Somerville Pre-School

Play, parent communication and a tennis-club setting give Somerville Pre-School its character. Based at Chadwell Heath Tennis Club in Romford, it has 24 places in total and accepts children aged two to five. The emphasis is on children exploring their interests, developing independence and sharing their discoveries with adults who know them.

At its November 2021 inspection, Ofsted rated Somerville Good and judged safeguarding effective. That is a dated judgement, rather than a description of every aspect of care today. The most useful detail beneath it is the combination of imaginative construction, physical play and individual attention, alongside an improvement point about making group activities work for each child.

Term-time attendance includes morning, afternoon and six-hour sessions. This gives families different ways to fit preschool into their week, rather than a single attendance pattern.

Learning and Activities

The Early Years Foundation Stage shapes the day through play and linked areas of learning, including language, physical development and early mathematics. Activities draw on children's interests, with opportunities both to choose their own direction and to learn with an adult. The framework is the educational foundation here; the practical detail lies in how children use it.

Books, rhymes and conversation support language development. Children hear unfamiliar words and have opportunities to try them in different situations, while counting activities build their understanding of number. Art and craft materials give them another way to explore ideas. For a parent, this means early learning takes several forms rather than depending on children sitting through formal lessons.

In November 2021, construction play involved solving concrete problems: a toy elephant would not fit inside a building, so children worked out how to enlarge it. Another activity used building blocks to make somewhere for bears to hibernate. These examples show the value of a task with something to work out, rather than simply something to finish.

The limitation in November 2021 concerned larger group activities. Some were insufficiently tailored to the children taking part, reducing what individual children gained from them. Planning group experiences around different learning needs was the required improvement. That distinction matters: engaging independent play and effective group teaching are separate parts of a preschool day.

Outdoor and Community Life

A garden supports exploration of nature, and indoor and outdoor games develop movement, coordination and balance. The physical setting therefore contributes to learning as well as giving children space to play.

In November 2021, outdoor experiences included tricycles and wobbly tyres that children balanced across before jumping. A pretend road also gave staff a practical way to teach crossing safely. These were hands-on exercises in movement and judgement, with children trying challenges and learning how to manage them.

Local-community walks are part of the current outing arrangements. Parents give advance consent for these walks, while journeys involving transport require separate permission. This keeps a clear distinction between neighbourhood exploration and a trip further afield.

Relationships and Communication

Tapestry is the online learning journal used to share photographs, observations and reports prepared by a child's key person. Parents can contribute their own pictures and comments, bringing experiences from home into the conversation. That makes communication a two-way exchange rather than just a stream of updates from preschool.

In November 2021, children settled readily into play and received individual attention from staff. Parents also received ideas for supporting learning at home. These dated examples give substance to the relationship between staff, children and families, while the current Tapestry arrangement provides a concrete means of maintaining that exchange.

The admission form asks about home languages, medical needs, regular medication, allergies and dietary requirements. It also seeks consent to pass assessment records to a child's next school or nursery. These are useful starting points for continuity: staff have information about the child before attendance, and learning records can accompany the next move.

Inclusion and Wellbeing

At the November 2021 inspection, Ofsted found that individual support plans, developed with parents and other professionals, helped children needing additional support make good progress, including children with SEND. The current staff structure includes a Special Educational Needs Co-ordinator and a deputy, alongside lead and deputy safeguarding roles; staff have paediatric first-aid training.

Photographs and video can also contribute to Quality Improvement in Learning and Teaching, a scheme through which material is shared with Redbridge Local Authority. The consent arrangements distinguish this use from sharing beyond the setting for other purposes. Families therefore have specific decisions to make about how their child's images are used.

Sessions and Attendance

The address is Chadwell Heath Tennis Club, Hainault Road, Romford, RM6 5RX. Opening hours are 7.45am to 4pm on weekdays during term time.

Set bookings comprise a morning session from 9am to noon, an afternoon session from 1pm to 4pm, and a six-hour session from 9am to 3pm. Flexibility for working parents is also offered. The opening window is longer than the six-hour booking, so those two arrangements should be kept separate when planning attendance.

Enquiries can be made by telephone or email, and an application form gathers the child's details and permissions. The form separates local outings, photographs, video, online sharing and transition records, allowing parents to make decisions about each use.

Funding and Paid Extras

Both privately paid and funded places are offered within the term-time operation. Funding includes eligible two-year-olds, universal provision for three- and four-year-olds, and the extended 30-hour entitlement for eligible three- and four-year-olds. Childcare vouchers from different schemes are accepted. Eligibility conditions still apply to the relevant entitlements.

Snacks are provided during the morning and afternoon; parents supply a packed lunch when their child stays over lunchtime. Current prices come in the nursery's written quotation.

• Group learning. The November 2021 improvement point concerned adapting group activities to individual needs. On a visit, ask how staff now organise these activities for children at different stages.
• Term-time timetable. Morning, afternoon and six-hour bookings serve different routines, but attendance follows term time. Consider how that calendar fits your family's childcare needs.
• Packed lunch and dietary needs. Parents provide lunch, and the admission form collects allergy and dietary information. Allergy-affected families should confirm current handling arrangements before attendance.
• Settling into the group. Individual attention helped children settle in November 2021. Ask how the settling process would be arranged for your child today.

Somerville suits families seeking morning or afternoon preschool sessions, as well as those wanting a six-hour term-time day. Play-led learning, garden exploration and Tapestry communication give its offer practical shape. The dated Good judgement provides a useful quality reference, while the group-learning improvement point deserves a specific conversation. The strongest fit is a family comfortable with the term-time calendar and providing a packed lunch.