Acacia Pre-School

A cricket-pavilion hall, a covered patio and direct access to a fenced cricket ground give Acacia Pre-School a clear character. Indoor and outdoor play are connected parts of the day, with children choosing where to spend much of their play time. For families who value space to move alongside stories, singing and shared routines, that combination is the strongest reason to look closely.

Based at Malden Wanderers Clubhouse in New Malden, Acacia accepts children from 2 years to 4 years 10 months and has 50 places in total. At its October 2022 inspection, Ofsted rated the provision Good overall and judged safeguarding effective. That is a dated assessment, rather than a fresh judgement on today's practice.

Term-time attendance comes in morning and full-day patterns, with an earlier start and a lunch extension also offered. Monkey Music sessions and a parent-accessible learning journal add useful substance to the play-led offer. The important qualifications concern the attendance commitment and the October 2022 improvement points: recognising quieter children's need for help and making food education more meaningful.

Learning and Activities

The EYFS provides the foundation: children develop language, physical skills and relationships through play, alongside early mathematics, literacy, creativity and understanding the world. Acacia's learning programme puts conversation and adult guidance alongside children's own interests. Staff explain, demonstrate and set challenges, rather than treating free play as time detached from learning.

The youngest children begin with communication, physical development and social and emotional skills. These are practical foundations for joining games, expressing a need and managing a shared space. More complex learning builds on them, with practitioners using observations to decide what experience or support should come next. The emphasis is on development at the child's pace, rather than one identical task for everyone.

A shared morning song introduces the day's activities before children make their own play choices. Finding their name tag and recording their attendance gives them a small responsibility from the start. Later, circle time separates children approaching Reception from the younger group: the former share news, songs and a story, while the latter have rhyme time. This gives the shared routine different content for different stages.

Monkey Music adds sessions on Monday and Wednesday mornings, with participation offered to all children and no extra charge. Its concrete value here is the scheduled opportunity to join a music session alongside the ordinary singing in the day. It is an addition to the EYFS, rather than a replacement for it.

Outdoor and Community Life

The large hall opens onto a setting with outdoor green space, and the covered patio supplies another place for play. Acacia's physical activity arrangements allow children to move between outdoor and indoor activities whatever the weather, except during circle time and eating. Outdoor choice therefore belongs to the normal routine, rather than being reserved for a separate outing.

Children return outside after lunch before an afternoon of activities and play, and a shared story closes the day. This alternation matters: movement, independent choice and listening all have a place. Children also help clear away, making responsibility for the play space part of the routine.

Acacia's Golden Rules use kind hands, feet and words as a simple behaviour message. The language is accessible to preschool children and gives adults and families a common way to discuss how children treat one another. It sits alongside the practical work on sharing, taking turns and managing personal care that prepares children for their next setting.

Relationships and Communication

A key person assesses each child's progress every half term. Families receive the next steps and suggestions for supporting them at home through Tapestry Online Learning Journal, which holds observations, photographs, videos and assessments. Parents can comment and contribute examples from home too. That makes communication a two-way account of the child, rather than a stream of nursery updates alone.

For children joining at 2, a progress check takes place in their first term and is followed by a meeting with parents. The learning plans also recognise the emotional work of moving from a parent to a key person, with familiar adult comfort helping children manage their feelings. Settling is therefore connected to the child's relationships and development, rather than simply to attending a session.

At the October 2022 inspection, Ofsted found that monitoring learning and working with other professionals helped children with SEND and children learning English as an additional language make good progress from their starting points. The current inclusion arrangements involve cooperation between practitioners and the SENCo, while the SEND arrangements involve parents and external agencies. These are useful mechanisms for discussing a child's support needs, rather than a blanket promise about outcomes.

Inclusion and Wellbeing

Books, pictures and play resources are used to represent different families, languages and abilities. The inclusion procedures also support bilingual communication and signing, with parents involved in understanding children's identities. For a child whose home language or family experience differs from that of others, the practical aim is to make those differences part of ordinary learning and conversation.

Potty training receives direct adult help through regular toilet trips. Nappies are checked and changed when needed as well as at scheduled points in the day. School preparation includes managing clothing, using the toilet, listening and getting along with other children. Before departure, transition packs are sent to the receiving school or setting, carrying information forward rather than implying an admissions advantage.

Acacia received the Healthy Early Years London Silver award in June 2023, a scheme recognising work on children's health, development and wellbeing. Its food activities include growing food and preparing simple cold dishes such as sandwiches and fruit salads. Those experiences give children something concrete to handle and discuss, although they do not establish whether the October 2022 food-education improvement point has been addressed.

Sessions and Attendance

Morning sessions run from 9am to noon, and full days from 9am to 3pm, Monday to Friday during term time. Families must book at least three mornings each week. There are no afternoon-only sessions, so the pattern suits regular morning attendance or days extending through lunch and the afternoon.

Lunch Club extends a morning booking from noon to 1pm, while Early Bird runs from 8.30am to 9am for children attending that morning. Lunch Club can be covered by funding; Early Bird is charged separately and cannot use funded entitlement. The preschool operates for 38 weeks a year, so its calendar requires holiday arrangements outside those weeks.

Applications use an electronic form. September places are usually offered around mid-May, and a waiting list is maintained for possible spring or summer starts. Its ordering considers birth order and may also consider requested sessions, siblings attending and the setting's ability to meet a child's needs. An accepted offer leads to a welcome pack that must be returned before attendance begins.

Getting There

The address is Malden Wanderers Clubhouse, Cambridge Avenue, New Malden, KT3 4LE. The pavilion is a 5 minute walk from New Malden train station and the high street.

Funding and Paid Extras

Acacia accepts universal 15-hour funding, the working entitlement of 30 hours and FRAS 15-hour funding for eligible 2-year-olds, including children whose parents receive certain benefits, children receiving Disability Allowance and Looked After Children. Entitlements are delivered during term time over 38 weeks, within 9am to 3pm. Access depends on the relevant eligibility evidence and parental authorisation; working-entitlement codes must also be renewed.

Paid childcare is offered alongside funded hours. Snacks are included without an additional charge, while families supply packed lunches; Acacia's lunch guidance prohibits nuts and nut products and requires allergy information from parents. Other consumables carry no extra charge, but families provide sun cream for children staying all day so staff can reapply it after lunch.

Extra activities attract no additional charge, and any invited donations are entirely optional. There is no registration charge. Current prices for paid sessions and extensions come in the nursery's written quotation; booked paid sessions remain chargeable during sickness or term-time holidays.

A deposit secures an offered place and is returned in the final term if fees are settled or funding successfully claimed and at least half a term's leaving notice has been given. For funded places, it may be reduced or waived where payment would prevent acceptance. Changing funded hours or moving entitlement requires four calendar weeks' notice, while privately purchased hours require half a term's notice.

• Regular term-time attendance. The minimum is three mornings a week, with morning or full-day bookings and no afternoon-only option. Work through the weekly pattern and school-holiday arrangements before applying.
• Support for quieter children. In October 2022, some less confident children needed help that staff did not always recognise; food discussions also needed to explain more about how eating affects the body. On a visit, ask how staff now bring quieter children into activities and develop those everyday food conversations.
• Packed lunches and allergies. Families supply lunch, and the guidance prohibits nuts, prevents food swapping and asks for an allergy action plan where relevant. Confirm current allergy practice with staff; lunches also need an ice pack because they cannot be refrigerated or warmed.
• Joining and leaving terms. Offers involve a deposit and different notice arrangements for funded and private hours. During a visit, discuss the settling plan for your child and how those terms would apply to your proposed booking.

Acacia suits families seeking regular term-time morning sessions or full days ending at 3pm, especially those who value indoor-outdoor choice and clear communication about learning. The pavilion setting, Monkey Music and Tapestry give the offer recognisable substance. Its October 2022 Good judgement is useful context, with the support for quieter children and food education providing specific points to explore. The decision rests on how that everyday experience fits the child and how the attendance commitment fits family life.