Yateley Community Pre-School

A garden with insect hotels, music and movement in a primary-school hall, and parents helping to run the charity give Yateley Community Pre-School its character. It occupies its own building within the grounds of Cranford Park Primary School, with access to the school's field as well as its hall. The offer combines a community organisation with space for active play.

Children aged 2 to 5 attend, and the setting has 40 places in total. At its March 2024 inspection, Ofsted rated the pre-school Good and found safeguarding effective. Garden access, practical growing activities and parent involvement are the clearest reasons to consider it; the organisation of group learning deserves closer attention.

Opening hours are 8.45am to 3.30pm across 38 weeks of the year. That calendar is an important part of the family fit.

Learning and Activities

The Early Years Foundation Stage (EYFS) provides the framework for learning through play, covering children's communication, physical development, relationships and early understanding of subjects such as literacy and mathematics. Children choose activities themselves, while adults also organise experiences and observe how their learning develops. Topics introduce new ideas throughout the year.

Weekly themes bring together a story, song, sound or letter, colour, shape and Makaton sign. Music and movement uses the school hall twice a week. Monday hall sessions include singing, dancing, parachute games and different ways of moving; music and movement also takes place on Fridays. Instruments also feature. These are concrete additions to the play-based day: children can explore sound and movement beyond the pre-school's own building.

The People Who Help Us topic invites parents to contribute their knowledge during sessions. It makes family experience part of children's learning, while giving parents a practical way to participate. The curriculum page explains how observations, children's interests and their strengths inform the next steps staff plan.

At the March 2024 inspection, Ofsted found children made good progress, including those receiving additional funding, but asked staff to sharpen their understanding of intended learning and organise group activities so younger and less confident children could benefit fully.

Outdoor and Community Life

Children can move freely into the garden during the day. Bark surfaces, wooden stepping stones and insect hotels give it texture, while reused tractor tyres serve as play equipment and planting containers. The mud kitchen is prepared each morning with flowers and herbs. Outdoor play here includes both handling natural materials and watching living things grow.

Fruit, vegetables and herbs are cultivated in the pre-school garden, with children taking part from sowing to tasting. Produce also goes into recipes. This connects food with the work of growing and caring for it, rather than limiting healthy-eating messages to mealtimes. The school field provides another setting for races, treasure hunts, obstacle activities and searching for insects.

Community participation extends to fundraising. Bags2School is a clothing-and-shoe reuse scheme that helps raise funds, while the pre-school runs stalls at Yateley May Fayre and invites local organisations to its summer fete. These links give parents ways to support the charity beyond their child's ordinary attendance.

Relationships and Communication

An All About Me booklet helps families share their child's needs, interests and experiences with staff. Informal conversations continue that exchange, and a child's key person is the contact for discussing development. The Learning Journey is a record of progress sent home each term, with more frequent sharing possible on request.

Settling is planned with parents, who are expected to take part according to an agreed arrangement. Families offered a place are also invited to a welcome afternoon to meet staff and other joining families.

Parents have an organisational role too. They elect the management committee at the Annual General Meeting; its responsibilities include finances, staffing, policies and fundraising. Families can contribute through committee membership, helping with materials or sharing knowledge in activities. This is a setting for parents who enjoy taking part in how their pre-school works.

Inclusion and Wellbeing

A SENCO coordinates support for children with additional needs. The role includes observation, recording, planning and language groups, alongside work with other professionals on individual educational plans. The nursery describes a graduated process of assessment, planning, action and review, with parents involved throughout. These are specific mechanisms for discussing a child's needs, rather than a blanket promise about what support will achieve.

Disability Access Funding can support adjustments, specialist resources, staff training or additional staffing where a child qualifies. Early Years Pupil Premium provides another route for supporting eligible children and families, with resources or extra staff among the possible uses. Neither should be confused with an automatic entitlement to a particular package of support.

Staff have completed paediatric first-aid and safeguarding training and continue to refresh their knowledge. For families facing wider pressures, the pre-school also provides local food-support information and offers private help accessing services. Its guide includes assistance with a confidential referral to Hart Foodbank. That is a practical extension of the charity's family role.

Sessions and Attendance

The address is Cranford Park Drive, Yateley, GU46 6LB. Opening hours run from 8.45am to 3.30pm over 38 weeks annually, with several collection and start points within that window. Drop-off times are 8.45am, 9.15am, 11.45am and 12.30pm; collection times are 11.45am, 12.30pm, 3pm and 3.30pm. Those clock points matter for organising the rest of a family's day, but should not be treated as interchangeable booking combinations.

Applications use a booking form returned to the pre-school. When a place cannot be offered immediately, the application goes onto a waiting list, and families are contacted at least the term before the intended start. General enquiries go to manager@yateleycpreschool.co.uk or 01252 861565.

Funding and Paid Extras

Funded education is offered for 3- and 4-year-olds and some 2-year-olds. The funding arrangements include 15 hours and the 30-hour offer for working parents, subject to eligibility and space. Hours beyond the funded allowance are paid privately. Current prices come in the pre-school's written quotation, with the fees page explaining the charging structure.

Fees are payable ahead of attendance and remain payable when a child is absent. Withdrawal requires four weeks' notice. Those terms affect the cost of changing arrangements as well as the ordinary weekly bill.

School dinners can be ordered through Cranford Park Primary School and are charged separately, with ordering and payment on the day. Consumables are supported through separate voluntary contributions towards items such as toiletries, craft materials and sensory resources; contributing is optional, and children are not excluded from activities if families do not pay.

A separate joining contribution is also voluntary, with access to a place independent of payment. The Helping Hands Tree offers another way to contribute: families can select requests for small items, including craft supplies and cleaning materials.

Sharing school grounds does not guarantee a Reception place at Cranford Park Primary School. Families still apply through the local authority admissions process. Access to its hall and field is a useful facility link, not an admissions advantage.

• Joining in group learning. In March 2024, younger and less confident children did not consistently benefit fully from group activities. During a visit, ask how staff now adapt these activities and identify each child's next learning step.
• The weekly calendar. The 38-week year and 3.30pm closing time shape the childcare fit. Use the visit to discuss which booking pattern matches the listed start and collection points and your family's commitments.
• Additional needs. Language groups, a SENCO and individual educational plans provide concrete starting points for support. Discuss how those arrangements would work for your child, including communication with other professionals.
• Food and contributions. School dinners cost extra, while consumables and joining contributions are voluntary. For a child with allergies, confirm current meal-ordering and dietary arrangements before starting.

Yateley Community Pre-School suits families seeking care for children aged 2 to 5 who value garden play, music and movement, and an active role in a community charity. Its own outdoor space and use of the primary school's hall and field give children several settings for practical activity. Termly Learning Journeys and key-person conversations give parents a clear connection to learning.

The family fit depends on the 38-week calendar and daytime opening window. The March 2024 concerns about precise learning intentions and inclusive group activities also deserve attention.