Tiny Giants Pre-School

Speech support and preparation for Reception give Tiny Giants Pre-School its clearest character. Chatterbox Group uses short group activities to practise communication, while Busy Bee Group helps children approaching school develop confidence and everyday independence. These are concrete parts of the offer, rather than broad promises about school readiness.

Based at The Three Ways Community Centre in Borehamwood, the pre-school accepts children from 18 months to five years and has 50 places in total. A large hall, a smaller room for activities and a fenced garden give children different spaces for their day. This is a community-centre setting with outdoor play built into its activities.

At its May 2022 inspection, Ofsted rated Tiny Giants Good overall and found safeguarding effective, while identifying inconsistent challenge and the need to develop children's thinking more fully. That balance matters: the positive judgement came with a specific teaching priority. Attendance is term-time only, with flexible sessions within weekday opening hours.

Learning and Activities

The Early Years Foundation Stage provides the framework for learning and care: children develop through play, relationships and experiences adapted to their individual needs. At Tiny Giants, children choose activities to pursue independently or with others, alongside adult-led groups inside and outside. The practical benefit is a day that combines making choices with learning to participate in a shared task.

Busy Bee Group is for children nearing Reception. Its activities practise listening, taking turns and working together, alongside emotional development, movement and language. School preparation here includes learning how to manage a task and cooperate with someone else, rather than concentrating only on early reading.

Jolly Phonics adds a specific introduction to letter sounds. Tiny Giants uses stage 1, with songs and activities connecting initial sounds to words and pictures. This gives families a clear picture of what early literacy involves, while keeping it within the broader preparation for school.

Projects have included plant growing, cooking, animal habitats and model-making. Science activities have explored colour mixing, floating and sinking, and how germs spread. These examples give children different things to investigate and discuss; they also make the teaching improvement identified in May 2022 relevant. Activities need questions that extend children's ideas, as well as opportunities to take part.

Outdoor and Community Life

The garden has secure fencing, and waterproof trousers are provided for wet weather. Protective clothing is also supplied for messy activities. These practical arrangements support outdoor and hands-on play, with less dependence on children keeping their everyday clothes clean.

In May 2022, children used an outdoor tap to move water between containers. When their play produced puddles, they fetched boots and made footprints, then compared the prints' sizes. It is a useful example of ordinary play becoming a conversation about measurement. The same visit captured children returning wheeled toys and helping to tidy, linking independence with responsibility for shared equipment.

Tessa Ted & Billy Bear Adventures extends activities into family life. Each weekend, two children take the bears home, with families adding photographs and a written account to their journals. Children then recount what happened during circle time. The scheme gives them something personal to talk about and connects caring for the bears with kindness towards others.

Relationships and Communication

Each child has a personal key person. That gives families an identified practitioner connected to their child's learning, rather than leaving the relationship entirely with whichever adult happens to be nearby. Visual timetables show the day's activities and routines, helping children understand the sequence of their time at the setting.

In May 2022, staff gathered information about children as they joined and used it to plan their next learning steps. Settling arrangements had also been changed to give children who struggled more time. These are dated examples of care being adjusted to the child, rather than expecting everyone to settle at the same pace.

During that period, staff development included training, individual supervision and a buddy arrangement for sharing practice. This sits alongside the teaching priority: supporting practitioners involved both professional discussion and a need to become more consistent in extending children's thinking.

Inclusion and Wellbeing

Chatterbox Group runs twice daily, with up to six children taking part. A visual sequence, signs, songs, sound-listening activities and turn-taking games provide different ways to practise communication. Children also choose an instrument to play and work on following instructions. The format makes the support recognisable: this is a recurring small-group activity, rather than a general statement about helping with language.

The sessions support children with speech or language delay, developmental delay or special educational needs, and children learning English as an additional language where required. The team includes a SENCO role and designated safeguarding lead roles. These are support arrangements, not a promise that every child's needs can be met in the same way.

At the May 2022 inspection, Ofsted found that staff recognised additional needs promptly, involved parents and professionals, adapted routines and surroundings, and used language groups effectively to support progress. The practical significance is the combination of early discussion and changes to the child's actual day.

Children bring healthy snacks and lunch from home, and eat with adults in small groups. Families therefore retain responsibility for supplying food, while mealtimes also provide opportunities for conversation and learning to eat alongside others.

Sessions and Attendance

Tiny Giants opens Monday to Friday, from 9am to 3pm, during term time. It offers flexible sessions within that window. Opening hours describe the operating day; the flexible arrangement is the attendance pattern, so it should not be read as a requirement to book the whole day.

This makes the pre-school relevant both to families seeking shorter attendance and those wanting care across its daytime opening window. The term-time calendar is equally important: families need arrangements that work with the breaks as well as with the daily hours. The contact form provides a direct enquiry route, and enquiries can also be sent by email.

Getting There

The address is The Three Ways Community Association, Arundel Drive, Borehamwood, WD6 2ND; the setting uses the name The Three Ways Community Centre for its venue. Its hall, activity room and garden are the physical spaces that shape the offer.

Funding and Paid Extras

Funded childcare is offered for two-, three- and four-year-olds, alongside 30-hour funding, with flexible hours delivered during term time. Participation in funding should be kept separate from an individual family's entitlement: the offer does not itself establish eligibility for a particular child.

Snacks and lunches are supplied by parents. Children may wear their own clothes, and a Tiny Giants uniform can be purchased, so uniform is a choice rather than a condition of attendance. Current prices come in the nursery's written quotation.

Preparation for moving on to school is part of Busy Bee Group. Its emphasis on listening, sharing, confidence and practical independence is useful preparation for Reception routines; it is a learning programme rather than an admissions arrangement.

• Term-time flexibility. Flexible sessions sit within a 9am to 3pm weekday opening window and a term-time calendar. At a visit, discuss how the intended attendance pattern would fit your family's working day and holiday arrangements.
• Extending children's thinking. In May 2022, staff did not consistently stretch children's learning through questions and challenge. Ask how activities such as the Busy Bee experiments now encourage children to explain, predict and test their ideas.
• Targeted communication support. Chatterbox Group runs twice daily with up to six children. For a child needing additional help, discuss how group activities would connect with their individual priorities and any professional advice.
• Consumables. How are non-food items handled during your child's sessions? Discuss this alongside the written quotation so practical responsibilities are clear.

Tiny Giants suits families seeking flexible, shorter sessions or attendance across its term-time daytime window. Its strongest decision points are concrete: recurring Chatterbox support, Busy Bee preparation for Reception, and spaces for indoor and outdoor activities. The take-home bears give families another way to participate in children's learning.

The May 2022 Good judgement provides a positive inspection position, but the teaching priority deserves attention alongside it. Families choosing this setting should weigh its communication support and practical school preparation against how well staff now extend children's ideas. For children who benefit from repeated language practice and a gradual approach to independence, the offer has a clear shape.