Kiddiwinks Pre-school

Healthy eating has a practical place at Kiddiwinks Pre-school: children cook, choose snacks for themselves and learn about looking after their bodies. Based in Gillingham Methodist Church Hall, this preschool combines play with family involvement, including cooking demonstrations and opportunities for parents to contribute to their child's learning journal. Health education reaches beyond the children.

At its January 2024 inspection, Ofsted rated Kiddiwinks Good and found effective safeguarding, well-established SEND support and good progress from children's starting points. The important qualification concerned continuity of care: when a child's key person was away, the replacement arrangements did not consistently meet individual needs through an adult with whom the child had a secure relationship.

Kiddiwinks has capacity for 39 children and supports children from age two; those attending in January 2024 were aged two to four. Attendance is term-time only, with morning and full-day patterns plus an optional Breakfast Club.

Learning and Activities

The Early Years Foundation Stage (EYFS) provides the framework for care and learning, covering areas such as language, physical development and early mathematical understanding through play and planned experiences. Here, observations of children's interests inform daily planning, with adults and children contributing to what happens next. Children choose activities themselves, while practitioners also introduce experiences. That gives individual interests a place alongside adult guidance.

In January 2024, large creative activities gave children opportunities to practise bigger movements and handle resources independently. Pouring paint involved control as well as creativity. Books were accessible throughout the play environment, and children sought adults out to share favourite stories or find information. These examples connect physical skills and communication to activities children wanted to pursue.

Weekly cooking adds a concrete experience to the learning programme. It can take place during children's sessions, while family demonstrations and cooking together bring parents into the same work. The emphasis is on trying food and understanding healthy choices, rather than treating food education as a separate topic.

Outdoor and Community Life

Children can choose outdoor play through a free-flow arrangement, and wellies are available. In January 2024, the mud kitchen supported shared experiments with containers, while indoor play dough activities explored quantity and size. The outdoor space therefore offered more than exercise: it also gave children materials to investigate together.

With parental consent, short outings include local shops and the post office. A partnership with a local residential home extends that community contact, and trips take place in small groups. These are everyday settings where children can encounter people and routines beyond preschool.

Healthy Early Years is an award scheme recognising sustained work on food, nutrition and healthy living. Kiddiwinks' approach includes support for selective eaters, oral health and physical activity. In January 2024, a toothbrush display prompted conversations about brushing, and family cooking sessions addressed portions and preparing healthy food on a budget. The practical link between home and preschool is the useful feature here.

Relationships and Communication

Each child has a key person who works with the family and takes responsibility for a small group of children. Settling can include parents staying for several sessions until they feel their child is ready to remain independently; families are contacted if a child becomes unduly distressed. This makes settling a shared process rather than a single fixed handover.

Tapestry, the online learning journal, gives parents access to observations, photographs and videos. Families can add their own comments and examples of learning at home, helping practitioners understand interests that might otherwise go unseen. Weekly email updates also keep significant adults informed.

At the January 2024 inspection, Ofsted identified the need to strengthen care when key people were absent, so individual support and secure relationships continued through another adult. This is a specific limitation within the key-person arrangements, rather than a reason to disregard the system altogether.

Inclusion and Wellbeing

The team includes SEN support roles, a designated safeguarding lead and deputy, a cooking lead and mental health ambassador roles. The manager holds a BA (Hons) in Early Years Studies. These are identifiable responsibilities within the team; they do not replace the need to understand how support works for an individual child.

In January 2024, the SEN coordinator worked with families and key people on individual plans, monitored children and arranged referrals promptly. Staff also used visual cues to help children understand behaviour expectations, and created a suitable space for interests in climbing and throwing. The examples show support through practical adjustments as well as conversations with families.

Snack Bar lets children decide when to eat and choose their snack, making food part of social life and independence. Families provide packed lunches, with milk or water supplied at lunchtime; dietary needs should be shared with staff.

Toilet training is supported through the child's key person. Parents supply spare nappies, a change of clothes and, in summer, sun cream and a sunhat. Protective clothing for messy play is provided, so the home preparation centres on personal care and spare items.

Sessions and Attendance

Morning sessions run from 8.45am to 11.45am, and full days from 8.45am to 2.45pm, Monday to Friday during term time. Optional Breakfast Club runs from 8.15am to 8.45am. The morning pattern gives families a shorter preschool day; the full-day pattern carries attendance through the afternoon.

Funded attendance patterns include five full days for the 30-hour entitlement, or two full days and a morning for the 15-hour entitlement. Private morning and full-day sessions are also offered. Fees are payable weekly in advance and remain payable during illness or other absence.

Getting There

The address is Gillingham Methodist Church Hall, 100 Third Avenue, Gillingham, Kent ME7 2LU. Enquiries can be made through the contact form or by telephone on 01634 581304.

Funding and Paid Extras

Kiddiwinks offers the 15-hour entitlement for three- and four-year-olds, the 30-hour entitlement for eligible working parents of two-, three- and four-year-olds, and funding for other eligible two-year-olds. Delivery is term-time only. Eligibility remains a condition of funded attendance.

Packed lunches come from home, while snacks have a separate voluntary contribution, including for funded children; the contribution differs according to whether children attend for 30 funded hours or otherwise. Parents provide nappies and summer sun cream. Cooking has a separate donation towards ingredients and resources, and optional Breakfast Club is charged separately.

A refundable deposit is requested when a child joins. Current prices come in the nursery's written quotation, which should distinguish private sessions, Breakfast Club and the contributions associated with food and cooking.

• Continuity with another adult. January 2024 brought a specific concern about key-person absence. During a visit, ask how your child builds a relationship with the adult who takes over and how individual care needs are passed on.
• A term-time timetable. Morning and full-day attendance finish at 11.45am and 2.45pm respectively, with Breakfast Club providing an earlier start. These timings need to fit the family's working day and arrangements outside term time.
• Food and personal care. Packed lunches, spare nappies and summer sun cream come from home, alongside separate snack contributions and cooking donations. Families managing allergies should discuss current food handling and dietary arrangements before joining.
• Age at entry and moving on. Support begins from age two, while the January 2024 children were aged two to four. Ask how the attendance plan fits your child's age and intended time at preschool.

Kiddiwinks suits families seeking either morning preschool sessions or full-day term-time attendance, with an optional earlier start. Cooking, Snack Bar, community outings and Tapestry give parents concrete ways to understand and contribute to children's experiences. The January 2024 concern about cover for an absent key person remains the central care question to explore. For a family whose timetable fits, the appeal is practical learning with substantial parent involvement.