Newick Pre-School

A maximum of 23 children, a village reading-room base and regular park outings give Newick Pre-School a clear identity: small-scale preschool life with the surrounding community close by. Children aged two to five attend at The Old Reading Room in Newick. The setting is a charity, with families able to contribute to its running through the committee as well as fundraising.

At its June 2025 inspection, Ofsted rated Newick Pre-School Outstanding overall and found safeguarding effective. The practical appeal goes beyond that judgement: children’s interests shape activities, communication includes signs alongside speech, and parents contribute to learning records rather than simply receiving updates.

Attendance is term-time, with morning, afternoon and whole-day patterns.

Learning and Activities

The EYFS provides the statutory foundation: children learn through play, developing language, movement and social skills alongside early literacy, mathematics, creativity and understanding their surroundings. Activities are planned around individual interests and next steps, so the framework becomes something children do rather than a checklist presented to parents.

Newick adds its Hybrid Curriculum, combining children’s spontaneous choices with planned themes drawn from their interests, the seasons and local happenings. The curriculum explanation sets out this combination.

Total Communication means staff use several ways to help children express themselves, including Makaton signs that reinforce spoken language. These strategies are used with all children. Signing forms part of shared preschool life.

In June 2025, staff introduced a fresh Makaton sign each week and used songs, stories and play for language work. Children also gathered mint at the allotment for potion-making. That is a useful example of the learning style: an ordinary plant becomes material for exploration and imaginative play, connecting an activity to something children have collected themselves.

Outdoor and Community Life

Opposite the preschool is Newick’s King George V’s Recreational Ground, used for regular outings in wet weather as well as dry. Its open ground gives children room for running and games, and the playground has a soft surface. The preschool also has its own outside play area. Coats and wellies are part of the practical kit, making outdoor activity something families prepare for from the start.

Community events extend the experience beyond the preschool group. Across the academic year, activities include Washbrooks Farm trips with parents or carers and participation in the Newick Christmas Tree Festival. These involve families as well as children, offering a way to get to know other households through shared activities.

In June 2025, children visited a nearby care home and met doctors and nurses through themed activities. These encounters give children experiences to discuss and explore in play.

Relationships and Communication

Each child has a main key person who builds the relationship with the family, observes learning and plans what comes next. Termly developmental overviews give parents a regular point for discussing progress. Settling is planned individually, with the pace adjusted to the child rather than treating every start as the same process.

Families contribute information about what their child can do at home before staff establish starting points for learning. Tapestry, the secure online learning journal, then allows parents to see observations and add their own photographs and updates. That two-way record matters when a child behaves differently at home and preschool: both perspectives can inform the next activities and support.

Weekly email updates sit alongside parents’ evenings and twilight information sessions. Parents can also join the committee, which meets at least once each term.

Inclusion and Wellbeing

Support starts with the key person and the SENDCO discussing developmental concerns, then discussing next steps with the family. Parental permission is sought before outside assistance. Parents help write setting-based support plans, including ways to support learning at home. The preschool has both a SENDCO and a deputy, and works with EYSEND and CITES. Staff also use Dingley’s Promise training and resources for SEND provision.

At the June 2025 inspection, Ofsted found that specialist advice informed language support, referrals secured access to additional help, and extra funding had been used to add a staff member for inclusion.

The preschool recognises that some needs require a specialist setting and supports families in discussions with outside agencies where that applies. Its approach gives parents a process to work through, with observations, professional reports and family input informing decisions about support.

All staff have paediatric first-aid training. Operation Encompass, a partnership linking police and education settings, supports responses where children have experienced or witnessed domestic abuse or other adverse childhood experiences. A designated safeguarding lead is present on site or accompanies trips.

Moving towards school brings practical preparation for parents too. An annual Twilight Session in the first half of the summer term discusses the transition for children leaving that July, with Reception teachers invited to contribute. Reception teachers are also invited to visit during the summer term to meet children and discuss their interests and needs with key persons. The emphasis is on familiarity and information sharing.

Sessions and Attendance

The address is The Old Reading Room, 37 Church Road, Newick, BN8 4JX. Opening hours are 9am to 3pm, Monday to Friday during term time; the preschool closes for school holidays.

Morning sessions run from 9am to noon, afternoons from noon to 3pm, and Whole Day attendance from 9am to 3pm. Children must attend at least two sessions weekly. Morning attendance includes snack time, while afternoon children join lunch at noon. The choice therefore changes both the length of the day and the routines a child joins.

Sessions for the following academic year are allocated in the spring term, usually February or March, with priority given to children already attending who will remain the next year. Invoices are issued at the start of each term.

Funding and Paid Extras

The preschool accepts 15hr and 30hr funded places for eligible two-, three- and four-year-olds, delivered during term time. Eligible families using working-parent funding can use their full 30 hours here, with no restrictions on when funded hours are used within the preschool’s attendance arrangements. Unfunded hours can also be purchased; current prices come in the preschool’s written quotation.

There are no additional session charges for either funded or privately paid hours. Charitable donations and pledges are voluntary, kept separate from paying for attendance. The fees page explains the charge structure.

Parents supply the morning snack and a packed lunch for afternoon or whole-day attendance, so this food arrangement also applies to funded hours. Lunches need an ice pack even in winter; the preschool’s policy asks families to exclude nuts and products containing them and to disclose allergies.

Getting There

Roadside parking is permitted on the preschool side of the road, but space is tight and families are asked to keep the frontage clear. Walking is encouraged where practical, so the journey deserves attention alongside the session choice.

• A school-year timetable. Care ends at 3pm and stops for school holidays. Consider how the morning, afternoon or whole-day pattern fits the rest of your family’s week, including the two-session minimum.
• Registration starts with a visit. Book a show-around by email before completing the registration form. Use it to discuss how the individual settling plan would work for your child; continuing children receive priority in the next academic year’s session allocation.
• Individual support. Support plans involve parents, the key person and SENDCO, with specialist provision considered where needed. During the visit, discuss the adjustments and professional input your child would need, including arrangements for personal-care consumables.
• Food and allergies. Families provide snacks and packed lunches, and the policy excludes nut products. Allergy-affected families should confirm current handling arrangements, including baking and food-tasting activities.

Newick suits families seeking morning or afternoon preschool sessions as well as a whole-day option within the school-term calendar. Its strongest practical combination is a small whole-setting capacity, child-led and planned learning, shared communication strategies and regular use of the neighbouring park.

For parents wanting to participate, Tapestry contributions, committee involvement and family events provide several routes. The June 2025 Outstanding judgement adds weight to the choice, while the decision still turns on the timetable, packed-food routine and the support plan appropriate to the individual child.