Whittington Pre-School

Private woodland, gardens and a baby room capped at six give Whittington Pre-School a clear character: outdoor exploration alongside smaller spaces for the youngest children. Based at Whittington Barracks in Lichfield, this charitable setting reinvests in its provision and has 56 places in total. The room arrangements matter more than that headline number. Babies, younger toddlers and preschool children have different spaces, resources and routes into outdoor play.

At its June 2025 inspection, Ofsted rated the setting Good, judged safeguarding effective and found that children with special educational needs and/or disabilities made good progress through targeted support involving parents and other professionals. The detail behind that judgement included books used throughout the setting, imaginative water play and children exploring the woodland with adults nearby. Two teaching improvements remained: allowing the youngest children more thinking time and applying individual development targets consistently.

Full days, mornings and afternoons are offered, with a minimum weekly attendance requirement. Outdoor learning and practical independence give the nursery its strongest appeal; the attendance and funding rules deserve equal attention when deciding whether it fits family life.

Rooms and Ages

The Baby Room accommodates up to six babies aged six to 16 months, with resources selected around their interests and arranged so they can choose their own play. That small room cap is a useful measure for parents weighing the scale of their baby's daily surroundings. Staff aim to follow the routines families use at home, connecting care in the room with familiar habits.

For children aged 16 to 24 months, the Tweenie Room has a maximum of nine, combines child-chosen play with interest-based resources, and has a covered outdoor space overlooking the courtyard. This gives younger children contact with the activity of older children while retaining their own area. The Toddler Room, for ages two to three, accommodates up to 12 and connects a decked outdoor space to the rear garden, alongside opportunities to join forest school sessions.

Preschool accommodates up to 20 children aged three to four, emphasising independence and practical skills, with an adjoining outdoor area plus access to the nursery's two gardens and woodland provision. These are room capacities, rather than the number of children attending on any particular day. The progression is easy to understand: older children have increasing opportunities to manage everyday tasks and use several outdoor spaces.

Learning and Activities

The early years foundation stage provides the framework for learning, development and care: children's play supports communication, physical skills, relationships and early understanding of the world. Whittington adds its own curriculum, developed in 2023, with teaching intentions for the different age groups alongside activities shaped by children's interests. Its curriculum page connects these intentions with sensory exploration, independence and curiosity about nature.

The Hygge Wanderlust Nature Study programme is used alongside that curriculum. Sensory exploration and curiosity about the natural world are curriculum intentions. Reggio Emilia and Montessori also provide inspiration; the concrete practice here is the emphasis on children making choices and using resources in different ways. Adults introduce learning opportunities as well as responding to children's play. This gives parents something more useful to assess than the approach names alone: how an activity starts, what a child chooses and what an adult helps them learn.

In June 2025, a toddler water-play episode developed into an invented shark escape, with staff helping children think through their imaginary hiding place. Books also travelled beyond a single reading space: babies handled pages, while preschool children shared familiar stories with friends, including outdoors. These examples connect conversation, imagination and early literacy within play rather than presenting them as separate lessons.

Outdoor and Community Life

Forest School brings the woodland into the nursery day through practical exploration and supported risk-taking. Younger children dig, look for insects and turn natural materials into pretend wands; older children climb and practise moving along ropes fixed between trees. The activities give outdoor play a purpose beyond simply spending time outside, with children exploring what materials can do and judging how to move.

Private woodland and purpose-designed gardens provide the physical setting for this work. In June 2025, toddlers used outdoor equipment for crawling, balancing and climbing, while preschool children explored the woodland with staff close enough to help. The different room-level outdoor areas are also useful: the covered Tweenie space and the toddler deck create options alongside the larger gardens and woodland.

Relationships and Communication

For babies, continuity with home is an explicit part of the room's approach. Staff work with families' existing routines, while the baby curriculum includes attachment to a key person and comfort from a familiar object. These details put relationships and emotional reassurance alongside physical development, rather than treating settling as a separate hurdle before learning begins.

Famly connects parents with observations, photographs, messages and invoices. It also allows families to record collection arrangements, sign children in and out and request additional sessions. Keeping these tasks together gives parents a practical route for both everyday logistics and updates about their child. In June 2025, communication also included termly development reports and advice for extending learning at home.

School preparation includes emotional understanding as well as self-care. In June 2025, staff used stories linking feelings with colours to help preschool children discuss happiness and fear as they approached the move to school. That creates a way to talk about change before it becomes an immediate worry.

Inclusion and Wellbeing

The staff structure includes a setting SENCO, a designated safeguarding lead and a deputy safeguarding lead. All staff undertake paediatric first aid training, with refresher courses every three years.

Children typically move into Preschool in the term after their third birthday, with earlier moves possible when staff consider a child ready. Toilet training follows the family's lead, and children can move while still developing this skill, although Preschool has different changing facilities from the younger rooms. Daily preparation includes putting on shoes and coats, recognising belongings, washing hands, using child-sized cutlery and pouring drinks. These are practical steps towards doing more independently.

A nursery chef prepares the food, with menus refreshed each term and organised on a four-week cycle. Meals and snacks can be adapted for dietary needs and preferences, and the allergy arrangements include an individual plan developed with families.

Sessions and Attendance

Whittington opens Monday to Friday, from 7.30am to 6pm, throughout the year except bank holidays and a two-week Christmas closure. A full day runs from 7.30am to 6pm; mornings finish at 1pm after a 7.30am start, and afternoons run from 1pm to 6pm. These are distinct booking patterns, so the offer can accommodate a shorter session as well as a full day.

Children must attend for at least two days a week, or the equivalent in sessions. Term-time attendance is restricted to families whose parents are teaching staff. That condition matters for anyone planning around school holidays: it is a specific attendance arrangement rather than an option open to every family.

The August 2026 application update closed both new childcare applications and additions to the waiting list, with reopening tied to spaces becoming available. This is the relevant joining rule for families considering the setting.

Getting There

The address is Chester Road, Whittington Barracks, Lichfield, Staffordshire, WS14 9PY. The barracks location, private woodland and gardens are useful points of reference when considering whether this setting fits the family's regular route.

Funding and Paid Extras

Funded childcare is accepted, subject to eligibility. The 15-hour entitlement is offered, and qualifying term-time attendance can use up to 15 hours weekly across 38 weeks. The 30-hour entitlement is delivered only across the year, at a maximum of 22.5 hours weekly over 50 weeks. This makes the distinction between an entitlement's name and the weekly hours received important for budgeting.

No more than 10 funded hours can be used in one day, so a full-day booking also involves time beyond that daily funding limit. Additional private hours are offered. Families need a written quotation covering their chosen sessions and the way funding applies to them, rather than assuming an entitlement covers an entire attendance pattern.

Meals and snacks are included in session prices; families supply nappies, wipes and spare clothing. The sessions and fees page also sets out charges for ad-hoc hours, late collection and late payment. A deposit is required when a childcare offer is accepted and is credited against the final invoice when the child leaves. Monthly invoices arrive through Famly and must be paid within seven days.

• Applications, attendance and funding. The August 2026 rule closes new applications and waiting-list additions until reopening. For a future enquiry, weigh the minimum of two days or equivalent sessions against the morning, afternoon and full-day patterns. The 15-hour entitlement has differing delivery descriptions: 11.5 hours weekly across the year or a deduction of 15 hours each week. Obtain written confirmation of the weekly allocation applicable to your attendance pattern.
• Youngest babies. The Baby Room accommodates six babies and gives its age band as six to 16 months. At a future visit, ask how the starting age and room transition would work for your child, alongside continuity with home routines.
• Teaching consistency. In June 2025, staff sometimes asked the youngest children questions too quickly and supported individual development targets unevenly. Ask how staff now allow time for answers and build each child's next steps into everyday play.
• Allergy planning. Meals can be adapted and families work with staff on personalised plans. If your child has an allergy, confirm the current care plan, food checks and arrangements for introducing foods before attendance.

Whittington suits families who value woodland exploration, child-chosen play and a clear progression towards everyday independence, whether they need full days or morning and afternoon sessions. The six-baby room cap and separate outdoor areas make the physical arrangements easy to understand, while Forest School gives the outdoor offer concrete substance.

The June 2025 Good judgement sits alongside specific teaching improvements, rather than an unqualified endorsement. Attendance requires a regular weekly commitment, term-time places have an occupational condition, and joining is governed by the application closure. For families whose plans fit those rules, the combination of smaller younger rooms, gardens and practical learning is the strongest reason to consider it.