Poppets Pre School

Poppets Pre School is a 35-place sessional setting at St. Michaels Church in Welling. Its first graded inspection, in June 2025, judged it Good across overall effectiveness, education, behaviour and attitudes, personal development, and leadership and management. Safeguarding arrangements were effective.

The strongest thread is purposeful play. Inspectors found that staff knew children well, planned suitable next steps and helped every child make good progress from their starting points. Books, storytelling and language also had a prominent place.

Poppets works within the Early Years Foundation Stage (EYFS), the English framework that turns play, conversation and routines into learning across communication, physical development, personal development and early understanding of the world. Children manipulated dough while discussing shapes and colours, then used trial and error to build a tower from large bricks. These were simple activities with clear educational intent.

Staff joined play at children's level rather than directing it from the edge. Pirate play became a lesson in sharing, turn-taking and imagination, with practitioners joining races in the garden. Visits from police, firefighters and a dentist broadened children's understanding of safety, health and the wider world; families also shared celebrations, stories and songs in home languages.

Relationships were a clear strength in June 2025. Children settled quickly, understood the day's routine and were supported by staff who knew their starting points and next steps. Parents told inspectors that they were well informed and described progress in children's speech and language.

Support for children with SEND included early intervention and work with other agencies, helping to keep care, learning and development consistent. An open safeguarding culture centred on children's interests completed that picture.

The setting is based at St. Michaels Church, Upper Wickham Lane, Welling, DA16 3AP, and has capacity for 35 children. Families should request the current session pattern, accepted ages, funded-entitlement arrangements and a nursery-specific written quotation directly before applying.

• Large-group time. The June 2025 inspection found that registration and the move to the garden did not consistently meet every child's needs, with younger children struggling to participate for the full period. Ask how these shared routines have since been adapted for different ages.
• Attendance fit. This is sessional day care, but the available session pattern and clock times need checking directly. Families needing fixed working-day coverage should establish whether the timetable matches their week.
• Practical costs. Ask the nursery to set out funded-hours delivery and the current position on meals, snacks and non-food consumables in writing. That gives families a sound basis for comparing the total arrangement.

Poppets Pre School has the hallmarks of a warm, play-led setting where adults know children well and turn everyday activity into useful learning. The emphasis on books, imaginative play and outside visitors gives the experience character. The weakness in large-group organisation is specific rather than vague, and it is the point families should test on a visit.

This setting is best suited to families seeking sessional early-years care with strong attention to language, relationships and learning through play, provided its current timetable fits their needs.