Dulwich Village Pre-School

Pirate ships, a vegetable garden and a bear whose adventures come back as stories give Dulwich Village Pre-School a recognisable character. Based at the Old Alleynian Club on Dulwich Common, this parent-run charity combines outdoor play with opportunities for children to explain, imagine and make things. Parents can help shape the setting through its voluntary committee. Participation reaches beyond fundraising.

At the 2 December 2025 inspection, Ofsted judged inclusion to be Strong standard, the other assessed areas to be Expected standard, and safeguarding standards to be met. That is a report card with separate judgements, rather than an overall grade. The clearest qualification concerns staff development: practitioners needed stronger support to sharpen their practice, including clearer purposes for group activities and better links between planned activities and individual children's next steps.

There are 30 places in total; children attending in December 2025 were aged two to four. Attendance is term-time, with morning and afternoon sessions and some flexibility over hours.

Learning and Activities

The Early Years Foundation Stage (EYFS) provides the required foundation: communication, movement, relationships, literacy and maths develop through play and conversation. The educational programme uses observations to plan each child's learning.

Dulwich Bear connects home and pre-school: children tell the group about their adventures with the bear, recorded in their Red Book. Show & Tell brings toys, photographs or books from home into conversation, giving children familiar subjects to discuss.

Theatre Tots adds drama workshops involving imagination, sensory exploration and creativity alongside the EYFS. Cooking classes include bread and sushi. Partner sessions are booked each half term.

Project examples include A Pirate Adventure, where a child's conversation inspired an obstacle-course journey and continued map-making. Butterfly Garden explored the changes from egg through caterpillar and chrysalis to butterfly, with artwork following their release.

In December 2025, play dough became an opportunity to connect a familiar gingerbread story with counting and mathematical vocabulary. Children also mixed paint to create the colour they wanted and discussed trains while building one. Everyday materials carried the learning. The weakness was in planning precision: staff were not consistently clear about what a group activity should achieve or how an activity advanced a particular child's learning.

Outdoor and Community Life

An enclosed playground provides a Wendy house, pirate ships, a slide, tricycles and water and sand tables. The vegetable garden adds something different: children plant and explore growing food, with crops including potatoes, runner beans and carrots. Produce is used in cooking with the children, connecting what grows outside with what they prepare indoors.

Green fields surround the setting. A gated veranda provides rainy-day outdoor space, and the typical routine includes supervised indoor and veranda play followed by garden or playground time.

Family events include Pumpkin Party, Easter Bunny Hunt, Summer BBQ and Sports Day across the year. They also support fundraising. For parents who enjoy taking part, these offer practical ways to contribute alongside committee membership and reading to the children.

Relationships and Communication

Settling begins with a parent or carer staying for the first session. Children choose a peg and use a name card, while simple clothing is encouraged so they can manage more for themselves. The approach allows for children who take longer to feel comfortable; settling is something families and staff work on together.

After approximately six weeks of assessment, parents can discuss targets with their child's key person or through Famly. Termly reviews and weekly app updates share progress, pictures and events; parents can respond, keeping the exchange ongoing.

Coffee mornings every few months and parent reading sessions offer ways to participate beyond the committee. News and reminders come by email.

Inclusion and Wellbeing

At the December 2025 inspection, Ofsted found effective joint work with parents and professionals on individual education plans, adaptations such as a quiet tent and a snack-time bell, and support using words from children's home languages. The practical detail matters: support involved changing activities and routines to suit a child, not simply identifying a need. Special needs co-ordinator roles provide a route for discussing individual requirements, and the team has experience of working with relevant professionals.

The High Scope approach to conflict resolution guides behaviour support: adults intervene calmly, recognise feelings, establish what happened and help children propose a solution. Follow-up support is part of the process. In December 2025, familiar songs helped mark changes in the routine, staff supported potty training with parents, and adults sat with children during eating. These were concrete arrangements for making transitions and growing independence manageable.

Families supply packed lunches; morning and afternoon snacks usually comprise fruit or vegetables and bread or crackers, with milk or water to drink, while the lunch guidance asks families to avoid foods containing nuts. This guidance concerns packed lunches.

Moving to Reception includes a transition report for the next school. Parents receive their child's profile, journal and completed work, and can download a transition report through Famly. The emphasis is on passing on useful knowledge about the child.

Sessions and Attendance

Standard morning sessions run from 9.30am to noon, Monday to Friday. Afternoon sessions are 12.45pm to 3.15pm, Monday to Thursday; Friday afternoons are closed. Lunch sits between the two, from noon to 12.45pm. For three- and four-year-olds receiving 30 funded hours, mornings begin at 8.45am.

Hours can be arranged flexibly, with an example of a child using 15 funded hours across three days from 9.30am to 2.30pm. That is an example of an arrangement, rather than a universal booking rule. The pre-school follows term-time attendance and a holiday timetable aligned with Southwark schools, so families need holiday care that fits around it.

Applications use a registration form and carry a non-refundable registration charge. The waiting list is ordered by birth, with siblings already attending potentially taken into account. A deposit is required after an offer and is returned when the child leaves if half a term's notice has been given. Fees are paid ahead of each half term and remain payable during absence.

Getting There

The address is Old Alleynian Club, Dulwich Common, London, SE21 7HA. A large car park serves the venue, giving families a practical option for collection and drop-off.

Funding and Paid Extras

Funded childcare is offered for two-year-olds and children aged three to four. The fees page sets out up to 15 hours for eligible two-year-olds, up to 15 hours for all three- and four-year-olds, and up to 30 hours for eligible three- and four-year-olds; those older children's funded hours begin in the term following their third birthday. A Working Parents Code must be submitted in the term before starting.

Private sessions are charged, with lunch attendance and an early morning start listed separately. Parents provide lunch food, so the lunch-session charge should not be mistaken for a meal supplied by the setting. Current prices come in the pre-school's written quotation.

• Planning and staff development. In December 2025, group-activity purposes and links to individual next steps needed greater clarity, while regular staff appraisals were not taking place. On a visit, ask how staff now review an activity's purpose and receive support to improve their practice.
• A term-time timetable. Morning and afternoon sessions serve different family routines, but Friday finishes after lunch and holidays follow the term pattern. Match the proposed attendance arrangement to work and holiday commitments.
• Funding and the full cost. Lunch attendance and an early start have separate charges, and families bring lunch. Ask which non-food consumables, if any, parents must supply or pay for alongside the proposed funded pattern.
• Settling and lunch needs. A parent or carer stays for the first session, and the packed-lunch guidance asks families to avoid nuts. Visits are arranged in advance on Monday, Tuesday or Wednesday mornings at 10am or 10.30am; use the appointment to discuss settling and any allergy requirements.

Dulwich Village Pre-School suits families seeking term-time mornings, afternoon sessions or a flexible arrangement of hours, with opportunities to participate in a parent-run setting. The garden, Dulwich Bear and drama and cooking sessions give children concrete subjects to explore and share. Its December 2025 report card gives inclusion the strongest judgement, while leaving a clear task around staff development and more precise activity planning. Families weighing it up should give those teaching questions as much attention as the attractive outdoor space.