North Bushey Pre-school

An all-weather garden that children can choose throughout the session gives North Bushey Pre-school a clear organising idea: learning can move between indoors and outdoors. Daily Music & Movement, plus storytelling and construction play, add different ways to take part. This is a preschool for children aged two to five, with capacity for 30 children, based at Highwood Primary School in Bushey.

At its 31 March 2022 inspection, Ofsted rated the provision Good and judged safeguarding effective. That is a dated assessment, rather than a description of every aspect of today's practice. The current learning approach combines play with planned activities, while morning and afternoon sessions give families a choice within a term-time calendar.

Learning and Activities

The Early Years Foundation Stage provides the framework for children's learning and care: here, play, conversation and practical activities connect learning with children's interests. Alongside it, PILES organises attention around physical, intellectual, language, emotional and social development. Its concrete elements include mark making, problem solving, balance and learning to share. The useful distinction for parents is between the common early-years framework and this preschool's way of organising its activities.

Story Telling brings songs and rhymes together with stories, letter recognition and early reading. Construction play gives children opportunities to explore quantities, shapes and space through building and solving practical problems. Sensory activities involve exploring through touch and the other senses. These are different routes into learning, allowing a child to participate through movement, making or conversation.

Music & Movement is a daily activity, combining instruments and singing with dancing, yoga and parachute games. Listening and coordination are part of the activity, rather than separate tasks. Visiting professionals include people working in dentistry, the police and ambulance services; parents and carers also contribute accounts of their jobs. That connects pretend play and conversation with people whose work children may encounter outside preschool.

In March 2022, Ofsted identified two educational priorities: adapting group activities so younger children could participate more readily and older, more able children received greater challenge, and improving communication with other settings children attended. These are useful points to keep alongside the choice of activities. A varied day still needs tasks matched to the child and information shared across their care arrangements.

Outdoor and Community Life

Free Flow Learning means children can choose indoor or outdoor play during their session, with an all-weather garden used throughout the year. Outdoor access is therefore part of the learning arrangement, rather than only a scheduled break. For a child who enjoys moving between activities, that choice is a practical attraction.

Learning about the environment includes seasons, weather and changes over time. Community activities include fundraising and visits, while conversations about relatives and family travel introduce places beyond the immediate neighbourhood. Festivals, artists and authors also contribute to this work. The emphasis is on connecting children's experiences with the wider world, rather than treating learning as confined to indoor activities.

Relationships and Communication

Settling begins with an all about me exercise that gathers information before a child joins. Staff use it to shape enrolment around the child, giving parents a concrete way to explain interests, routines and needs. The preschool's key-worker role also includes observing children, planning activities and identifying what they should learn next. Care and learning planning are linked through that role.

A weekly newsletter and regularly sent home activities connect families with preschool life. Parents can speak to staff and have access to their child's Learning Journeys, which keep information about development. This gives communication two purposes: understanding what has happened during the week and discussing the individual child's learning.

When children move on, school teachers are invited to meet the preschool and information is shared. That offers a practical connection between the adults supporting the child before and after the move. It concerns preparation and communication, not an admissions advantage.

Inclusion and Wellbeing

The staff structure includes a SENCo, an interim manager, an interim deputy manager and early-years educator apprentices. For children with special educational needs, the preschool discusses strategies with parents. The SENCo role gives that conversation an identifiable point of responsibility; it does not, by itself, establish how any particular child's support will work.

Children do not need to be toilet trained before starting. Staff work with families on toilet training when they are ready, making this an important practical option for a two-year-old still developing that independence. Behaviour work uses golden rules and a song to address feelings, kindness and respect, giving children shared language for playing together.

Snacks include breadsticks, vegetables and fruit. The nursery says it works with families and other agencies and informs staff about a child's allergies.

Sessions and Attendance

The address is Highwood Primary School, Bushey Mill Lane, Bushey, WD23 2AW. Opening hours are 8.45am to 3.15pm, Monday to Friday, during term time. Morning and afternoon session choices are subject to availability. Extra hours can also be added once a child has settled, subject to availability. Breakfast and afterschool clubs are offered on request.

School holidays are closures, so families needing childcare throughout the year will need to account for those breaks. Some term-ending days also finish earlier: the autumn term ends on 18 December 2026 with a 2pm close. Enquiries can be made by telephone or email, and an application form is provided.

Funding and Paid Extras

Funded early education is offered for children aged two, three and four. Funding may begin from the term after a child's second and/or third birthday, depending on eligibility, with a term-time entitlement of 15-30 hours each week across 38 weeks. This is an eligibility-dependent offer, so it should not be read as an entitlement for every child. Paid attendance is also offered, and booked sessions remain payable when a child is away on holiday or ill. Families should obtain current prices in the preschool's written quotation.

Being based at Highwood Primary School does not guarantee a Reception place. Families still apply through the local authority admissions process. The preschool's information-sharing work with school teachers should be understood separately from that application.

• Group activities and shared care. The March 2022 improvement priorities concerned challenge, younger children's participation and communication with other settings. During a viewing, ask how group activities now accommodate different stages and how learning information is exchanged when a child attends elsewhere.
• Term-time commitments. School holidays are closures, and 18 December 2026 has a 2pm finish. Compare the preschool calendar with the cover your family needs, including any breakfast or afterschool arrangements.
• Settling and personal care. The all about me exercise and support with toilet training make the starting conversation important. Use a viewing to discuss your child's routines and any allergy needs, and request a written quotation covering your intended attendance, food and consumables.

North Bushey Pre-school suits families seeking either morning or afternoon attendance during term time, especially those drawn to a day that allows movement between indoor play and an all-weather garden. Daily Music & Movement, practical learning and information gathered before starting give the offer substance.

The Good judgement dates to March 2022, with clear improvement priorities around group activities and communication between settings. Those points deserve attention alongside the current activities. For families whose calendar fits the term-time model, the combination of outdoor choice, parent communication and support with early independence makes this a preschool worth considering.