The Villages Childcare

Weekly Forest School, cooking and yoga give this rural preschool a clear character: children learn through practical activity, with plenty of room for movement and growing independence. The Villages Childcare occupies a purpose-built building beside Leigh and Bransford Memorial Hall in Leigh Sinton. It takes children from 21 months to school age and has 24 places in total.

At its May 2023 inspection, Ofsted rated the provision Good, with a curriculum organised around confidence, independence and preparation for school. The main improvement point concerned making better use of opportunities to deepen learning during conversations and activities. That is a useful distinction for parents: the provision had clear educational direction, but staff interactions could take children's thinking further.

Care is term-time only, with full-day, morning and afternoon bookings. The combination of shorter attendance options, a rural outdoor setting and sign-supported communication makes this a practical choice for families seeking preschool experience rather than holiday cover.

Learning and Activities

The Early Years Foundation Stage provides the framework for children's learning and care, including learning through play and planning around their development. Here, the daily routine turns that framework into recognisable experiences: phonics and maths activities, cooking, stories with props, singing and games involving numbers. Planned activity sits alongside time when children choose their own play.

Independence runs through ordinary tasks. Children identify their names, exchange outdoor footwear for slippers and choose what they would like at the snack bar. Pouring a drink and discussing food give them practical responsibilities as well as reasons to talk. These are small tasks with a clear purpose: children practise doing things for themselves throughout the day.

Cooking takes place weekly. Cooking includes washing vegetables, stirring and spreading; older children also measure ingredients and use safety knives for peeling and chopping. The activity brings together hand control, quantities and taking turns, rather than treating food preparation as a demonstration for children to watch.

In May 2023, sound work included dressing as characters and connecting them with sounds, while families helped children gather objects linked to a particular sound. Activities were adjusted for different stages of development, and children sometimes worked in older and younger groups. The improvement point was to make follow-up questions and extensions to learning more consistent. For parents, the useful question is how an enjoyable activity becomes a more demanding one when a child is ready.

Outdoor and Community Life

Forest School adds weekly hands-on learning in a purpose-built outdoor area. The garden also contains a large sandpit, a role play house and equipment for climbing and balancing. A bridge, planting space and an area for wheeled vehicles create different reasons to move, explore and experiment. Children can also use the large field.

Weekly Yoga sessions involve structured poses and balancing. Alongside the larger physical equipment and outdoor play, this gives children another way to practise movement and become aware of how their bodies work. The value lies in the activity itself; it need not depend on broad promises about its effects.

In May 2023, outdoor provision included a water wall, bird feeding and a quieter place to look at books outside. Children also explored nearby countryside on walks. That dated picture complements the current emphasis on outdoor play, while keeping the earlier observations separate from today's routine.

Festivals and Cultural Celebrations introduce children to traditions within their own families and to those of other cultures. Community activity has a practical side too: the preschool runs a weekly children's clothes swap shop and raises money for charitable causes. Families can take part in a shared local life as well as their child's learning.

Relationships and Communication

Each child has a key person responsible for tracking their progress. Key persons also help children settle into the day. That gives families a clear relationship around which to organise conversations about their child's experience, rather than relying only on general updates.

Tapestry is the online learning journey used to collect observations, photographs, videos and diary entries, with contributions from parents or carers. Those observations inform the next steps in learning, and the child's learning journey is kept by the family when they move on to school. Monthly newsletters are shared through Tapestry and on the outdoor noticeboard, giving parents both individual information and preschool news.

In May 2023, children's starting points were assessed so that activities could respond to their needs from the outset. Next steps were reviewed each term and displayed on the room wall. Families were also given ideas for continuing learning at home. Together, these arrangements linked what staff were planning with what parents could do beyond preschool.

Inclusion and Wellbeing

Signalong is a communication system that supports spoken language with signs. All staff are trained in it and adapt key-word signing to the child's level, combining speech with gestures, expression and tone. This is a concrete communication mechanism, especially relevant to families whose children have language or communication difficulties.

The manager holds the SENCO and designated safeguarding lead roles, and the team includes staff with early years qualifications extending to degrees. At the May 2023 inspection, Ofsted found effective safeguarding and excellent support for children with SEND, including individual planning, specialist involvement and one-to-one help where needed. These are dated findings, alongside the current communication arrangements.

Lunch is eaten together by children and staff, with conversation and opportunities to practise self-help. When children move to school or another nursery, a transfer record is prepared, helping the receiving setting understand their learning and development.

Sessions and Attendance

The address is Leigh and Bransford Memorial Hall Site, Sherridge Road, Leigh Sinton, Worcestershire WR13 5DE, beside the memorial hall and scout hut. Opening hours are 8am to 4pm, Monday to Friday, during term time. Attendance runs across 38 weeks of the year, so the preschool calendar needs to fit the family's arrangements for school holidays.

Paid bookings cover a full day from 8am to 4pm, a morning from 8am to 12pm or an afternoon from 12pm to 4pm. Families can therefore choose shorter sessions as well as the complete day. Funded session windows are also set out as 9am to 3pm, 9am to 12pm and 12pm to 3pm, although another set of funding terms gives a broader window. This matters when matching entitlement to the hours a family needs.

Fees are paid at the start of each month, and payment continues during absence for illness or holidays. A half-term notice period applies to children leaving; separate funded-place terms require a term's written notice. These conditions affect the cost of changing arrangements even when the weekly booking itself is straightforward.

Funding and Paid Extras

Funded early education is offered, including 15 hours for three- and four-year-olds from the term after their third birthday and 30 hours for eligible working parents with children over 21 months. Delivery is term-time, and additional hours beyond the funded entitlement are billed separately. Current prices come in the nursery's written quotation; the fees and session terms explain the booking structure.

Snacks and drinks sit within a separate voluntary resource contribution, which families can decline and supply the requested resources themselves. Non-food consumables, including resources for health and hygiene, are covered by the same voluntary arrangement, alongside cooking ingredients, gardening materials and Forest School resources. These are optional contributions alongside funded hours, rather than a condition of using the entitlement.

Preparing a funded claim involves a parental declaration and supporting documents, including proof of the child's birth and the family address. Where entitlement is shared with another setting, the preschool must be told. This makes the funding administration part of joining, rather than something to leave until attendance has begun.

• Funded attendance windows. The funded-session terms give 9am to 3pm and shorter morning or afternoon options, while other funding terms allow hours between 8am and 4pm. Agree the funded booking in writing before arranging work around it.
• Leaving and changing arrangements. General terms require half a term's notice, while funded-place terms require a term in writing. Establish which notice period applies to the proposed booking.
• Learning beyond the activity. The May 2023 improvement point concerned extending children's thinking more consistently. A visit can explore how staff now adapt questions and activities when a child is ready for greater challenge.
• Settling and communication. Visits can be arranged by telephone. Use the appointment to discuss how the key person and Signalong would support your child's first sessions, especially if communication is a concern.

The Villages Childcare suits families wanting either morning or afternoon preschool sessions, or a full day within a term-time calendar. Weekly outdoor learning, cooking and yoga give the week substance, while key-person support and Tapestry connect families with children's development.

Its strongest practical appeal is the combination of active learning and concrete communication support. The Good judgement dates to May 2023, and the associated improvement point remains a useful topic for a visit. For families using funding, settling the attendance window and notice terms in writing is the main practical step before committing.