St Oswald's RC Voluntary Aided Primary School

Warm relationships and close attention to communication define the strongest evidence for this term-time pre-school provision in North Cheam. Ofsted rated it Good in September 2024, with Good judgements in every graded area and effective safeguarding arrangements.

The current provider record covers children aged three to four and gives a whole-setting capacity of 78. The September 2024 snapshot concerned a smaller, mixed-age cohort, so its figures are not today's group size.

Personal, social and emotional development sat at the centre of the curriculum observed in September 2024. Staff learned children's favourite toys, offered reassurance when newcomers were unsettled and encouraged them to explore independently. Older children sought out friends and familiar play with enthusiasm. This gives the provision a clear starting point: emotional security first, then growing confidence.

Communication work was consistent and practical. Practitioners repeated children's words with accurate pronunciation and commented on play to extend speaking. For children learning English as an additional language, staff gathered key words from home languages so that communication had a familiar bridge. This supported progress towards children's next stage.

The Early Years Foundation Stage sets the areas of learning and development for the day. Here, those aims translated into circle-time listening, sharing and turn-taking, alongside physical play outdoors. A mud kitchen gave children who preferred outdoor learning a purposeful sensory activity, while balance bikes developed control and movement.

Settling was a visible strength in September 2024. Key staff comforted new children frequently and built positive relationships from the start. Praise was specific to what children could do, including sharing and taking turns, which helped children recognise successful behaviour rather than simply follow instructions.

Support for additional needs was responsive. When staff noticed that a child needed more help with learning, they promptly sought input from relevant professionals. Practitioners supporting children with special educational needs and disabilities also drew on training to develop their practice. Parent partnership also mattered: staff gathered important starting information and parents described the provision as family focused.

Leadership was judged Good, but there was a precise next step. Monitoring needed to do more to ensure every practitioner used knowledge of each child's next learning steps when planning. That distinction matters because the overall curriculum was well planned, yet practice was not equally exact across the team.

Safeguarding practice in September 2024 included induction for new staff and designated colleagues who could lead when senior colleagues were absent. A late notification about a committee change was corrected immediately, with no effect recorded on children or the provision's operation.

The provider's address is Brocks Drive, North Cheam, SM3 9UW. Its record describes sessional day care that operates in term time and closes for school holidays.

In September 2024, Monday to Wednesday ran as morning sessions from 08:50 to 11:50. Thursday and Friday ran from 08:50 to 15:30, with a lunch club during the middle of those days. These times describe that dated offer.

In September 2024, funded early education covered two-, three- and four-year-olds. The present age range and charge structure may have changed since then.

• Current timetable. The detailed pattern comes from the September 2024 inspection rather than a verified branch page. Ask whether the three morning sessions, two longer days and lunch club still operate on those times.
• Individual planning. The September 2024 improvement point asked leaders to check more closely that every practitioner planned precisely around each child's next steps. Families may want to ask how that monitoring now works in practice.
• Two different capacity figures. The current provider record gives capacity as 78, while the inspection recorded 34 places at the time of its visit. Ask the provider to explain the present organisation and typical number of children attending each session.

This is a Good-rated sessional provision whose clearest strengths are warm settling, purposeful language support and thoughtful inclusion. The September 2024 evidence gives real substance to those judgements, from home-language key words to outdoor mud and balance-bike play. The planning improvement point is meaningful rather than cosmetic, however, and deserves a direct conversation.

St Oswald's is best suited to families seeking term-time care built around morning sessions on some weekdays and longer sessions on others. It will appeal most where sensitive settling and communication support carry particular weight.