Teddybears Preschool

A water wall, vegetable growing and play shaped around children’s interests give Teddybears Preschool its character. Based at St Michaels Mount Community Centre in Hitchin, it combines the space of a large hall with an outdoor area equipped for active, messy and imaginative play. This is provision for children aged two to rising five, with capacity for 45 children overall.

At its September 2024 inspection, Ofsted judged Teddybears Good overall and across education, behaviour, personal development and leadership. The practical detail behind that judgement matters more than the label: children experimented with water, helped younger companions and used stories to explore feelings. Those examples belong to September 2024, but they give parents a useful picture of the preschool’s approach to learning and relationships.

Opening hours run from 8am to 2pm on Monday, Tuesday and Wednesday, and from 8am to 1.30pm on Thursday and Friday.

Rooms and Ages

Caterpillar Group serves children aged two to three, while Butterfly Group covers ages three to five; both organise play around children’s interests and development. These are age-based groups, rather than a promise that every child follows an identical sequence of activities. The wider offer accepts children from two to rising five.

The large hall has designated spaces for construction, dressing up, crafts and small-world play, alongside a Book corner and home play area. Activities change daily. That gives children different ways into play: a child drawn to building can choose construction, while another can explore familiar routines through pretend domestic play.

Learning and Activities

The early years foundation stage sets the framework for children’s learning, development and care. In everyday terms, learning happens through play and conversation as children develop communication, physical skills and relationships. Here, child-led activities sit alongside experiences organised by adults, with each key person planning around their children’s individual learning needs.

An Enhancement Board brings those plans together to extend children’s interests. It is a planning tool, rather than a separate curriculum. Water, wet and dry sand, shaving foam and natural materials add sensory experiences to the hall’s activity areas, giving children materials to explore as well as toys to use.

In September 2024, animal play linked several kinds of learning: children used tweezers to pick up toy animals, then compared their sizes. A pretend airport prompted discussion of flags, countries and traditions. Books also led into conversation about emotions, with older children explaining situations that made them happy, angry or sad. These examples show how one interest can become an opportunity for language, hand control or understanding other people.

Outdoor and Community Life

The outdoor area includes a mud kitchen, sand pit and water wall, with opportunities to grow vegetables. There are also ride-on cars and bikes, slides and a climbing frame. The variety matters: outdoor time can involve making, experimenting and planting as well as physical play.

Musical instruments and parachute activities extend the choices outside, while books, puzzles and construction resources support quieter play. During summer, umbrellas and play tents are used in the garden. Outdoor provision therefore carries several kinds of activity, rather than being confined to climbing and riding.

Relationships and Communication

Every child has a key person responsible for tracking development, keeping written records and maintaining contact with parents or carers. Settling begins with information gathered through a home visit and an understanding of the child’s starting points. This makes the relationship personal before staff begin planning the next steps in learning.

A learning journey book receives monthly additions and goes home when the child leaves. Termly progress discussions give families time to look through it with staff. Monthly stay-and-play sessions and termly key-person consultations offer further opportunities to discuss the child’s experience, while questionnaires provide another route for parent feedback.

In September 2024, staff used home-visit information to make favourite toys accessible as children settled. Families also received learning bags adapted to their child’s needs. These are concrete examples of continuity between home and preschool, rather than parent communication being limited to updates about the day.

Inclusion and Wellbeing

An on-site SENCO provides a named support role for children with additional needs. At the September 2024 inspection, Ofsted found safeguarding effective, identified timely work with other professionals to support children with special educational needs and/or disabilities, and found that signs, visual prompts and props supported communication, including for children learning English as an additional language.

Health learning was practical in September 2024: a discussion about dental care led children to brush model teeth. Younger children also ate lunch earlier to reflect their needs. Current safety arrangements include controlled building procedures, monthly fire drills and a policy file that parents and carers can access. These describe the arrangements in place; the dated safeguarding judgement remains the inspection’s assessment.

Sessions and Attendance

The address is St Michaels Mount Community Centre, St Michaels Road, Hitchin, SG4 0QA. Opening hours are 8am to 2pm from Monday to Wednesday, with a 1.30pm finish on Thursday and Friday. Those earlier finishes are a central consideration for families organising care around work.

In September 2024, the preschool operated during term time. Enquiries can be made through the contact form, by email at teddybearspreschool1@gmail.com or by telephone on 07582 016 125.

Funding and Paid Extras

Funded early education is offered. The universal entitlement described is 15 hours from the term after a child turns three. Working parents of three- and four-year-olds may qualify for another 15 hours, giving 30 hours funding, subject to conditions.

Funding for two-year-olds is also offered, including 15 hours for eligible working parents, subject to conditions. These distinctions matter: the preschool’s participation in funding and a particular family’s eligibility are separate questions. The age of the child and the relevant conditions determine which entitlement applies.

• Protecting absorbed play. In September 2024, transitions sometimes stopped children from continuing activities they were deeply involved in. Ask how routines now allow them to finish or return to that play.
• Early finishes. Thursday and Friday close at 1.30pm, while the other weekdays close at 2pm. Match those times against the care your family needs beyond preschool.
• The funded-place quotation. With several age-dependent funding routes offered, ask for a written quotation explaining the attendance arrangement and how meals and non-food consumables are handled for your child.

Teddybears suits families seeking preschool play for children from two to rising five, with early starts and early afternoon finishes. Its strongest practical attractions are the varied hall activities, substantial outdoor choices and a key-person relationship supported by home visits, learning records and regular parent sessions.

The September 2024 judgement gives it a Good inspection position, while the interruption of absorbed play provides a specific point to explore. For parents whose schedule fits the opening hours, the combination of interest-led planning and regular contact offers a clear basis for considering it.