Ruxley Lane Pre-School

A homemade volcano, fruit cut by children themselves and stories taken home in library bags: Ruxley Lane Pre-School combines investigation with the small practical steps towards independence. Those examples come from June 2024, when Ofsted rated the setting Outstanding. They give the judgement substance: children were doing, experimenting and taking responsibility rather than simply following instructions.

Based at Ruxley Church in West Ewell, Epsom, the pre-school accepts children from two years old and has 40 places in total. Its term-time timetable includes morning, afternoon and full-day sessions. This is a preschool setting with a school-calendar rhythm, rather than an all-year childcare timetable.

Learning and Activities

The early years foundation stage provides the shared framework for children's learning, development and care, with play used to build skills and understanding. At Ruxley Lane, the June 2024 activities show how that can become something concrete: making a volcano involved manipulating materials before experimenting with ingredients to produce an eruption. The same activity brought together coordination, curiosity and exploration.

In June 2024, staff planned learning so children could return to ideas and practise skills before tackling the next step. Assessments helped identify what each child needed next. The practical implication is continuity: an activity was part of a developing sequence, rather than an isolated diversion.

Language also ran through the day. In June 2024, songs and signs supported communication, while group conversations gave children practice in waiting, listening and contributing. Books and other activities helped children recognise feelings. These were everyday opportunities to build the communication and social habits that make shared play work.

Outdoor and Community Life

In June 2024, outings included local parks and shopping for baking ingredients. Visits from paramedics and guide dogs brought further encounters with the community into the pre-school. Shopping gave the baking activity a practical starting point; visitors introduced children to people and experiences beyond their usual group.

Independence had an equally everyday expression. At snack time in June 2024, children handled cutlery to prepare fruit and helped themselves under staff supervision. That makes self-care part of learning, with adults guiding children through manageable responsibilities.

At its June 2024 inspection, Ofsted found safeguarding effective and excellent progress among children, including those with special educational needs and/or disabilities and those learning English as an additional language. Individual needs shaped the activities children experienced, giving the inclusion judgement a practical basis.

Relationships supported that work. In June 2024, children had trusting connections with adults and one another, and staff used consistent responses to behaviour. Listening during group activities and recognising emotions were taught alongside other skills, helping children participate in the shared day.

Home learning library bags, available in June 2024, gave families stories to share beyond the setting. This was a tangible connection between preschool learning and home, rather than communication limited to an account of what happened during the session.

Health and safety also had practical expressions in June 2024. Staff introduced oral-health habits and physical activity, checked indoor and outdoor spaces each day, and carried out recruitment checks. These observations belong to that inspection period; the dated safeguarding judgement is the basis for assessing their effectiveness.

Sessions and Attendance

The address is Ruxley Church, Ruxley Lane, West Ewell, Epsom, KT19 0JG. Ruxley Lane operates Monday to Friday during term time, so its calendar needs to fit the family's arrangements for school holidays.

Morning sessions run from 9am to noon, afternoons from 12.15pm to 2.45pm, and full-day sessions from 9am to 2.45pm. For children receiving 30 hours of funding, opening hours are 8.45am to 2.45pm. That earlier opening is tied to the funding arrangement; it is not the starting time of the standard full-day session.

The different patterns allow families to choose between a shorter morning, an afternoon or a day spanning both. The afternoon's separate starting time matters when planning collection and other care arrangements. A full day here still finishes in the afternoon, which is an important practical distinction for parents organising work.

Funding

Ruxley Lane accommodates children receiving 30 hours of funding within its term-time opening pattern. In June 2024, the setting also received early-education funding for children aged two, three and four. That earlier funding information is a dated account, rather than a statement of every current entitlement or eligibility condition.

• The afternoon finish. Standard full-day care ends at 2.45pm, and the morning and afternoon can also be booked separately. Match the chosen pattern to the hours your family actually needs.
• Term-time attendance. Ruxley Lane follows a term-time calendar. Families needing childcare during school holidays will need arrangements that cover those breaks.
• From inspection examples to today's day. Volcano experiments, community visitors and home learning library bags were features of June 2024. At a visit, ask how those experiences now fit into your child's learning and how settling is organised.

Ruxley Lane suits families seeking term-time preschool education through morning or afternoon sessions, as well as those choosing its full-day pattern. The Outstanding judgement from June 2024 is supported by memorable examples of practical learning, independence and communication. Its timetable is the decisive constraint: choose it where the afternoon finish and school-holiday breaks fit family life.