Red Barn Community Preschool

A garden for growing fruit and vegetables, a school pond for investigating small creatures, and a parent committee with a practical say in how the preschool runs: Red Barn has a clear community character. Its purpose-built setting sits within the grounds of Red Barn Primary School in Portchester. Outdoor exploration and family involvement give parents concrete reasons to consider it.

At its 22 May 2025 inspection, Ofsted rated the preschool Good and found safeguarding effective, while identifying mathematics teaching and communication with other settings as areas needing attention. Those improvement points matter alongside the positive judgement. They concern how adults extend learning during play and how well a child's education connects across different providers.

Red Barn has capacity for 26 children in total and accepts children from 2 years 6 months to 5 years old. Attendance is term-time, with flexible care within the weekday opening hours.

Learning and Activities

The Early Years Foundation Stage (EYFS) provides the framework for children's learning and care: here, play supports language, physical development, relationships and early skills in reading, writing and mathematics. Development Matters is used as guidance for planning, with each child's key person shaping activities around their interests and developmental needs. The framework is the shared foundation; the practical detail is how children use the environment.

Books can be borrowed for reading at home, while drawing and early writing materials are accessible inside and outdoors. A permanent role-play area changes with children's interests, taking forms such as a pet shop or cafe. This gives children reasons to talk, negotiate roles and explore familiar experiences through play. Songs, instruments and dancing also form part of the day.

In May 2025, children worked dough with cutters and rolling pins and drew on outdoor blackboards with chalk. These activities gave them different ways to practise hand movements before formal writing. Conversations about caterpillars, butterflies and honey-making bees brought new vocabulary into their exploration of nature. Learning had something tangible to build on.

Mathematics needs closer attention. In May 2025, adults did not consistently develop children's understanding of numbers through their interactions, despite that being part of the intended curriculum. Counting resources alone are only part of the task; children also need adults to extend what they notice and understand during play.

Outdoor and Community Life

The outdoor area includes a climbing structure, construction equipment and opportunities for ball play. It supports movement in several forms, from balancing and climbing to building with larger materials. Indoors, cutting, colouring and manipulative toys provide a different scale of physical practice.

The preschool garden brings growing into children's experience, with flowers, vegetables and fruit to plant and tend. Visits to the school pond throughout the year introduce tadpoles and other small creatures, making changes in nature something children can investigate directly. In May 2025, children also dug planting holes in the allotment and practised movement using bicycles, scooters and large balls.

Relationships and Communication

Each child has a key person who works with their family on care, interests and learning. A buddy key person takes responsibility when that practitioner is away, and families are introduced to both at the start. That gives the relationship a practical backup rather than leaving it dependent on one adult's attendance.

Tapestry, an electronic learning journal, lets parents view their child's development from home and contribute observations of their own. Key-person meetings, newsletters and text messages provide other routes for updates. Parents can therefore contribute information from home as well as receive accounts of preschool learning.

Settling is treated as an individual process that can take longer for some children. Families and staff work together, while manageable clothing helps children practise toileting and handling outdoor clothes themselves. Children can attend in nappies, with toilet-training support when they are ready; parents supply nappies and wipes.

Inclusion and Wellbeing

The staff structure includes a Special Educational Needs Coordinator and a lead safeguarding practitioner. For additional needs, the preschool works with outside professionals, including speech therapists and health visitors. These are specific support mechanisms, rather than a promise that every child's needs will be met in the same way.

All staff have paediatric first-aid training. Collection by someone unfamiliar to staff requires a password agreed with parents beforehand, giving families a concrete procedure for changes to their usual arrangements.

In May 2025, staff helped children handle disagreements by discussing sharing and supporting them to resolve conflicts. Communication with other settings that children attended was less consistent, however, limiting the exchange of information about progress. For children attending more than one provider, that connection deserves attention.

Sessions and Attendance

The preschool is at Linden Lea, Portchester, Fareham, PO16 8HJ, within Red Barn Primary School's grounds. It opens Monday to Friday during term time, from 8am to 4pm. Flexible care is offered within that window, and both whole-day attendance and half-day sessions are recognised in its care arrangements.

Enquiries can be made by telephone on 01329 280900 or through the contact form. Where applications exceed capacity, a waiting list operates, with priority ordered around funded children, preschool siblings, siblings at Red Barn Primary School and families living in Portchester. These are preschool entry priorities.

Funding and Paid Extras

Funded childcare includes 15 hours from the term following a child's third birthday, with 30 hours for families meeting the eligibility criteria and subject to the preschool's ability to accommodate the attendance. Some two-year-olds may also qualify for funded early education. The provision operates during school terms, so funded attendance belongs within that term-time offer.

Private care is charged by the hour; current prices come in the preschool's written quotation. Parents provide nappies and wipes. Funding and paid attendance should be considered separately when planning the hours a family needs.

The school site is useful context for moving on, but attending this preschool does not guarantee a Reception place. Families still use the local authority admissions process for a state-school application.

• Mathematics in everyday play. The May 2025 finding concerned missed opportunities to extend number understanding. At a visit, ask how practitioners now develop mathematical ideas during children's chosen activities.
• Shared care. Communication with other settings needed attention in May 2025. Families using more than one provider should discuss how learning information will be exchanged for their child.
• Term-time planning. The weekday opening window ends at 4pm and follows school terms. Compare that pattern with work commitments and holiday arrangements, rather than assuming year-round care.
• Food arrangements. Ask what children need to bring for snacks and meals, how those arrangements work during funded attendance, and how any dietary needs will be managed.

Red Barn suits families seeking flexible term-time care, whether through half-day sessions or whole-day attendance. Its garden, school pond and accessible play materials give children concrete experiences to explore, while the key-person backup and Tapestry journal give parents useful ways to stay involved.

The Good judgement provides a positive inspection position, with two clear qualifications: mathematics interactions and coordination with other settings needed strengthening in May 2025. For parents comfortable with a school-term calendar, the appeal is practical and specific: outdoor learning, individual relationships and a community committee in which families can take part.