Charterhouse Pre-School

Separate classrooms for younger and older children, direct outdoor access and basic French for children approaching school age give Charterhouse Pre-School a clear character. Play supplies the starting point; conversation, practical tasks and growing independence shape what children do with it. Purpose-built classrooms beside The Highway Primary School provide the setting for this sessional preschool in Orpington.

At its February 2026 inspection, Ofsted awarded Strong standard judgements for achievement, inclusion, and leadership and governance, with Expected standard for curriculum and teaching, behaviour and routines, and welfare and wellbeing; safeguarding standards were met. That is a mixed profile with specific strengths, rather than a single overall grade.

Charterhouse accepts children aged 2 to 5 and has 59 places in total, a whole-setting capacity rather than a classroom size. Children join younger or older groups according to their future school intake. Morning and afternoon sessions, plus a lunch club, make attendance a matter of choosing a session pattern.

Rooms and Ages

The Younger Class has a large main classroom with smaller adjoining rooms, while The Older Class combines its main classroom with an adjacent quiet room. Separate spaces give the age groups their own base, and the additional rooms offer an alternative to the main activity areas.

Both classes have direct access to fenced outdoor space, including covered tarmac, a lower tarmac area and grass. This provides different surfaces for outdoor play, with some shelter as well as open space. Indoors, construction materials, imaginative play, books and creative activities give children several ways to participate during a session.

Grouping follows school intake year, rather than a simple birthday threshold, and children generally spend a year in each classroom. That makes the older group a stage in preparation for the next setting. Children approaching school age also have time for more individual learning, including early number work, language and basic French conversation.

Learning and Activities

The Early Years Foundation Stage (EYFS) provides the framework: children learn through play, developing communication, movement and relationships alongside early literacy, mathematics and creative expression. Activities are adjusted around children's interests and needs. The framework is the foundation of the day; French conversation adds a specific experience for the older children.

Circle time gives children practice in listening, waiting for a turn and joining songs or rhymes, while story time closes the morning. These shared routines sit alongside choices such as dressing-up, puzzles and creative work. Musical sessions include movement, so participation extends beyond listening to music.

In February 2026, staff used games to stretch children's vocabulary and taught counting, measuring and comparing quantities through activities. Ball play gave toddlers opportunities to practise coordination. These examples show how everyday play carried learning: a game could involve new words, a physical challenge or a problem involving numbers.

The same month's garden activities included exploring insects and taking part in litter-picking. Outdoor time also occurred in the morning before more concentrated learning later. This linked discovery with practical responsibility, rather than treating the garden solely as somewhere to expend energy.

Relationships and Communication

A key person monitors each child's development, drawing on observations made across the staff team. Those observations inform daily planning and the child's individual profile. Parents receive termly summaries and can discuss progress with a key worker or manager, connecting what happens during sessions with conversations at home.

The Age 2 Progress Check takes place before a child's third birthday. Termly Summary Sheets include space for parents to contribute information, so reporting has an opportunity for a response. A newsletter and timetable each term also outline the theme, festivals and relevant dates, helping families understand the activities their child talks about.

Inclusion and Wellbeing

A Special Educational Needs Co-ordinator (SENCo) coordinates SEND practice. Needs are assessed before a child starts, and parents take part when Individual Education Plans are prepared or reviewed. One-to-one support is provided when needed, while visual timetables offer a concrete aid to understanding the day.

Indoor and outdoor facilities are wheelchair accessible, with disabled toilet facilities. Support also involves outside services, including Speech and Language Therapists, the Early Years SEN Inclusion Team (SENIF) and Griffins Sensory Support Service. These are practical mechanisms for adapting participation and bringing specialist advice into planning.

In February 2026, Ofsted found that adapted teaching and targeted language work supported children with SEND, while identifying two next steps: more consistent support for attention throughout the day and broader experience of healthy foods. The distinction matters: learning support earned praise, but routines and food experiences still needed development.

Policies cover settling, medication, safeguarding and diet, and families can read or discuss them with help where needed. These provide a basis for discussing an individual child's arrangements. They sit alongside the key-person system and pre-start assessment, rather than replacing those personal conversations.

School transition includes meetings and visits from primary-school staff. For children with SEND, arrangements can also include a visit to the next school and meetings involving parents and the receiving SENCo; written SEND records transfer with parental permission. This gives the next setting information about support already in place.

Sessions and Attendance

The address is c/o The Highway Primary School, The Highway, Orpington, Kent, BR6 9DJ. Charterhouse occupies its own purpose-built nursery classrooms adjacent to the primary school. The shared location should not be read as a promise of progression: preschool attendance does not guarantee a Reception place, and families apply through the local authority admissions process.

Morning sessions run from 9am to noon. Afternoon sessions run from 12.30pm to 3.30pm, subject to the day and age-group question below. A lunch club begins at noon; its finish time also needs clarification.

Families can email charterhouse.br6@gmail.com for information or to register a child on the waiting list. This is an established enquiry route and waiting-list process; it gives no indication of how many places are currently free.

Funding and Paid Extras

Free Early Education Funding is accepted when children are eligible, and private fees are payable at the start of each term. Families should obtain current prices in the preschool's written quotation. Funding and paid attendance need to be considered together when choosing a pattern, rather than assuming that eligibility settles the whole cost.

Leaving before the usual primary-school intake term requires a term's notice, given by the first day of term, or fees instead. The timing matters for families considering an earlier move: the notice deadline is tied to the beginning of the term, rather than simply the intended last day.

• Afternoons and lunch club. Two session descriptions conflict: one limits afternoons to Thursdays for older children, while the other gives afternoon times with no day or age restriction. Lunch club finishes at 12.30pm in one description and 1pm in the other. Confirm which afternoon arrangements apply to your child and when their lunch club would finish.
• Funding and departure terms. Funding depends on eligibility, and an early departure carries a term-based notice requirement. For your proposed funded sessions, how are meals, non-food consumables and any additional hours treated in the written quotation?
• Routines and food experiences. The February 2026 next steps concerned attention across the day and experience of more healthy foods. Ask how pre-mealtime routines and opportunities to try foods have developed.
• The two classroom stages. Placement follows school intake year, and additional needs are assessed before starting. During a visit, discuss the likely classroom, settling arrangements and how any visual or individual support would work for your child.

Charterhouse suits families seeking morning preschool sessions or afternoon attendance where the day and age-group arrangements fit their child, with a lunch-club option starting at noon. Its separate classroom stages, French conversation for older children and direct access to sheltered and open outdoor spaces give that sessional model substance. The SEND arrangements also provide concrete routes for assessment, parent involvement and specialist input. Balance those strengths against the February 2026 priorities around routines and healthy-food experiences, and settle the afternoon and lunch arrangements before choosing an attendance pattern.