Weavering Pre-School

Guinea pigs, a mud kitchen and practical number games give Weavering Pre-School's December 2022 nursery day its character. Based at the village hall in Weavering, Maidstone, children attending in December 2022 were aged two to four.

Ofsted rated the pre-school Good at its 5 December 2022 inspection. The main improvement point concerned staff questioning: children needed more opportunities to think through answers and take their learning further.

In December 2022, children learnt about caring for living things by preparing vegetables for the guinea pigs, helping feed them and discussing warmth in winter. This gave responsibility a practical purpose. Counting activities included matching objects with numbers, connecting early mathematics to things children could handle and see.

The early years foundation stage sets the framework for children's learning, development and care. Here, the December 2022 activities connected that framework with play: tongs exercised small hand movements, while a big climbing frame offered opportunities to practise climbing and movement outdoors.

Outdoor play formed part of each child's daily routine that December. The mud kitchen brought cooperation into imaginative play, with children sharing the task of mixing pretend cakes. Indoors, the home corner supported make-believe cooking and familiar domestic roles.

The December 2022 animal-care activities also made room for conversation. Preparing food for the guinea pigs led children to talk about their own favourite foods and healthy choices. Children reminded one another to handle the animals gently. Looking after pets brought together practical jobs, consideration for living things and discussion about what animals need, rather than leaving nature as an abstract topic.

Physical activities that December worked at different scales. Handling objects with tongs demanded controlled hand movements; running, jumping and climbing offered larger movements outside. Spoons and bowls in the mud kitchen gave children tools for their pretend cooking. These examples show how physical practice could sit within activities children wanted to pursue, alongside opportunities to negotiate turns with friends.

Number work in December 2022 included counting picture dots as well as matching a quantity to a numeral. The distinction matters: children were practising both counting and the connection between a written number and a collection of objects. Home-corner play offered a different kind of rehearsal, with children acting out the preparation of a Christmas meal.

At the December 2022 inspection, Ofsted found safeguarding effective and children, including those with special educational needs and/or disabilities, making good progress through carefully planned learning.

During that month, staff assessed children's development and used their observations to plan subsequent activities. Parents received everyday feedback and emails each term, giving them both immediate updates and a longer view of learning. Questionnaires also gave families a way to contribute ideas.

In December 2022, assessment linked knowledge of the individual child to the next activities staff planned. That gives the planning process a clear purpose: recognising what a child can already do and deciding what to introduce next. Communication ran alongside it, with daily exchanges and termly messages providing different opportunities for parents to understand their child's learning.

Team development that December included supervision and colleagues observing one another's practice. Staff could raise training requests, which management considered and arranged when needed. This provided a route for developing practice, although the questioning improvement point remained material: having training arrangements and consistently extending children's thinking are separate considerations for families.

Staff training, checks of activities and environmental risk assessments were part of safeguarding arrangements in December 2022. These are dated findings rather than a present-day assurance.

The address is The Village hall, Weavering Street, Weavering, Maidstone, ME14 5JP.

In December 2022, opening hours were 9.30am to 1.30pm on Mondays, 9.30am to 2.30pm on Tuesdays, Thursdays and Fridays, and 9.30am to 12.30pm on Wednesdays, during term time. At that time, the pre-school received funding for free early education for two-, three- and four-year-olds.

• Extending children's thinking. December 2022's improvement point concerned questioning and interaction. During a visit, ask how practitioners now give children time to explain ideas and explore answers.
• Fitting care around the week. The December 2022 timetable had different finishing times across the week and operated in term time. What attendance arrangements would apply to your child now?

Weavering suits families drawn to the practical play, animal care and outdoor activity described in December 2022. Its December 2022 strengths were concrete: children counted, climbed, cooperated and helped care for pets. Families considering a term-time pre-school should weigh that character alongside the dated finding that staff questioning needed further development.