Shiny Stars Pre-School

Weekly story sacks, daily playdough-making and a garden with a mud kitchen give Shiny Stars Pre-School a recognisable character: books travel home, children help make their own play materials, and outdoor exploration has proper space. This Peterborough setting takes children from age 2 up to school age. Its multicultural character runs through the learning, with home experiences brought into play and a multilingual team supporting relationships with families.

At its June 2025 inspection, Ofsted rated Shiny Stars Outstanding and found safeguarding effective. The practical appeal is equally clear: an enclosed outdoor area, activities shaped around children's interests, and a key person who works with parents on each child's needs. Morning, afternoon and full-day sessions run during term time.

Learning and Activities

The early years foundation stage sets the requirements for children's learning, development and care. Here, that means learning through play across areas such as communication, physical development, relationships and early mathematics, with activities adapted to children's needs and interests. The curriculum and sessions page brings the learning approach and attendance patterns together.

Reading Culture links books at preschool with reading at home: story sacks go home weekly for children to share with parents. This gives families a concrete activity to continue together, rather than simply a reminder to read. Messy Play includes water, sand and mud, while children help make playdough every day. Making the material is part of the experience, alongside using it.

Interest-Led Adventures extends children's interests into the community through visits to shops, the library and museum, alongside bus trips and visits to churches and mosques. These experiences connect play with places beyond preschool. No single destination defines the approach; the useful thread is the connection between what interests children and what they explore next.

In June 2025, children used chairs to create a pretend bus and gathered materials to repair it. Staff added vocabulary during play and helped children distinguish between familiar ideas, including hands and arms. The detail matters: conversation happened within something children were already doing, rather than being separated into a language exercise.

Outdoor and Community Life

The garden provides several kinds of activity in one space. A mud kitchen and sensory boards support exploratory play, while swings, climbing frames and a trampoline give children opportunities to move. Outdoor play continues through changing weather, including puddle-jumping in rain and playing in snow. Families should expect outdoor activity to be a regular part of preschool life.

Growing food adds another connection between activity and daily routines. Children plant seeds, care for what grows, and taste harvested fruit and vegetables at snack time. That makes the garden more than somewhere to expend energy: children can follow a process from planting to eating.

In June 2025, outdoor play included a track where children steered balance bikes and cars around one another. Elsewhere in the day, children poured drinks and spread butter on toast themselves. Those small practical tasks gave them opportunities to practise coordination and manage everyday actions independently.

Relationships and Communication

Each child has a key person who works with parents to understand their needs and interests and helps them settle. Settling days are planned with families, so the starting arrangement can take account of the individual child. The key person gives parents an identified practitioner to work with on their child's needs and interests.

Home experiences also shape the preschool day. The multilingual team works with families, and activities are shared with parents. In June 2025, children could use books in their home languages, while familiar objects in pretend domestic play connected preschool with family life. Staff also gave parents manageable ideas for continuing learning at home. These are practical ways to make the connection between the two settings useful.

Inclusion and Wellbeing

At the June 2025 inspection, Ofsted identified SEND support as a strength, including transition plans, help for parents with paperwork and home strategies, and training linked to individual children's needs. This is the strongest evidence for how additional support worked at that point: it involved planning and practical help, rather than a general promise of inclusion.

The current staff structure includes special educational needs coordination and safeguarding lead roles. Enrolment discussions cover a child's needs, and families provide relevant medical or allergy information. These arrangements give parents clear subjects to address before a child starts, especially where care requires an individual plan.

Moving towards school also received attention in June 2025. Staff had links with a local school to help transitions, and children with SEND left with plans to support the next stage. The useful point is continuity of support, with information and preparation carried forward as children move on.

Sessions and Attendance

Shiny Stars operates during term time at Neighbourhood House, 30 Cromwell Road, Peterborough, PE1 2EA. Its morning session runs from 8.45am to 11.45am, the afternoon from 12.15pm to 3.15pm, and the full day from 8.45am to 3.15pm, Monday to Friday. These are different booking patterns, so families can choose between part-day attendance and a day spanning both sessions.

A lunch session runs from 11.45am to 12.15pm. Extending a morning or afternoon booking to include the lunch session attracts an extra attendance charge. That distinction matters when comparing the overall cost of different attendance patterns.

Joining involves an enrolment form, a discussion of the child's needs, a review of policies and funding, and agreed settling days. Required information typically includes proof of date of birth, emergency contacts and relevant medical or allergy details, alongside funding information where applicable.

Funding and Paid Extras

The preschool offers 15 and 30-hour funded places alongside paid sessions. Attendance is term-time, and funding options are discussed during enrolment. Families should use a current written quotation when comparing paid attendance with their funded arrangement, including any lunch-session addition.

• Term-time attendance. Morning, afternoon and full-day patterns are offered during term time. Families needing care through school holidays should weigh that calendar alongside their working arrangements.
• Lunch between sessions. Adding the 11.45am to 12.15pm lunch session to a morning or afternoon booking attracts an extra attendance charge. Compare the complete booking pattern, rather than the session alone.
• Settling and individual support. A visit can explore how the key person will plan settling days for your child. For children with medical, allergy or additional support needs, use that discussion to establish the individual support arrangements and how food is handled.

Shiny Stars suits families seeking morning or afternoon preschool attendance as well as a full day during term time. Its strongest character comes from the combination of community outings, weekly reading activities shared with home, and hands-on outdoor play. The June 2025 Outstanding judgement gives the overall assessment a firm foundation, while the detail about language, everyday independence and transition planning makes it useful to parents. The key decision is how its term-time session pattern fits family life.