Oakwood Community Pre-School

Free-flow outdoor play, a parent committee and learning shared through Tapestry give Oakwood Community Pre-School a clear community character. This Hartley Wintney setting takes children from two years to statutory school age and has 50 places in total. Its offer centres on active play and growing independence, with parents involved in both their child's development and the running of the setting.

At its October 2024 inspection, Ofsted rated Oakwood Good, judged safeguarding effective and identified strengths in children's language learning alongside weaknesses in staff support and the clarity of instructions. Those qualifications matter alongside the grade. Morning and afternoon sessions sit within a term-time timetable, rather than an early-start or evening childcare offer.

Rooms and Ages

Acorn room serves two- to three-year-olds, while Oaktree room takes three- to four-year-olds; children have their own coat peg and a labelled drawer for their creations and correspondence. These small practical arrangements give belongings a predictable home and help children take responsibility for them.

In October 2024, children from different rooms spent time playing together, building familiarity with other children and adults before moving rooms.

Learning and Activities

The EYFS provides the framework for children's learning and care, including learning to listen, take turns, build friendships and understand feelings. Oakwood's free-flow, play-based curriculum gives children choices about activities indoors and outside. The practical emphasis is on doing, talking and trying things, with social and emotional development woven into play.

A visiting musician leads a weekly session in both rooms, varying the day to broaden children's opportunities to participate. There is no extra charge. The changing day matters for children attending different weekly patterns, although it does not promise that every child attends every session.

In October 2024, younger children practised listening through songs with actions, while older children explored number order in small groups. Books, rhymes and conversations were used to extend vocabulary, including opportunities to retell stories and talk about experiences.

Choice also had an adult contribution. In October 2024, staff joined children's play and used conversation to develop their learning and understanding of sharing. Explanations were occasionally insufficiently clear about what would happen next or what children should do. This was an improvement point, with practical consequences for children who need predictable instructions.

Outdoor and Community Life

Outdoor access runs through the day via the free-flow arrangement, including in wet weather. Families provide wellington boots and waterproof clothing, and trainers are recommended for grip on the outdoor equipment. This is an everyday clothing requirement, rather than something reserved for occasional outdoor events.

In October 2024, outdoor activities supported movement, balance and coordination as well as other areas of learning. Children also practised handling their own outdoor clothes. Physical activity and independence therefore worked together: taking part involved getting ready as well as playing.

Relationships and Communication

Each child has a key carer as the family's main contact. Settling sessions can include an accompanying adult, and their pattern is discussed with parents because children need different amounts of preparation. This gives families a way to shape the beginning around their child rather than following an identical sequence for everyone.

Tapestry is a password-protected record of photographs and observations that parents can contribute to with their own comments and images. It creates a two-way account of development, bringing experiences at home into the conversation. Everyday news also comes through letters, email and a WhatsApp group, while a private discussion with the key carer can be arranged by appointment.

In October 2024, families could borrow books from the pre-school library and contribute to assessments. This connected reading at home with learning at the setting. Children also practised managing their own packed lunches, with adults allowing time for them to attempt everyday tasks independently.

Inclusion and Wellbeing

At the October 2024 inspection, Ofsted found that individual plans, collaboration with parents and professionals, Makaton signing and communication cards supported children needing additional help, with significant progress over time. Makaton was used as a communication support, rather than as a separate club or lesson.

Current SEND procedures set out a graduated response: observation and assessment lead to adapted support, with the key person involving parents and the SENCO when concerns persist. Action plans identify interventions, resources and responsibilities, and reviews are agreed with families at least termly. For parents, this makes support a sequence of decisions and reviews rather than a single referral.

Where medical interventions are needed, a health care plan accompanies the wider support plan. Preparations for a child with more complex SEND may include risk assessment, training and adjustments before their start date; the manager must explain the work and its timeframe to the family. The procedures also provide for applications for additional inclusion funding when the setting's core resources cannot meet a child's needs.

Toilet training is not a condition of attendance. Parents supply nappies or pull-ups, and apply sun cream before the session. Prescribed medicines, inhalers and creams must arrive in their original packaging with the child's prescription label.

In October 2024, support and induction did not consistently identify gaps in staff understanding, including some aspects of health practice at mealtimes. Committee suitability checks were also not completed promptly: the members concerned had neither contact with children nor access to confidential information. The safeguarding judgement should be read alongside these specific weaknesses.

Sessions and Attendance

Oakwood is on St John's Road, Hartley Wintney, Hook, Hampshire RG27 8DW. Opening hours are 9am to 3pm, Monday to Friday, during 38 term-time weeks. The popular session choices are a morning from 9am to noon and an afternoon from noon to 3pm; sessions can also be arranged within the opening window.

Applications use a registration form returned by email, post or hand delivery. A non-refundable deposit applies unless a child receives funding from their start date. The waiting list follows the order in which applications arrive, a durable joining rule rather than a statement about current vacancies. General enquiries can go through the admissions form, telephone or email.

Funding and Paid Extras

Funded childcare includes 15 hours from the term after a child's third birthday, an additional 15 hours for eligible children aged three and over, and 15 hours from the term after the second birthday where eligible. Delivery is term-time. Funded places carry no additional fees, and tax-free childcare is also accepted.

Private hours are paid for, with invoices issued termly and payment required in advance; weekly, monthly and half-termly payment options are offered. Payments normally use bank transfer, and cash is not accepted. Families should use the nursery's current written quotation for prices.

Parents provide packed lunches and fruit for the morning snack, while milk is supplied and water can be accessed indoors and outside; the packed-lunch rules exclude nuts and chocolate. These parent-supplied food arrangements, and the requirement to supply nappies or pull-ups, also apply to children attending on funded hours.

• Term-time boundaries. Morning and afternoon sessions operate within the 9am-to-3pm opening window for 38 weeks. Families needing care beyond those hours or during holidays need to plan around that timetable.
• Instructions and staff support. In October 2024, staff development needed sharper attention to gaps in understanding, and instructions to children needed greater clarity. During a visit, ask how staff now make routines understandable and reinforce health practice at mealtimes.
• Individual preparation. Settling visits allow an adult to stay, while complex SEND may require adjustments before a child starts. Discuss the settling pattern and any preparation your child needs together, including who will coordinate it.
• Packed lunches and outdoor kit. Families supply lunch, snack fruit and clothing for wet-weather play. Allergy-affected families should confirm current food practice, including how the no-nuts lunch rule is managed.

Oakwood suits families seeking morning or afternoon preschool sessions, active outdoor play and close involvement in their child's learning. Tapestry and an allocated key carer give that involvement practical channels, while the committee offers parents a further role in the setting's development: it meets approximately each half term and raises funds for toys and equipment.

The October 2024 Good judgement sits alongside concrete improvement points about staff understanding, explanations and committee checks. The strongest reasons to consider Oakwood are its play-based day, adaptable settling arrangements and structured SEND procedures. Its term-time hours and parent-supplied lunches make the practical fit equally important.