Little Stars Pre School at Emmanuel Church

Homemade instruments, a gardening club and a shed turned into a shop give Little Stars its character. In October 2022, children were making music from recycled materials and using shopping lists in imaginative play, bringing language, creativity and practical experimentation together. At its October 2022 inspection, Ofsted rated the pre-school Outstanding overall and in every assessed area.

This is a church-hall pre-school in Stoughton, Guildford, accepting children from their second birthday and with capacity for 32 children in total. The church and Parish Centre provide additional spaces.

Morning sessions, optional lunch club and extended sessions offer shorter or longer attendance within a 37-week year.

Learning and Activities

The Early Years Foundation Stage structures learning through play, covering children's communication, relationships and physical development alongside early literacy, mathematics, creativity and understanding of the world. It is the shared early-years framework, rather than a special programme unique to Little Stars. Here, child-chosen play sits alongside activities directed by adults, with small groups used when children have similar learning needs.

Cooking, nature study, craft and science investigations feature in the morning. Children can select resources themselves or join an activity prepared by staff. That gives them opportunities both to pursue an interest and to encounter something unfamiliar. Later in the morning, circle-time groups are organised around developmental stage; afternoon activities give further opportunities to learn with other children, followed by a story.

In October 2022, the Little Stars band involved children building instruments from reused materials and then playing them together. Piano exploration introduced vocabulary about musical sounds, while children experimented with how changing the contents of shakers changed their volume. Stories also prompted children to remember what came next and connect a book's instruments with those they knew at home.

Outdoor and Community Life

Outdoor play is part of the daily timetable, with some wet-weather clothing supplied to help children continue using the outside area. The main classroom is arranged to allow movement between activities and access to resources. The Parish Centre also includes a wheelchair-accessible Sports Hall and accessible toilets, useful physical details for families considering how their child would use the setting.

In October 2022, a gardening club gave children experience of growing vegetables and plants. Staff had also adapted a shed for pretend shopping after noticing that outdoor role play was attracting little interest. Children used it with written shopping lists, connecting mark-making with a purpose in their game. Community experiences at that time included visits to pensioner groups for shared songs and stories, extending children's contact beyond their own age group.

The church setting shapes recurring celebrations. An Easter Celebration combines the Easter story with singing, while the Christmas Nativity Play is performed for families and friends in the church, with older children acting and younger children singing. Visiting musicians bring instruments to play and explore, and dancers encourage rhythmic movement. These activities add live performance and shared participation to the usual play provision.

Relationships and Communication

A key person provides each family with a familiar contact and follows the child's development through observations and records. Planning draws on this information, so the relationship has an educational purpose as well as helping children settle. Parents can add their own observations to the keyworker file, connecting what happens at home with what staff see during sessions.

Brief conversations take place at the start and end of sessions, with appointments possible for longer or private discussions. Parent consultations offer another opportunity to discuss progress, and a newsletter goes home each half term.

In October 2022, parents joined in through stay-and-play sessions and met regularly for coffee mornings. Information about the songs and books being used was also sent home, giving families concrete ways to continue an interest together. The practical value was continuity: a story or song could be familiar in both places.

Inclusion and Wellbeing

At the October 2022 inspection, Ofsted found safeguarding effective and identified responsive support for children with special educational needs and/or disabilities, using individual plans and links with external professionals.

The SEND arrangements give the Special Educational Needs and Disabilities Co-ordinator responsibility for coordinating support, helping staff plan and liaising with other agencies. Individual Support Plans are reviewed each term with parents. Parental consent is obtained before referrals and before records are shared or transferred; discussions with a child's next setting or school support continuity of care. These are useful mechanisms for families who need an agreed plan, regular review and information carried forward.

The health policy provides for paediatric first-aid cover while children are present and on outings. It also sets a return interval of 48 hours following sickness or diarrhoea, a practical constraint for family schedules. Parents supply packed lunches and a contribution of food for snacks; the pre-school's allergy policy prohibits peanuts, so allergy-affected families should discuss current arrangements before their child starts.

Sessions and Attendance

The address is Emmanuel Church Hall, Shepherds Lane, Stoughton, Guildford, GU2 9SJ. Little Stars runs Monday to Friday across 37 weeks of the year. Morning sessions run from 9am to noon, the optional lunch club continues from noon to 1pm, and extended sessions run from 9am to 3pm. Afternoon sessions are also offered.

The lunch club uses packed lunches, with children eating alongside staff and friends. Extended attendance adds adult-led small-group activities, a later snack and group story time.

Applications use a waiting-list form. Allocation gives preference first to siblings of children who have attended, then to families belonging to Emmanuel's regular worshipping community, followed by the waiting-list order. Session enquiries can be made by telephone during pre-school hours.

Funding and Paid Extras

Little Stars accepts self-funded attendance and the funding categories Working Parents Entitlements, FEET and Universal 3-4 Year olds. Funding can cover its sessions, including lunch club, while hours beyond the entitlement are charged. Families complete a declaration covering attendance here and at any other setting, so the funding arrangement needs to reflect the child's full pattern of childcare.

Parents provide nappies and wipes, as well as packed lunches and food contributions for snacks; these arrangements also apply when using funded sessions. Visiting entertainers may occasionally lead to a request for a voluntary donation. Fees remain payable during short absences, with prolonged absence discussed individually. Current prices come in the nursery's written quotation; the fees page explains the charge structure.

Moving on is supported through visits from children's Reception teachers in the summer term before primary school. For children receiving additional support, liaison with the next school or setting also includes discussion of their needs and the transfer of information with parental consent. This is preparation for the move, rather than an admissions advantage.

• A 37-week pattern. Morning and extended sessions serve different family routines, but attendance follows a shorter operating year than year-round childcare. Consider how the calendar and collection times fit your working arrangements.
• Church connections. Easter and Christmas activities have explicitly Christian content, and regular worshipping families receive an admissions preference after siblings. On a visit, discuss how celebrations and everyday provision would work for your family.
• Parent-provided supplies. Packed lunches, snack food contributions, nappies and wipes come from home. Families managing allergies should confirm how their child's food and the peanut prohibition are handled in practice.
• Individual support. Termly reviews of Individual Support Plans provide a clear discussion point. If your child needs additional support, use a visit to explore how their plan, access needs and settling arrangements would be put into practice.

Little Stars suits families seeking morning preschool sessions or extended sessions continuing to 3pm, with an optional lunch club between them. Its appeal lies in the combination of child-chosen play, adult-led activities, family involvement and a church setting with additional indoor space. The October 2022 examples of instrument-making, gardening and imaginative shopping give substance to that educational character.

The choices are concrete: a 37-week operating year, food and personal supplies brought from home, and Christian celebrations that families should feel comfortable joining. For parents whose routines and preferences match those arrangements, this is a pre-school with a strong dated inspection judgement and practical ways for families to participate in their child's learning.