds another setting for hands-on play. These are concrete ways to explore the outdoors, rather than simply moving indoor activities outside.

Trips take children to the post box, park and farm, with road safety included in exploring the local surroundings. Parents can help with outings, cooking or reading stories. The community connection also includes visits from police officers, firefighters and nurses who talk about their work, bringing experiences beyond the preschool into children's learning.

Relationships and Communication

Every child has both a primary and a secondary key person, and each key group has a published maximum of six children. That is a relationship group, rather than a separate room or a claim about how many children play together throughout the session. Having two key people provides more than one familiar contact for care and communication.

Settling is planned with the key person. Induction mornings introduce children to the setting, and comfort objects are allowed while they adjust. Parents complete information about their child before starting and children bring an all about me box, helping staff learn about their interests from the outset.

My Learning Journey brings together photographs, observations and moments in a child's development. Parents discuss it with the key person at least once a term, alongside everyday conversations. Email and written messages through book bags carry routine information. For families, this combines a continuing record of learning with opportunities to discuss what is happening now.

Inclusion and Wellbeing

Early Talk Boost provides targeted speech, language and communication activities for three- and four-year-olds with delayed language or social interaction skills. It gives language support a named programme and a defined purpose; it should not be read as a promise of a particular outcome for an individual child.

For additional needs, the SENCO works with parents and can arrange referrals to outside professionals. Surrey Support Plans identify needs and targets, with reviews involving parents every six weeks. Applications for additional funding can support individual work, small groups or specialist equipment where required. These mechanisms make the support process concrete.

The building is wheelchair accessible. Visual aids and basic Makaton signs support communication, while home-language books and visual materials provide further ways for children to participate. Children do not need to be toilet trained before starting; parents supply nappies, wipes and spare clothes, and staff help with toilet training when the child is ready.

Safeguarding arrangements include lead and deputy roles, staff training and recruitment checks. These are organisational procedures, rather than a current inspection judgement. For moving on, schools are invited to meet children in the final half term, and additional-needs transition work can include meetings, visits and transfer of the Surrey Support Plan.

Sessions and Attendance

The address is All Saints Community Centre, Fulford Road, West Ewell, KT19 9QZ. Enquiries can be made by telephone or email through the preschool's contact route.

Morning sessions run from 9.15am to 12.30pm, Monday to Friday, during term time. The preschool follows Surrey County Council term dates for up to 38 weeks per academic year. This is a timetable for families organising care around school terms and a lunchtime finish.

Lunch club extends attendance from 12.30pm to 1.15pm for an additional charge. It usually starts after the October half term if enough children attend, and its operating days are confirmed annually. Parents provide a healthy packed lunch and drink; the nursery's food policy excludes nuts and uses dairy-free spreads.

Funding and Paid Extras

Funded early education includes up to 15 universal hours for three- and four-year-olds, beginning in the term after their third birthday, and FEET for eligible two-year-olds. Delivery is term-time. Eligible working parents can use some hours towards their 30-hour entitlement; the two-year-old working-parent offer is up to 16.25 hours a week during term time. A 30-hour entitlement therefore should not be mistaken for a 30-hour attendance pattern at this preschool.

Private sessions and paid lunch club sit alongside funding. Current prices come in the nursery's written quotation; the charges and funding page explains the structure. Childcare vouchers and tax-free childcare are accepted.

Non-food supplies involve both items from home and voluntary contributions: parents bring nappies and wipes, while donations help fund craft resources, cooking ingredients and spare nappies. Further voluntary contributions may be requested for activities such as planting or an entertainer visit. Paying the donation is not a condition of taking up a place, and children can participate in the activities regardless.

• Lunch-club planning. The extension depends on sufficient numbers and annually confirmed days. Before arranging work around a later collection, ask which days it will run and when it will begin.
• Snack provision. Guidance conflicts about whether the preschool supplies snacks or parents bring them. Confirm the current arrangement, and discuss allergy requirements alongside the nursery's no-nut policy.
• Support in practice. Surrey Support Plans have six-week reviews and can involve outside professionals. A visit is an opportunity to discuss how those arrangements would work for your child's needs and chosen mornings.

Little Saints suits families seeking term-time morning sessions, including those who would use a morning followed by lunch club when it runs. Outdoor nature activities, targeted language work and a detailed additional-needs process are the strongest reasons to consider it. Parent involvement has substance too, through volunteering and the trustee structure. The practical decision is whether the morning timetable and conditional extension fit the family's week.