Welland Pre-school

A mud kitchen, a Quiet Room and a weekly Forest School session give Welland Pre-school a clear character: outdoor exploration sits alongside space for quieter play. This independent charity welcomes children aged two to five in Welland, with no catchment requirement. It has capacity for 24 children. Parents also have a role in how it runs, with current parents making up most of its trustees.

At its July 2023 inspection, Ofsted rated the provision Good, while recording a failure to notify a significant staffing and management event that had not affected children's health, safety or wellbeing. That combination matters: the positive judgement comes with a specific leadership concern, rather than an entirely clean assessment.

Morning and afternoon attendance, full-day care and a Breakfast Club give families several ways to use the setting during term time. Its appeal rests on the combination of a village setting, practical independence and parents' involvement in both children's learning and the charity's governance.

Rooms and Ages

Children can begin from age two, and nappies are accommodated. The limit of 24 children per session applies to the whole setting.

The Quiet Room provides reading, puzzles, conversation and play in small groups or individually, with iPads also available there. Elsewhere, the home corner supports imaginary tea parties and visits to a doctor or vet, while construction materials become bridges, roads and animal enclosures. These are different ways into play: a child can build, take a role or spend time on a quieter activity.

Paint, sand and play-dough support creative play. Counting resources and jigsaws encourage comparison and matching, while name cards help children recognise their written names. Programmable toys introduce technology.

Learning and Activities

The Early Years Foundation Stage organises learning through play across language, physical development, relationships, early reading and mathematics, creativity and understanding the world. Here, children's interests help shape the activities and resources, with themes generally lasting half a term. Animals, stories and seasons are examples of subjects that can connect different parts of the day.

Children wash up after snacks, help with equipment and contribute objects to a topic display table. These tasks give them practical responsibilities and something of their own to discuss with others.

In July 2023, group discussions included the weather and a letter of the week, and children voted for their next book. Storytelling also extended into the garden, where children acted out a familiar story. These examples show how conversation, listening and movement were brought together during that inspection period.

Outdoor and Community Life

Forest School is a weekly Thursday-morning session built around children's own exploration, with practitioners observing their interests and shaping support around their developmental needs. It adds a regular opportunity to choose, investigate and experiment outdoors alongside the broader play programme. The Thursday timing is useful for families considering which sessions to book.

Forest Fun is the natural area with a mud kitchen and opportunities to grow vegetables. Children can use the outdoor play space for much of both the morning and afternoon sessions, so outdoor time extends beyond the weekly Forest School session. The adjacent Spitalfields also supports supervised group games and physical activities.

Relationships and Communication

A two-hour settling session lets parent and child meet the key person and discuss needs and interests. Staff recommend trying an hour apart. Parents can attend further sessions according to their child's response, allowing separation to develop gradually.

An All about me form gives staff information about the child and family before attendance begins. Each child has a key person, providing a consistent point of contact for parents as well as someone responsible for following their development. Formal and informal observations sit alongside information families share about play and interests at home.

Tapestry, the online learning journal, records photographs, observations and comments about children's experiences. Parents receive their own login and can use the app to receive notifications of new entries; the manager checks entries before they are saved.

Inclusion and Wellbeing

A Special Educational Needs Co-ordinator works with parents to identify additional support, and resources and plans can be adjusted for individual needs. Staff use signing, puppets and visual prompts as communication tools. Those are concrete arrangements for discussing and responding to a child's needs, rather than a blanket promise about suitability.

At the July 2023 inspection, Ofsted judged safeguarding effective and found attentive SEND support involving the coordinator and other professionals, but identified younger, quieter children who were not fully involved in learning, with prolonged dummy use hindering communication. This is the main qualification to the account of daily learning: participation was uneven for some children.

In July 2023, preparation for school included practising everyday independence, such as opening lunch boxes, alongside transition days and information shared with teachers. The emphasis was on helping children manage the change and understand what came next. Transition work is useful preparation; it should be read as support for the move, rather than an admissions advantage.

Sessions and Attendance

The address is The Pavilion, Spittlesfield, Marlbank Road, Welland, WR13 6NE. Attendance follows school term time, with school holidays outside the operating calendar. Families therefore need an attendance plan that works around the holiday breaks as well as the weekly session pattern.

Morning sessions run from 09:00 to 12:00, lunch from 12:00 to 13:00, and afternoons from 13:00 to 15:00. Full-day care is also offered. The general minimum is two sessions each week on different days, intended to support settling through repeated contact with the setting. That minimum matters for anyone seeking just an occasional preschool session.

Breakfast Club runs from 08:30 to 09:00 and includes cereal or toast in its session charge. Children attending lunch bring a packed lunch, while morning snacks can include vegetables, fruit, yogurt and crackers. Lunch therefore requires preparation at home, rather than relying on a cooked meal supplied by the setting.

Families return the application form by email to join the waiting list. A contact form also accepts enquiries.

Funding and Paid Extras

Universal NEF hours, two year old funding and 30 hours funding are accepted, with the latter two subject to eligibility. Attendance is term time. Additional hours beyond a child's funded allocation are charged privately, so funding and the full cost of a chosen attendance pattern need to be considered separately.

Parents supply nappies, sacks, wipes and spare clothing each session. Invoices arrive by email at term start, with payment due within 14 days unless the finance department has authorised a payment plan.

Current prices come in the preschool's written quotation. The admission and rates page sets out the funding and payment structure, while the learning and activities page explains the play programme and learning journal. Childcare vouchers can also be accepted by arrangement.

• Participation for quieter children. In July 2023, some younger children spent time apart from learning activities, and dummy use limited communication. During a visit, ask how staff now identify children who need help joining in and how support is agreed with parents.
• Leadership notification duties. In July 2023, leaders had failed to notify Ofsted of an event affecting staffing and management. The notification action was due by 18 August 2023; children's wellbeing had not been affected. Ask how responsibility for these notifications is organised now.
• Term-time attendance. Morning and afternoon sessions serve different schedules, but the usual minimum is two sessions on separate days and holidays sit outside the operating calendar. Consider both the weekly commitment and the holiday arrangements your family needs.
• Thursday outdoor learning. Forest School takes place on Thursday mornings, alongside outdoor access during other sessions. Ask what clothing children need and how the outdoor session is adapted for your child's needs when discussing attendance.

Welland suits families seeking morning preschool, afternoon attendance or full-day care during term time, with Breakfast Club adding an earlier start. Its concrete attractions are easy to identify: regular Forest School, a natural play area, a quieter indoor space and a learning journal that connects parents with children's experiences.

Parent trustees give families a role in the charity's governance. Outdoor play and gradual settling are attractions, balanced against the July 2023 concerns about quieter children's participation and leadership notification duties. The term-time calendar and minimum attendance must fit family life.