Christ Church Pre-School

A church hall, nature walks through the church grounds and a daily emphasis on conversation give Christ Church Pre-School its character. This church-run setting in Church Crookham combines play-led learning with individual attention: children contribute ideas for themes, while learning takes place together, in smaller groups and individually.

Ofsted rated the pre-school Outstanding on 14 February 2025 and judged its safeguarding arrangements effective. It has 26 places in total and welcomes children from two years old. The combination offers families a preschool setting with a strong inspection judgement and an outdoor day that includes growing plants and exploring wildlife.

Attendance is term-time only, with hours chosen around family needs and afternoon sessions among the options.

Learning and Activities

The Early Years Foundation Stage provides the framework for learning through play, with activities shared across the group, smaller-group work and individual learning. Children’s interests help shape the themes, and parents can contribute ideas too. That gives families a practical way to connect what interests a child at home with what happens at preschool.

Resources are packed away and set out afresh, allowing indoor and outdoor activities to change each day. The main church hall is the indoor base. This is an adaptable shared space, with the daily selection of materials helping to shape the experience rather than a fixed arrangement of equipment.

In February 2025, conversation was woven into individual and small-group teaching. Children shared news, practised taking turns in conversation and explored different words for size. Staff also used gestures to help explain meaning. These are concrete opportunities to practise expressing an idea and listening to somebody else.

Daily book loving time, observed that February, gave children a regular opportunity to explore reading material, discuss stories and share pictures with friends. Staff demonstrated how written words communicate meaning and how to care for books. The emphasis was on enjoying books together, rather than simply having them within reach.

Songs chosen with the children provided another route into learning. In February 2025, familiar rhymes supported participation, while fingers and songs helped illustrate different ways to combine numbers. Children also tackled difficult puzzles and practised balancing on stilts, giving perseverance a physical as well as a conversational outlet.

Outdoor and Community Life

A fenced paved play area, a sun-sail and a small growing area for flowers and vegetables give the outdoor provision several purposes. Children can play outside, tend plants and take nature walks in the church grounds. The growing area brings changes in plants into everyday experience; the grounds extend exploration beyond the paved space.

In February 2025, cultural celebrations helped children learn about their friends’ lives at home. Additional funding supported music and movement sessions. These experiences added different ways to participate alongside the regular conversation, books and songs.

Individual recognition is a clear part of the care described at the February 2025 visit. Golden time meant a personal daily greeting and a conversation with each child. That gave staff a moment to listen before the rest of the day’s activities, rather than relying entirely on conversations within a busy group.

At its February 2025 inspection, Ofsted found that teaching tailored to individual next steps supported excellent progress, and that collaboration with other settings and external professionals supported continuity of care and learning. Practical examples included language groups and extra help with forming sentences or sustaining attention.

Settling begins through work with parents, with attention to each child’s individual needs. All staff receive safeguarding training regularly and have first-aid training. Those are concrete arrangements; the dated safeguarding judgement above remains the assessment of their effectiveness.

School preparation also featured in February 2025: staff worked with local teachers on communication and independence. For families, that places everyday skills such as expressing needs and doing things independently alongside the learning activities, rather than treating preparation for school as a separate academic exercise.

Sessions and Attendance

The address is Christ Church Pre-School, Gally Hill Road, Church Crookham, Fleet, GU52 6LH. Opening hours are 8.50am to 11.50am on Mondays and Thursdays, and 8.50am to 2.50pm on Tuesdays, Wednesdays and Fridays. The setting opens during term time and closes for school holidays.

Families can choose hours to suit their needs, and additional hours can be arranged on request. Afternoon sessions are also offered. The weekly opening total is 24 hours, so attendance needs to fit both the shorter days and the longer opening days. Enquiries can be made through the contact form, by telephone or by email.

Funding and Paid Extras

The pre-school offers standard 15-hour and extended 30-hour funding during term time. Funding for two-year-olds depends on qualification; hours can be shared with another setting or a childminder. The 24-hour opening week matters here: a 30-hour entitlement cannot all be used within this setting’s opening hours.

Parents supply a packed lunch when children stay over lunchtime, including those attending afternoon sessions. Childcare vouchers and tax-free childcare schemes are accepted.

Getting There

The preschool uses the main hall within Christ Church Crookham Parish Church, approached along the path from the Lychgate on Gally Hill Road. Parking is opposite the church, identified by Church Car Park and The Vicarage signs.

The pre-school describes partnerships with Crookham Infant School and Tweseldown Infant School, as well as other local schools. Attendance does not guarantee a school place; families still use the local authority admissions process.

• The shape of the week. Monday and Thursday finish at 11.50am, while the other days run until 2.50pm. At a visit, discuss how chosen hours and afternoon sessions would fit your working week.
• Funding across settings. The preschool offers extended 30-hour funding but opens for 24 hours weekly. Families planning to use the full entitlement need to consider the shared-hours arrangement with another provider.
• A changing hall layout. Resources are packed away and activities change daily. During a look around, explore how the hall and fenced outdoor space would suit your child’s preferred play.
• Individual support. Settling involves parents, and the February 2025 practice included targeted language work. Ask how settling and any additional support would be organised for your child.

Christ Church Pre-School suits families seeking term-time care with flexible chosen hours or afternoon sessions, especially those who value conversation, books and outdoor exploration. Its church-hall base and changing daily resources give it a clear identity. The strongest inspection evidence concerns individual attention and responsive teaching; the practical constraint is the uneven weekly timetable, which needs to fit family routines as carefully as the preschool experience fits the child.