Heathcot Pre-School

Playdough worked to music, movement linked to handwriting, and a staff team speaking several community languages give Heathcot Pre-School a clear character. Communication runs through both learning and family relationships. This Oldham setting combines practical early-literacy activities with individual support plans, a key person approach and daily outdoor learning.

At its 8 July 2022 inspection, Ofsted judged Heathcot Good overall and found strengths in children's speech, early writing and the partnership with parents. The improvement priority was mathematics: some number activities needed to stretch children further.

Heathcot has 40 places in total for children aged 24 to 60 months, at 78 Windsor Road, Coppice, Oldham, OL8 1RP. Morning, afternoon and full-day sessions run during term time. For families choosing between shorter attendance and a day spanning both sessions, that gives a useful choice within a preschool timetable.

Rooms and Ages

Caterpillars emphasises sensory play, early communication and physical development, with practitioners working around individual feeding, sleep and care routines. Butterflies concentrates on growing independence and preparation for the next educational stage through play chosen by children and activities guided by adults.

Across the day, stories and rhymes sit alongside creative work, movement and group activities. Children can use resources indoors and outdoors, choosing what to explore while practitioners observe their interests and plan what comes next.

Learning and Activities

The Early Years Foundation Stage (EYFS) is the shared early-years framework for learning, development and wellbeing: here, children work on communication, physical skills, relationships, early reading and number through play and everyday experiences. It is the foundation, rather than an extra programme. Heathcot adds several named activities with concrete purposes, detailed in its curriculum activities.

The Doodle Stick Literacy Programme connects movement with literacy and handwriting practice. Dough disco uses music and playdough, including squeezing, rolling and pressing with individual fingers, to exercise the small muscles used for pencil control. These activities connect movement and fine-motor practice with early writing skills.

BLAST works addresses listening, attention, turn-taking and language. Talking Table uses an adult's conversation and drawing, with interesting objects and different table coverings, to prompt children to talk. A table with pens, crayons or felt tips becomes a place for interaction as well as mark-making. The emphasis is on making conversation part of an activity children can join.

Transient art takes a different route into creativity. Children move and rearrange materials to explore shapes, patterns and designs, so a picture can change as an idea develops. Letter and sounds introduces phase-one work connecting sounds with letters.

In July 2022, children independently organised turns with cars on a track, remembered earlier treasure-map activities and used writing materials to make picnic lists. Those examples show how play could bring together cooperation, recall and early writing. Familiar routines also included songs about the calendar, linking language and everyday sequences.

Outdoor and Community Life

Outdoor learning is part of the daily routine. Children have opportunities to investigate nature, move physically and practise managing risks, with learning outside extending what happens indoors. For a child who engages through movement or exploration, the day therefore includes another setting for learning beyond table activities and group sessions.

Relationships and Communication

Each child has a key person who learns about their interests, development and individual needs, and works with their family. That relationship gives parents a practitioner with a particular understanding of their child, rather than leaving every conversation to start from the beginning. Face-to-face discussion, telephone and email sit alongside app communication.

The Famly App carries photographs, observations and learning updates, and allows families to send messages and contribute experiences from home. Attendance records, invoices and funding information are also accessible there. It connects everyday communication with practical administration, while giving parents material they can use to talk about their child's preschool day.

Staff languages include Bengali, Gujarati, Kashmiri, Pahari, Punjabi, Urdu and English. Practitioners also use Signalong to support communication and understanding. This matters for families who would welcome discussion in a community language, and for children whose communication benefits from an additional tool alongside spoken language.

Inclusion and Wellbeing

Two Special Educational Needs Coordinators work with families, practitioners and outside professionals. Support can include adapted resources, visual aids, targeted group work and individual next steps. Where appropriate, SEND Support Plans and 4+1 Reviews organise strengths, intended outcomes and strategies, giving families a structure for discussing what support is trying to achieve.

Professional links can include Speech and Language Therapy, Health Visitors, Occupational Therapists and Educational Psychologists. Heathcot can also help families with referrals, assessments and the Education, Health and Care Plan process where appropriate. These are mechanisms for arranging support; the important practical detail is that parents take part in planning and reviewing it.

At the July 2022 inspection, Ofsted found safeguarding effective and judged that individual planning, professional partnerships and additional staffing funded for SEND helped children make good progress. These findings belong to that visit. Current arrangements include regular observation of development, early discussion of concerns and communication with families about next steps.

Heathcot supplies snacks in both sessions, with drinking water and milk where appropriate; children staying for a full day bring a healthy packed lunch from home. Families are asked to communicate dietary needs, allergies and cultural preferences, so mealtime planning starts with information about the individual child.

Sessions and Attendance

Morning sessions run from 8.45am to 11.45am, afternoon sessions from 11.45am to 2.45pm, and full days from 8.45am to 2.45pm, Monday to Friday. Attendance is term-time, with closure during school holidays. The full-day finish is therefore a central consideration for a family's working day and collection arrangements.

Paid packages include two sessions on Thursday and Friday, three sessions from Monday to Wednesday, or five sessions from Monday to Friday, alongside a full-day option. The nursery's waiting-list form starts the joining process; the separate registration form is for children who have already been offered a place.

Getting There

The address is 78 Windsor Road, Coppice, Oldham, OL8 1RP. Enquiries can be made through the contact form, by telephone on 0161 284 8497 or by email at info@heathcotpreschool.co.uk.

Funding and Paid Extras

Heathcot offers 15 Hours Funded Childcare and 30 Hours Funded Childcare. Eligible children using the 30-hour offer may attend five full days, Monday to Friday, without an additional charge under that attendance arrangement. Children eligible for the 15-hour offer can purchase extra sessions, including packages spanning three or five full days.

Private childcare is also offered for children without entitlement to the funding described above. Current prices come in the nursery's written quotation; the fees and funding page sets out the package structure. Parents provide the full-day packed lunch, so planning attendance also means planning food from home.

• Age and room fit. Heathcot's overall age range is 24 to 60 months, while Caterpillars carries a 0–2 Years label and Butterflies a 3–4 Years label. At a visit, ask which class and routine would apply to your child's age.
• Mathematical challenge. In July 2022, some number tasks repeated learning children already understood. Ask how practitioners now extend mathematics for a child who is ready to move beyond familiar counting activities.
• Collection and holidays. Full days finish at 2.45pm and attendance is term-time. Families needing care later in the afternoon or during school holidays should weigh those boundaries against their usual commitments.
• Support in practice. SEND Support Plans, 4+1 Reviews and Signalong are part of the support offer. A visit is an opportunity to discuss how these would apply to your child, including settling arrangements and any current allergy requirements.

Heathcot suits families seeking morning or afternoon sessions as well as full-day preschool attendance during term time. Its strongest practical appeal is the combination of named language and writing activities, a key person relationship, multilingual communication and structured additional support. The Famly App gives families another route into the child's learning and daily experience.

The July 2022 quality judgement is positive, with mathematics the clear development point. For parents, the decision rests on how the room arrangement fits their child's age and how the 2.45pm finish fits family life. Those details deserve as much weight as the learning programmes.