Gurnard Pre-School

Woodland, an enclosed garden and access to an adventure playground give Gurnard Pre-School a substantial outdoor offer for a setting in the grounds of Gurnard Primary School. Its purpose-built accommodation serves children aged one to four in Cowes. The appeal is practical: children have several different outdoor environments to explore alongside their indoor play.

At its June 2022 inspection, Ofsted rated the setting Outstanding, highlighting children's confidence, independence and learning through activities shaped around their interests. That judgement belongs to that visit. The current offer combines separate age-based rooms with access to the school field and woodland, rather than relying on a single outdoor play area.

There are 39 places in total. This is whole-setting capacity, not the size of any room or the number attending a particular session. Morning and longer daytime sessions sit alongside breakfast and after-school clubs, giving families different ways to organise attendance.

Rooms and Ages

Ladybird room serves one-year-olds, Bumblebee room serves two-year-olds, and Dragonfly room serves children aged three to four. The age divisions give parents a clear starting point for understanding where their child will spend the day, while the different session times make the room allocation relevant to collection arrangements too.

The one-year-old room's opening announcement in July 2021 described a bright, spacious room with a sleeping area, highchairs, spaces for books and pretend play, and its own enclosed outdoor area. Those details explain the original design for the youngest children: rest, eating and exploration were accommodated within their room's provision.

Learning and Activities

The EYFS provides the framework for children's learning and care: play, conversations and practical experiences support children's development. It is the shared foundation for early years provision. Here, the June 2022 day included counting during a water-based treasure hunt, identifying colours and discovering objects hidden beneath the surface, bringing several areas of learning into one activity.

In June 2022, physical activity developed across the younger rooms, with earlier movement skills built upon as children moved into the toddler provision. Outdoors, children manoeuvred a large log along a slope and used ride-on toys. These are concrete examples of movement involving control and judgement, rather than exercise confined to running about.

Yoga also formed part of routines in June 2022, alongside preparations for eating. Children joined in with those shared tasks and listened to one another. For parents, the useful detail is the connection between activities and everyday participation: learning included managing a routine and contributing to a group.

Outdoor and Community Life

The enclosed play area, woodland and school field offer different kinds of space, while the adventure playground adds another setting for outdoor activity. Wellies, waterproof clothing and spare clothes are part of the kit families bring. Outdoor play therefore has a clear practical consequence for parents: clothing needs to accommodate weather and messy activity.

In June 2022, walks and outings beyond the premises introduced children to people and community life. Children also noticed that outdoor dinosaur toys needed cleaning before use and proposed water and soap. That small incident illustrates how health and hygiene entered the day's play through a problem children recognised themselves.

Relationships and Communication

Key person roles are part of the staff structure, including within the baby provision, and there is a room leader role for the two-year-olds. A deputy also holds the safeguarding officer role. These responsibilities give families identifiable roles to understand when discussing their child's care, room experience or a concern.

In June 2022, staff worked with parents to carry familiar home routines into the setting, and younger children developed close relationships with adults. Parents were involved in their children's learning through several methods of communication. The practical value lies in the exchange of information: knowledge about a child's routine could inform the care they received during the day.

Inclusion and Wellbeing

At the June 2022 inspection, Ofsted found safeguarding effective and praised the special educational needs coordinator's observation and tracking systems, which informed targeted support, alongside teaching responsive to individual learning needs. Those are dated findings about practice, rather than a promise about any particular child's experience today.

The current offer includes provision for children with SEND and children learning English as an additional language, and the team structure includes a SENCO role. For a family seeking support, that gives a concrete starting point for a discussion about their child's needs and how staff will respond to them.

Families supply a healthy packed lunch, with the nursery requesting that eggs, fish and nuts are left out; breakfast is included in the breakfast-club charge. Parents also bring nappies and wipes when their child needs them, so these remain part of the family's daily preparation.

Sessions and Attendance

Dragonfly room offers sessions beginning at 8.30am and ending at either 11.30am or 12.30pm, plus a longer session finishing at 2.30pm. For Ladybird and Bumblebee rooms, the corresponding choices run from 8.45am to either 11.45am or 12.45pm, or through to 2.45pm. The different finishing options matter when matching childcare to work or other family commitments.

Breakfast club runs from 7.30am to 8.30am and is open to the setting's children. After-school club runs from 2.45pm to 5pm, Monday to Thursday. Holiday club is also part of the offer. These clubs extend the choices beyond the room sessions, although the Friday timetable is shorter.

Opening hours are 7.30am to 5pm from Monday to Thursday and 7.30am to 3pm on Friday. Gurnard operates for 48 weeks each year, closing for two weeks in August and two over Christmas. Families using care across the year need to plan around both closure periods.

Getting There

The address is Baring Road, Cowes, Isle of Wight, PO31 8DS. Enquiries can be made by telephone on 01983 280441 or by email to reception-gurnardpreschool@outlook.com.

Sharing the grounds of Gurnard Primary School does not guarantee a Reception place. Families still use the local authority admissions process for a state-school application; the preschool setting and the school-place decision are separate practical matters.

Funding and Paid Extras

In June 2022, the setting received funding for early education for children aged two, three and four. Paid childcare is also offered, with age-based hourly charges and separate club charges set out on the sessions and fees page. Current prices come in the nursery's written quotation.

The food arrangements distinguish breakfast, included in its club charge, from packed lunch supplied by parents. Nappies and wipes come from home when needed. A late-collection charge also forms part of the fee structure, making the chosen finishing time relevant to the family's arrangements.

• Different collection times. Dragonfly's longer session ends at 2.30pm, while Ladybird and Bumblebee finish at 2.45pm. At a visit, discuss how the chosen room session and any club attendance fit together for your child.
• Friday and holiday planning. Friday opening ends at 3pm, and closures fall in August and over Christmas. Families needing care throughout the working week or year should match those breaks to their own arrangements.
• Lunch and allergies. Packed lunches must follow the nursery's request to exclude eggs, nuts and fish. Allergy-affected families should confirm current handling arrangements before their child attends.
• Funded attendance. Funding supported two-, three- and four-year-olds in June 2022. Ask which funded entitlement and attendance arrangement would apply to your child now, including the treatment of additional hours and club charges.

Gurnard suits families considering either morning sessions or full days, with breakfast club and after-school club adding further options. Its enclosed garden, woodland and access to the school field give outdoor provision real substance. The June 2022 Outstanding judgement adds a strong dated quality assessment.

The timetable requires careful matching to family life: younger and older rooms finish at different times, Fridays end earlier, and there are summer and Christmas closures. For parents comfortable with those arrangements and preparing packed lunches and outdoor clothing, this is a preschool with a clear age-based structure and substantial space for play.