Noah's Ark Pre-School

A vegetable garden, weather experiments and a play space that opens directly outdoors give Noah's Ark Pre-School a practical, exploratory character. Based at Loxley Community Centre in Werrington, it welcomes children from two and a half years to school age and has 34 places in total. This is a setting for children ready to play, talk and investigate alongside others.

At its June 2022 inspection, Ofsted rated the pre-school Outstanding and praised teaching that extended children's understanding through conversation and play. The examples were concrete: dinosaur books became starting points for new vocabulary, while an obstacle course became the setting for an invented adventure. That judgement is dated; the current outdoor space and activities give families a separate picture of what children can do here now.

Morning and afternoon sessions run on weekdays, with a term calendar and funded or privately paid attendance. Parents can also participate in the committee that helps run the pre-school, giving family involvement a practical role beyond conversations about their own child.

Learning and Activities

The Early Years Foundation Stage (EYFS) provides the framework for children's learning and care: play and activities develop language, physical skills, relationships and early understanding of subjects such as number and literacy. Activities are matched to children's stage of development, and staff use developmental stages and early learning goals to track progress and plan what comes next. The useful distinction is between having activities to choose from and adapting those activities to the child.

Inside, natural light and a large play space support construction, painting, puzzles and imaginative play. Stories and music sit alongside opportunities to make marks and create things. Children can move between different ways of exploring an idea, rather than relying on a single type of activity.

Senses and Autumn is a themed sequence combining exploration of sight, sound, touch, taste and smell with seasonal change. Hands-on experiences introduce vocabulary, followed by attention to autumn colours and weather. It connects language with things children can observe and handle.

In June 2022, children used reference books during dinosaur play to explore differences between species and learn words such as extinct. Staff also helped children build shared stories through playdough, using the things they made as story props. These examples show the mechanics of the teaching at that time: an adult joined an existing interest and gave it more language, information or structure.

Outdoor and Community Life

Direct outdoor access matters here because the outside area is used throughout the year. A vegetable garden sits alongside surfaces of grass and paving, with both movable equipment and fixed pieces. Painting, construction and stories can happen outdoors as well as inside, so the space serves more than energetic play.

Weather becomes something to investigate. Children watch ice melt, use wind sticks to explore wind direction and experiment with shadows; they also think about clothing and sun protection in response to the conditions. Bikes, scooters, balls and stepping stones bring balance and coordination into the same space. The combination gives children opportunities to test ideas and practise movement.

In June 2022, community outings included collecting leaves and conkers and listening to a librarian tell stories. Back at the pre-school, real vegetables appeared in shopping play and the mud kitchen, while planks, pallets and crates became an obstacle course. These are examples from that period, rather than a promise of today's outing schedule.

A key-person system gives families a consistent relationship with a practitioner, and staff work with parents to understand individual care needs. There is also a SENCo role within the team. That provides a specific contact for discussing special educational needs, rather than leaving families to identify whom to approach.

At the June 2022 inspection, Ofsted found safeguarding effective and judged the key-person arrangements highly effective in helping children and families settle. In June 2022, preparation included home visits, a photograph of the child's key person and information about the routine; families also received videos of their child playing. The combination made the people and daily pattern familiar before and during the transition.

In June 2022, staff used visual cards showing routines and gathered words and phrases from parents for children learning English alongside their home language. This linked communication at home with communication at pre-school. Children who were less confident about imaginative play were given a role to help them participate, a concrete example of adapting an activity to the child.

Current staff arrangements include child-protection training and first-aid certificates. The team also includes training in mental health, wellbeing and emotional coaching. These describe preparation and roles; the dated safeguarding judgement remains the inspection assessment.

Parents can stand for election to the committee and help organise fundraising. The Annual General Meeting takes place each October, with parents invited to participate in adopting policies and supporting the coming year. This will appeal to families who want a role in the organisation as well as their child's experience.

Sessions and Attendance

Morning sessions run from 9am to noon, and afternoon sessions from noon to 3pm, Monday to Friday. A lunch period runs from noon to 12.30pm. The afternoon therefore begins at the same time as the lunch period, an important detail when discussing how a child's attendance will work.

The term calendar includes half-term breaks and a summer break. Loxley Community Centre also serves as a polling station during elections, so the building's other community uses are relevant to family planning.

Stay to Play is a separate parent-and-child session on Friday mornings from 9.30am to 10.30am, for children aged one to four. Its younger age range should be distinguished from the pre-school's main intake, which starts at two and a half.

Getting There

The address is Loxley Community Centre, Lincoln Road, Werrington, Peterborough, PE4 5BW. Enquiries can be made by telephone or email, and a visit-booking route is provided.

Funding and Paid Extras

Funding includes support for eligible two-year-olds, the universal entitlement of up to 15 hours for three- and four-year-olds from the term after their third birthday, and an additional criteria-based 15 hours that can bring the total to 30. Funding can be shared with another provider, and the funded entitlement carries no additional charges.

Private sessions are offered when a child is ineligible for funding or when a family chooses to use their funding elsewhere. Families should obtain current prices in the nursery's written quotation; the fees and funding page explains the different funding and private-payment arrangements.

• Joining sessions together. The afternoon starts at noon and overlaps the lunch period. At a visit, ask how lunch and handover work for a child attending across both sessions, including how meals and everyday consumables are arranged.
• The shared community building. Loxley Community Centre is also an election polling station. Ask how election use affects the attendance calendar before arranging work around term dates.
• Settling now. Home visits, key-person photographs and family videos formed part of settling in June 2022. Ask which of those arrangements will support your child when they start.

Noah's Ark will suit families seeking morning or afternoon pre-school sessions, with outdoor investigation and opportunities to become involved through a parent committee. The vegetable garden, weather experiments and direct outdoor access give its day a recognisable character. The Outstanding judgement from June 2022 adds weight, while its age threshold and term calendar are the practical factors to match against family needs.