Hollies Road Pre-School Playgroup

A mud kitchen, a sensory den and speech-and-language screening give Hollies Road Pre-School Playgroup a recognisable character: practical play sits alongside specific support for communication. This community preschool occupies the St. Mark’s School site in Halewood, takes children aged two to four and has capacity for 30 children. It is a charity overseen by a committee of parents and carers, so family involvement extends beyond conversations about an individual child.

Ofsted’s latest graded inspection, on 23 November 2023, rated the provision Good and found safeguarding effective at that date. A subsequent regulatory visit on 15 July 2026 found unmet requirements and resulted in actions on safeguarding referrals, recruitment checks, staff suitability, safeguarding leadership and staff development. That later finding is central to a decision about joining. The earlier grade cannot serve as a current safeguarding assurance.

Cubs and Bears divide the provision by age, while WellComm provides a route from language screening to small-group intervention. Parents also have concrete ways to participate, including weekly Bookbags and termly family fun afternoons. These are useful features, but they need to be weighed alongside the July 2026 actions.

Rooms and Ages

Cubs serves children aged two to three; Bears takes children from three upwards, within the preschool’s overall two-to-four age range. Moving between them depends on development, happens after the term following a child’s third birthday and also depends on room capacity. A birthday therefore does not trigger an immediate move.

Indoors, children choose activities alongside adult-led learning, giving them opportunities to practise independence and play together.

Learning and Activities

The Early Years Foundation Stage is the common framework for learning and care. Activities cover its seven areas, including communication, relationships, movement, literacy and mathematics, with emphasis on the prime areas of development.

WellComm adds something more specific. This speech-and-language toolkit combines screening with intervention; children whose screening identifies delays receive activities in small groups, and parents receive information and activities for home. That gives communication support a defined starting point and a practical connection between preschool and family life.

Bookbags make shared reading tangible: each week, families receive a book with a puppet, toy or activity. They return the contents with a comment slip, giving parents a simple feedback route.

In November 2023, adult-planned activities had clearer learning intentions than play initiated by children, with the latter not consistently stretching the most able. The improvement required was more precise planning for free-choice learning. That distinction is useful for parents: plenty of resources and freedom to choose do not, by themselves, show how staff extend a child’s next step.

Outdoor and Community Life

Daily outdoor play uses a digging area, sandpit, construction site, mud kitchen, forest area and sensory den. Den building, water and mud play, and growing vegetables and flowers give children practical ways to experiment.

Wellies and wetsuits are supplied for outdoor play in all weathers, making practical outdoor learning part of the normal day.

In November 2023, community experiences included buying ingredients at local shops, library visits and woodland walks. Road-crossing practice formed part of those outings. Spanish Day involved food, music and exploration of Spanish culture, linking a named celebration to concrete experiences rather than leaving it as a label on a calendar.

Relationships and Communication

Each child has a keyworker who works with parents on their interests and individual needs. Settling is arranged with families, and parents can stay until they are comfortable that their child has settled. If a distressed child cannot be comforted, staff contact the family to collect them. This is a practical arrangement to plan around, especially for parents whose working day makes an unexpected collection difficult.

Monthly emailed newsletters keep families informed. Termly family fun afternoons combine themed activities, competitions and food with time to speak to staff and other parents; the committee gives families a role in running the charity.

Inclusion and Wellbeing

Special Educational Needs Co-Ordinators and a behaviour management specialist form part of the support structure. The SEND approach includes listening to parents and working with the local authority and external agencies. Alongside WellComm, these are identifiable mechanisms for discussing a child’s needs; they should not be mistaken for a guarantee about an individual outcome.

In November 2023, staff used plans from external agencies and made referrals for speech-and-language or occupational therapy support. Equipment for a sensory den had been purchased using additional funding. These were inspection-time examples; individual support depends on each child’s needs.

Daily supervised toothbrushing gives each child a named brush and fluoride toothpaste. Children practise brushing themselves, and the activity supplements brushing at home. Toilet-training support is also offered through discussion with parents, keeping an everyday developmental task connected across home and preschool.

The July 2026 actions are material to this care picture. They required prompt referral of concerns to statutory agencies, thorough recruitment and vetting checks, disclosure of information affecting staff suitability, appropriate support and qualifications for safeguarding leads, and effective coaching and training. The deadline was 25 September 2026. Separately, in November 2023, leaders had needed to assess more clearly whether changes following staff supervision actually benefited children.

Sessions and Attendance

The address is c/o St. Mark’s School, Fir Avenue, Halewood, L26 0XR. Telephone enquiries can be made on 0151 345 8181 or 07985 053 276. The preschool is on a school site, but attending it does not guarantee a Reception place; families still make a separate school application.

The 2024/25 handbook set out mornings from 9am to noon, afternoons from noon to 3pm, and full days from 9am to 3pm. In November 2023, the preschool opened 9am to 3pm, Monday to Friday, term time only.

Under the 2024/25 handbook’s payment terms, invoices were emailed each half term, and fees remained payable during sickness or holidays to retain the child’s place. Its medication policy limited administration to medicine prescribed by a doctor and labelled for the child, with the required date and dosage. These are practical terms for families balancing attendance, work and illness.

Funding and Paid Extras

The 2024/25 arrangements offered 15 funded hours for eligible two-year-olds, 15 hours of nursery education from the term after a child’s third birthday, and 30 hours for eligible families. The handbook required a reference code and a birth certificate or passport at registration. Eligibility conditions remain part of the offer; the existence of a funded entitlement is not a promise of a particular attendance pattern.

Paid sessions sit alongside funded provision. Current prices should come in the preschool’s written quotation, and the fees page provides a route into its charge structure. Parents supply packed lunches, while the 2024/25 handbook requested a separate contribution towards daily snacks such as fruit, cereal and yoghurt. For children using nappies, families supply spare nappies, wipes and cream.

• July 2026 safeguarding actions. The actions had a 25 September 2026 deadline and covered referrals, recruitment, staff suitability, safeguarding leadership and staff development. Before joining, ask for evidence of what has been completed and any subsequent regulatory outcome.
• Stretch during free-choice play. In November 2023, children who were furthest ahead were not always sufficiently challenged during independently chosen play. On a visit, ask how staff now plan the next challenge for a child who quickly masters an activity.
• Attendance for the relevant year. The 2024/25 patterns included morning, afternoon and full-day sessions, while the November 2023 opening pattern was term-time. Request the current written attendance terms and quotation before organising work around those arrangements.
• Settling and moving rooms. Parents may stay during settling, and collection is requested if distress cannot be soothed; movement from Cubs to Bears depends on development and capacity as well as age. Discuss how those arrangements would work for your child and your collection plans.

Hollies has a concrete preschool offer: outdoor resources for practical play, WellComm for language screening and intervention, and Bookbags that connect stories with home life. Its parent-led charitable structure also gives families a route into the organisation’s work.

It suits families seeking a community preschool for children aged two to four, with morning or afternoon attendance as well as the full-day pattern set out for 2024/25. The decisive consideration is safeguarding. The July 2026 regulatory findings make the preschool’s response to those actions central to that decision.