Haughley Pre-school & The Pit Stop Out of School Club

A plank turned into a balancing beam and wooden houses became settings for pretend play: practical, cooperative learning gives Haughley’s pre-school its character in the November 2022 account. Based at Haughley Village Hall, it has 24 places in total.

At its 21 November 2022 inspection, Ofsted rated the provision Good, found safeguarding effective and judged that children were progressing well. Children attending then were aged two to four. A later regulatory finding matters alongside that judgement: an Ofsted outcome dated 2 February 2024 recorded that the provider had failed to notify it of a significant event.

In November 2022, children helped one another construct a balancing beam, compared towers by height and explored autumn materials, including conkers and leaves. These examples connect physical play, mathematical language and discovery rather than treating learning as a separate seated task.

The early years foundation stage is the statutory framework for children’s learning, development and care. Here, the November 2022 examples show those strands meeting through play: building involved solving problems, while investigating a worm led to discussion of its habitat and reference to creature photographs.

Outside, children used cars and trikes to practise movement and turned a wooden house into an imaginary ice-cream shop. Indoors, staff demonstrated another construction method when a tower repeatedly collapsed, then let children attempt it themselves. The adult contribution was specific, with space left for children to experiment.

In November 2022, children sought comfort from staff, shared books with them and asked for resources they wanted. Staff planned the next learning steps for their key children and shared those plans with colleagues, allowing different adults to contribute.

Everyday routines also gave children opportunities to practise independence. During that month’s visit, they served their own drinks, selected snacks and cleared their dishes; staff encouraged them to attempt coats and shoes before helping. At lunch, adults ate alongside children, introduced vocabulary and used gestures to help children who were not speaking understand language.

Termly developmental reports went to parents in November 2022. However, staff were not continuing to collect information about children’s experiences at home, limiting what informed planning. This was the specific improvement required, and it makes the flow of information from home an important consideration alongside updates sent to parents.

Haughley Village Hall, The Folly, Haughley, Stowmarket, Suffolk IP14 3NS is the setting’s address.

In November 2022, attendance was during school terms, Monday to Friday. Sessions ran from 8.30am to 3pm on Mondays, Tuesdays and Thursdays, with an earlier 1pm finish on Wednesdays and Fridays. Those arrangements offered different lengths of preschool day, rather than a single attendance window.

During that same month, the pre-school provided funded early education for children aged two, three and four.

• Attendance pattern. The November 2022 timetable combined longer sessions on three days with earlier finishes on two. Which session patterns and ages does the pre-school currently accept?
• Information from home. In November 2022, learning plans were missing continuing input about children’s experiences at home. Discuss how your observations would contribute to your child’s next steps.
• Notification finding. The 2 February 2024 outcome recorded a failure to notify a significant event. Families should discuss that finding and the arrangements for reporting such events; the outcome does not establish subsequent completion of corrective action.

The November 2022 picture suits families seeking play-based preschool education, with both longer term-time sessions and shorter days. Cooperative construction, outdoor movement and practical independence give that account substance. The parental-information improvement and February 2024 notification finding deserve equal weight when considering the setting today.