The Early Bird Pre-School CIC

Drawings, gifts and visits shared with residents of St Catherine’s Care Home give Early Bird’s Letchworth setting a clear community character. Trips to Broadway Gardens, Standalone Farm and the library take learning beyond the pre-school too. These are concrete opportunities for children to meet people and explore places outside their immediate family.

The July 2024 judgement was Outstanding, recognising the carefully ordered curriculum and learning adapted to children’s interests and needs. That judgement belongs to the Letchworth setting at Lime Tree Childrens Centre, West View, rather than its sister settings.

There are 24 places in total. The current age offer runs from one to five years, with younger children accommodated in the Nest room. Morning, afternoon and full-day attendance sit within a term-time week, giving families different ways to organise care around their routines.

Rooms and Ages

Nest accommodates children from one year old; the team also includes practitioners working in the Fledgling room. The distinction matters for families considering an early start, because the current offer includes younger children than those attending at the July 2024 visit, when the age range was two to four.

The buildings are purpose-built for children and provide direct outdoor access, a group-wide feature. At Letchworth, a mud kitchen adds a practical setting for messy play with real resources.

Learning and Activities

The Early Years Foundation Stage (EYFS) guides learning, development and wellbeing: children learn through play, exploration and practical experiences, with adults responding to their interests. It is the shared early-years framework. Early Bird’s group-wide curriculum approach uses children’s development, home experiences and emerging interests to shape what happens next.

In July 2024, children investigated snails while adults encouraged careful handling and discussion of their appearance and texture. The activity connected observation with language and care for living things. Children had opportunities to choose what to explore, so their interests helped shape the teaching rather than merely supplying a theme for an adult-led task.

The garden supported storytelling as well as movement. In July 2024, children acted out a bear-hunt story, splashed through water and supplied missing words, while staff explained unfamiliar vocabulary. Balancing structures offered physical challenges, and floating rubber ducks became objects to observe and count. One outdoor space supported language, coordination and early mathematics.

At that visit, children experimented with colour and used mashers to make paint patterns, practising control of tools with staff guidance.

Outdoor and Community Life

St Catherine’s Care Home is an ongoing Letchworth relationship, with drawings, gifts and visits shared regularly. Broadway Gardens, local shops, the library and Standalone Farm are other destinations. These experiences give children reasons to talk about the wider world through people and places they can encounter directly.

The Letchworth summer programme in 2026 included a Duckling hatching experience and a visit to Shepreth Wildlife Park. Those were dated activities, rather than promises of the next programme. An outing is arranged each summer term, with advance information about costs and costs generally subsidised; annual Christmas and summer parties bring a request for a small contribution towards activities and crafts.

Relationships and Communication

A home visit before joining helps a child begin getting to know their key person in familiar surroundings. It also gives staff time to learn about family routines and interests. The key person then works with the family and helps guide the child’s learning, providing a continuing relationship across the move into pre-school.

In July 2024, settling sessions were tailored to individual children, and staff shared observations, assessments and next learning steps with parents. Everyday independence was encouraged too: children chose healthy snacks and helped cut fruit and vegetables. These were small, practical responsibilities, with adults supporting children to do more for themselves.

Learning journals are shared regularly, and Tapestry is the online journal used for parent communication. Conversations at handover, telephone and email contact, newsletters and parent evenings offer other routes into a child’s day. A welcome pack brings together information for new families, while borrowable home-learning resources extend activities beyond the setting.

Those resources include packs for fine motor skills, feelings, games and books, alongside a potty-training bag and book. Autumn treasure bags give older children an added challenge, such as finding an object with a particular texture.

Inclusion and Wellbeing

At the July 2024 inspection, Ofsted found safeguarding effective and reported that children with SEND were fully included through adapted sensory activities, making substantial progress. Water play and exploring sounds with utensils were examples of activities adjusted to individual needs. The finding concerns practice at that visit.

Letchworth has a SENCO role, with support that can include helping the key person introduce temporary interventions, coordinating with professionals and directing families towards outside agencies. Meetings can take place before a child starts or during their attendance. The staffing structure also includes designated safeguarding lead roles and practitioners with paediatric first-aid training.

Children receive snacks in both the morning and afternoon; a separate care charge contributes towards these, while families prepare lunchboxes under the pre-school’s lunchbox guide. Children also have opportunities to cook and help prepare snacks, linking food with practical learning.

Sessions and Attendance

The address is Lime Tree Childrens Centre, West View, Letchworth Garden City, SG6 3QN. Opening hours are 8am to 3.30pm, Monday to Friday, during term time. The term-time calendar is a central practical consideration for families whose working arrangements continue through school holidays.

Breakfast Club runs from 8am to 8.30am. Morning Session starts at either 8.30am or 9am and ends at 11.30am; Lunch Club at Letchworth follows from 11.30am to 12.15pm. Afternoon Session is 12.30pm to 3.30pm. Full-day sessions and flexible slots are also offered, alongside the shorter attendance patterns.

Joining begins with a registration form, with a paper version obtainable by email. Enquiries can be made through the contact form, selecting Letchworth, or through admin@earlybirdpreschool.co.uk. The office number is 01462 352643.

Funding and Paid Extras

Funded childcare is accepted, including 30 hours of support for eligible working families, universal support of 15 hours per week from the term after a child’s third birthday, and 15 hours for eligible supported families with two-year-olds. The working-family entitlement begins from the term after nine months, but Letchworth’s care offer starts at one year. Attendance is term-time.

For supported-family funding for a two-year-old, families must first obtain a local-authority code and provide it to the setting or enter it on the registration form; without that code, attendance is invoiced as unfunded. Private hours can be purchased where a child is not eligible for funding or needs hours beyond their entitlement. Current prices come in the nursery’s written quotation.

The Daily Care Charge contributes towards snacks, cooking and play-dough ingredients, wipes, sun cream and other consumables. Parents supply nappies and may also supply wipes if they prefer a particular brand. This charge applies alongside funded entitlement too; families who find paying it difficult are invited to discuss that difficulty with the setting.

Session fees and the care charge are billed monthly. Childcare payments are non-refundable and cannot be transferred. The fees and funding page sets out the structure, including outing costs and party contributions. Uniform is optional, so families can choose whether to buy it.

• Term-time timetable. The day ends at 3.30pm and attendance follows term dates. Families needing care through holidays or later afternoons should weigh that timetable against their working week.
• Starting in Nest. Children can join from one year, while the July 2024 inspection covered children aged two to four. On a visit, ask how the Nest day, rest arrangements and settling plan would work for your child.
• Costs alongside funding. The care charge covers contributions towards snacks and consumables, with nappies supplied from home and separate outing costs. A written quotation should distinguish childcare hours from these additional items.

Early Bird suits families seeking morning or afternoon sessions as well as full-day term-time attendance. Its strongest decision value lies in the combination of an Outstanding July 2024 judgement, practical play and real Letchworth community relationships. Home visits, key-person contact and borrowable learning resources give families concrete ways to participate. The early finish and additional charge structure deserve equal weight when deciding whether the arrangement fits.