Hazeltots Pre-School

Woodland exploration at Stringer’s Common and a garden children can use freely give Hazeltots Pre-School a clear outdoor thread. This non-profit preschool in Guildford is managed by local families and welcomes children aged two to five. It has capacity for 42 children, with a large indoor play space alongside its garden.

At its January 2026 inspection, Ofsted judged behaviour and routines, welfare and wellbeing, and inclusion to be at a strong standard, with achievement, curriculum and teaching, and leadership and governance at the expected standard; safeguarding standards were met. That is a useful distinction for parents: the strongest judgements concern children’s care and relationships, while the educational next steps concern making learning build more consistently.

Attendance is term-time, with breakfast, lunch and afternoon options alongside the morning timetable. The combination gives families several ways to organise a preschool day.

Learning and Activities

The EYFS guides learning through play across areas including language, physical development, relationships, literacy and mathematics. At Hazeltots, children choose activities inside and outside, alongside daily adult-led work designed to develop particular skills. The balance gives children room to follow an interest while staff introduce something new.

Family group time brings children together in their key groups for activities such as discussion, dancing, stories and songs. Letters and sounds activities also feature. These smaller shared periods sit alongside the freer play, giving the day both choice and a recognisable structure.

In January 2026, children used puppets to act out stories and handled tweezers to arrange pom-poms on shapes. Conversations during sand play introduced new vocabulary, while outdoor chalk drawing became an opportunity to talk about shapes. These are concrete examples of language, hand control and mathematics being brought into play rather than treated as separate tasks.

The educational caution is about what follows an activity. The January 2026 next steps called for learning to build more deliberately on children’s existing knowledge, with repeated opportunities to practise and deepen skills across the curriculum. Parents should weigh the appealing activities alongside that need for a clearer sequence.

Outdoor and Community Life

Forest School adds hands-on woodland learning at Stringer’s Common, including observing nature, den building, tools and supervised camp-fire activities. It is offered to all children without an extra charge. Hazeltots aims for each child to participate twice, in different seasons, during their time at the preschool. This is an occasional addition to the day, rather than a weekly woodland commitment.

Closer to the preschool, children have free daily access to the garden. In January 2026, a sandpit housed in a purpose-built shed provided another setting for sensory exploration. Outdoor opportunities therefore extend beyond the woodland sessions themselves.

The January 2026 curriculum next steps also matter here: the skills developed during community forest school sessions had not yet been carried through into the setting’s curriculum. The opportunity and the follow-through are separate considerations.

Relationships and Communication

Key groups provide a regular point of connection within the timetable. Parents can contribute to their child’s learning file, which combines photographs with written observations, and achievements are shared weekly. The file is given to families when their child leaves, making it both a record of development and something they can keep.

For children after their second birthday, a written progress check covers language, physical development, and personal, social and emotional development. It identifies strengths and areas needing support, with ways for family members and the key person to help. Information about progress is also passed to the child’s next setting, supporting continuity when they move on.

In January 2026, staff helped children discuss feelings and choose what to do next. Children also practised independence through choosing and preparing fruit at snack time, then clearing their dishes. These examples show how everyday routines can become opportunities to practise decision-making and self-care.

Inclusion and Wellbeing

At the January 2026 inspection, Ofsted found that children needing additional support received timely, coordinated help, with staff training tailored to their needs and close work with outside professionals. This is a specific strength of that dated assessment, rather than a general promise about every future support arrangement.

The team includes a SENCO, designated safeguarding lead roles and special educational needs assistants. Staff training covers paediatric first aid, food hygiene and safeguarding. These are practical arrangements behind the care offer; families considering additional support can discuss how those roles would work around their own child.

Breakfast is provided for children starting at 8.15am, and a healthy snack is offered during the morning. Parents supply packed lunches for lunch club, where adults eat alongside children to make it a shared social occasion.

Sessions and Attendance

Hazeltots opens from 8.15am to 3.45pm, Monday to Friday, for 38 weeks each year. Its term-time pattern makes the holiday calendar an important part of a family’s childcare planning.

The early-start breakfast period runs from 8.15am to 9.15am. The morning timetable then includes free play and key-group activities before collection at 12.15pm; lunch club runs from 12.15pm to 1.15pm, followed by an afternoon session from 1.15pm to 2.15pm. Lunch club and the afternoon session extend the morning, so these options have a different purpose from the breakfast start.

Getting There

The address is Bellfields Youth Centre, Hazel Avenue, Guildford, GU1 1NS. Enquiries can be made through the contact form, by email or by telephone.

Funding and Paid Extras

Hazeltots offers 15 hours under the universal offer for three- and four-year-olds, FEET funding for two-year-olds, and 30 hours of funded childcare for those who qualify. Parents can use their funded hours flexibly within its term-time provision. Eligibility remains a condition of the relevant entitlement.

Forest School carries no extra charge, while lunch club uses packed lunches brought from home. Current prices come in the nursery’s written quotation, allowing families to consider their chosen attendance pattern alongside the funding they qualify for.

• Term-time planning. The preschool operates for 38 weeks, with opening hours ending at 3.45pm. Families needing holiday care or later collection should weigh that timetable against their working week.
• Learning progression. The January 2026 next steps concerned building skills in a clearer sequence and sharpening leaders’ evaluation of their changes. At a visit, ask how staff now revisit learning and assess whether those changes are working.
• Woodland frequency. The aim is two Forest School experiences in different seasons during a child’s time here. Choose it for an introduction to woodland learning, with everyday outdoor play provided by the garden.
• Your child’s support. SENCO and special educational needs assistant roles sit within the team. For a child needing additional help, discuss how the key person, those staff and outside professionals would coordinate their support.

Hazeltots suits families seeking community-managed, term-time preschool with morning attendance, an early breakfast start, or a morning extended through lunch club and the afternoon session. Free access to the garden, woodland experiences at Stringer’s Common and parent contributions to learning files give the offer substance.

The January 2026 assessment draws a balanced picture: care, inclusion and routines received stronger judgements than curriculum and achievement. Families who value those care strengths should also give weight to the work needed on learning progression. The practical fit depends on the term-time calendar and the session pattern a family wants.