Abacus Pre-School

A packaway preschool in New Malden Methodist church, Abacus combines adaptable rooms with an upstairs hall and a garden. Its character is practical rather than elaborate: space changes with the day’s attendance, while a Learning Journey book connects children’s experiences at preschool with life at home.

Abacus has capacity for 52 children and caters for ages two to four. Ofsted rated it Good at its inspection on 20 May 2021. That is a dated judgement, rather than a description of every aspect of care today.

Morning and afternoon sessions are offered, with breakfast and lunchtime extensions. The main decision for families is how those shorter sessions fit their week, alongside the morning-only arrangement for universal funding.

Rooms and Ages

Morning provision uses two rooms on Mondays, Wednesdays and Fridays; on Tuesdays and Thursdays, children share one room. Afternoon sessions use the larger room throughout the working week. This matters when picturing a child’s experience: the room arrangement depends on the session and day, rather than following a fixed roster of named age-group rooms.

Access to a garden and an upstairs hall adds space for physical development. Those are useful complements to the preschool rooms, giving movement a place alongside quieter learning activities. The packaway model is also part of Abacus’s identity, rather than a detail to overlook when comparing premises.

Learning and Activities

The Early Years Foundation Stage (EYFS) connects learning here with language, physical development, relationships, early reading, mathematics, creativity and understanding the world. These are the areas through which children’s development is followed; the framework provides the common foundation, rather than an extra programme unique to Abacus.

The Learning Journey is a book celebrating a child’s development and achievements. It goes home each half-term, and children can contribute drawings, writing or photographs of things they enjoy. Families return it within a week so staff can keep adding to it. The book therefore has a specific role: it brings the child’s own interests into the account of their learning, rather than leaving communication entirely to adult conversations.

A historical example gives some colour to the activities. In November 2020, children marked Diwali by making decorated biscuits, chocolate rice cakes, diya lamps and rangoli patterns. This illustrates how a celebration was linked with making and creative work at that time; it is not a promise of a recurring event today.

A key worker supports each child and their family while the child settles. This gives parents an identified relationship during the adjustment to preschool, alongside the practical information collected through the All About Me form during admission.

For ongoing communication, parents can discuss development with their child’s key person. The half-termly Learning Journey adds something tangible to that conversation: families can see achievements, contribute material from home and help keep the book moving between preschool and family life.

The staffing structure includes a SENCO role and a safeguarding officer role. These describe arrangements and responsibilities; they should not be read as a current inspection judgement about their effectiveness. For a family considering additional support, the SENCO role is a concrete starting point for discussing how settling and learning would be organised.

Food arrangements are straightforward. Parents supply packed lunches, and Abacus’s policy requires lunches to exclude nuts and sweets; breakfast can be provided on request. Families using the lunch extension therefore plan and pack the meal themselves.

Sessions and Attendance

The address is 1 Cambridge Road, New Malden, KT3 3QE. Morning sessions are listed as 9am to noon, and afternoon sessions as noon to 3pm. A separate morning timetable gives different clock times, so the discrepancy needs resolving before a family fixes its routine.

Lunch Club extends a morning booking from noon to 1pm for children who are not attending a full day. Breakfast Club provides another separately paid extension, starting at 8.15am. These additions allow families to consider more than the basic morning or afternoon booking, while keeping the distinction between a preschool session and its extensions clear.

Attendance follows a term calendar with holiday breaks. Admissions operate throughout the academic year: families begin with an application, then complete registration and All About Me forms following an offer, with confirmation sent by email or post.

Funding and Paid Extras

Universal Funding is accepted for morning sessions only, under an arrangement introduced in September 2023. The entitlement described is 15 hours per week for children aged two and three. Paid sessions are also offered, and payment can be made through childcare vouchers or the Government’s Tax-Free Childcare Scheme.

Fees are billed by term, and booked sessions remain payable when a child is absent through illness or a term-time holiday. Smaller, more frequent payments can be arranged in exceptional circumstances. Current prices come in the preschool’s written quotation; the sessions and fees page explains the booking and payment structure.

A deposit applies to offered places, except two-year funded places. Its return in the child’s final term depends on fees being settled or funding successfully claimed, together with at least half a term’s leaving notice. This makes the notice requirement relevant to the deposit as well as to the family’s plans.

• Session clocks. The morning timetable gives 9.10am to 12.10pm, while the session list gives 9am to noon. Breakfast Club gives an 8.15am start. Resolve the morning-time difference before agreeing a booking.
• Morning funding. Universal Funding is accepted only for mornings. Families comparing afternoon attendance should weigh that restriction alongside the termly billing and payment for booked absences.
• Age and premises. An extension to children from 18 months is being prepared, and its interest form is not enrolment. A 15-minute Walk through tours appointment can be booked in advance on Wednesdays; use it to discuss the proposed younger-age provision and how the packaway rooms work.
• Lunch and allergies. Parents provide lunch under the preschool’s nut-free and sweets-free policy. Families affected by allergies should confirm how current practice handles their child’s requirements.

Abacus suits families seeking morning preschool or afternoon sessions, with breakfast and lunch extensions offering additional choices. Its adaptable rooms, hall and garden give the premises a clear identity, while the Learning Journey creates a practical connection between learning and home.

The balance is between that session-based offer and its conditions: universal funding is morning-only, attendance follows terms, and booked absences remain payable. The Good judgement from 2021 provides a dated inspection reference. For the everyday decision, the room pattern, key-worker relationship and session arrangements carry more immediate weight.