Stepping Stones Pre-School

A sensory room, a parent-run committee and an independent speech and language therapist give Stepping Stones Pre-School a clear character: this Tilehurst setting combines play with practical support for communication and relationships. Its own garden and enclosed outdoor area add room to move. The appeal is concrete, especially for families who want care organised around familiar adults and their child's individual needs.

Children aged two to four attend, and there are 60 places in total. At its January 2023 inspection, Ofsted rated the provision Good and judged safeguarding effective, while identifying improvements needed in the organisation of learning spaces and partnership with parents over nutritious eating. Those findings provide a useful quality reference, but they belong to that visit.

Attendance is term-time, with morning, afternoon and all-day arrangements. The balance between shorter sessions and a longer preschool day matters here, although conflicting session times need resolving before a family settles on a booking.

Rooms and Ages

The Butterfly room and Caterpillar room are the main classrooms; both support children choosing and developing their own play across the areas of learning. Alongside them, the SENtipede room and sensory room are accessible to all children, with their principal purpose being support for children with special educational needs. This gives the setting spaces beyond its main classrooms for individual support.

Butterfly Room sessions are intended for children aged three and over, while Caterpillar Room afternoon sessions serve two-year-olds. The daily timetable gives each room its own rhythm: Butterfly children move between play, organised activities, garden time and stories; Caterpillar children have play and communication activities, with an afternoon opportunity for sleep or garden time. Rest has a place in the younger children's routine.

Learning and Activities

The Early Years Foundation Stage (EYFS) provides the framework for learning through play, with communication, movement and personal development alongside early literacy, mathematics, creativity and understanding the world. It is the common foundation for early years education. Here, Development Matters, a practice guide for planning children's learning, helps staff organise activities within that framework.

The setting's relational pedagogy adds an emphasis on familiar adults, predictable routines and help managing emotions before placing learning demands on a child. Staff adjust expectations to a child's emotional state and share learning with them. For a child who becomes overwhelmed, that means the approach allows adults to reduce pressure and reconnect rather than simply continue with the planned task.

Learning also reaches home through Stepping Stones Library. Children borrow books, return them weekly and choose another to share with their family. The loaned book bag travels between preschool and home carrying creations and letters as well as reading material. This is a straightforward way to make shared reading part of the week.

A programme called 1 Of Your 5 A Week brings cooking and food activities, gardening, health and fitness, movement and music, and emotional, social and literacy experiences into learning during the week. These are practical additions to classroom play: children have opportunities to make, move and explore rather than encounter each area only through conversation.

Outdoor and Community Life

The garden and enclosed outside area support movement between indoor and outdoor play. Work with the Forest Childcare Association follows principles that include outdoor outings normally once a week, throughout the year and across weather conditions, combining adult-planned activities with children's own play. Families should expect outdoor clothing to be part of the everyday kit.

In January 2023, children used climbing equipment and ride-on toys in the garden to practise balance and coordination. Indoors, shop play gave them opportunities to take turns and extend their vocabulary, while sand timers helped with sharing popular resources. These are useful examples of how ordinary play became an opportunity to practise language and social skills at that time.

The community element includes annual preschool trips for children and parents, plus visits from entertainers including Owen’s animals and Basil’s farm. The parent committee supports these experiences alongside the independent speech and language therapist. Its contribution has a visible purpose: it helps sustain activities and specialist input beyond the daily room routine.

Relationships and Communication

Each child is allocated a key person before starting, with a back-up adult identified for periods of absence. The main key person leads developmental records, parent reviews and communication, while the wider room team shares observations and follows the child's routines. For families using part-time sessions, this arrangement gives continuity a practical structure rather than relying on one adult being present every day.

Settling is planned by the key person with the manager. The back-up key person is introduced gradually as the child's main relationship develops, and familiar room staff pass on information when the lead adult is away. Daily time with key children gives staff a regular opportunity to notice changes in wellbeing and progress.

Learning Journeys collect photographs, artwork and achievements; these records and a progress tracker are shared with parents each term. The progress check at age two is completed through a meeting with the family and includes parental views. That creates a specific point for discussing communication, physical development and emotional or social needs together.

Parents can also take part in the committee, contributing time and ideas to the running of the preschool. Participation can vary with the time a parent has to spare. This suits families who want an active role in the setting's decisions as well as updates about their own child.

Inclusion and Wellbeing

The current support structure includes a SENCO and SEN assistants, with communication and social development groups and assistance for the speech and language therapist. The SEND procedure brings together family observations, staff assessments and specialist advice, then sets out support through an action plan. Reviews are agreed with parents at least termly, giving the plan a timetable for assessing what is helping and what should change.

At the January 2023 inspection, Ofsted found that children with SEND benefited from trained staff, an accessible room and visual communication support, including pictures used to express choices. This is meaningful evidence of practice at that date, rather than a blanket promise about every child's experience now.

For children with more complex needs, admission preparations can include staff training, risk assessment and a healthcare plan; the start date depends on the adjustments required. Families and relevant agencies receive updates while those preparations are made. The practical value is a defined process for getting support ready before attendance begins.

Behaviour support starts with the key person's understanding of the child and works with parents to identify possible triggers. The policy rejects punitive isolation and uses adult support to help a distressed child regain composure. Safeguarding arrangements include designated lead and back-up roles, and all staff hold paediatric first aid certificates and have attended safeguarding training.

Sessions and Attendance

The address is Meadway School, Dunsfold Road, Tilehurst, Reading, RG30 4NP; the contact address is also given as 1 Dunsfold Road. Opening hours are 8.45am to 3pm, Monday to Friday, during term time. An enquiry form and registration form provide routes into the application process.

The registration form offers mornings from 8.45am to 11.45am, afternoons from 11.45am to 2.45pm, and an extended-funded all-day pattern from 8.45am to 2.45pm, Monday to Friday. Two flexi-funding patterns combine longer days with a shorter session, and families can indicate a preference for fewer than 15 hours. These arrangements allow different distributions of attendance across the week.

Room-specific timings differ: Caterpillar Room afternoons run from midday to 3pm, and its timetable also includes morning children from 9am to midday. Lunch club runs from 11.45am to 12.45pm. The timing conflict is a decision point below.

The waiting list is arranged in birth order and may also consider the child's age, with priority given to children eligible for the free entitlement, time waiting, home proximity, siblings and the setting's ability to meet individual needs. Term dates include training closures, and additional inset days may be added with notice. These are relevant to working parents arranging cover around the preschool calendar.

Funding and Paid Extras

Funded and privately billed sessions are offered. The registration form distinguishes Targeted 2-year-olds (15 hours), Working family entitlement (30 hours), Universal entitlement (15 hours) and Extended entitlement (30 hours); attendance is term-time. Current prices come in the nursery's written quotation, with the fees and funding information providing the funding context.

Parents supply snacks and drinks, with a healthy packed lunch for lunch club or afternoon attendance. The preschool's food rules exclude nut products and fizzy drinks; allergy-affected families should confirm current practice before relying on these arrangements.

Fees remain payable for booked attendance missed through illness, holidays or other personal circumstances. Persistent late collection also attracts a charge. The cost decision therefore includes the payment terms around attendance, as well as the chosen session pattern.

Getting There

Onsite parent parking is restricted to blue badge holders using the allocated bay with their badge displayed. Other options are the Churchend Lane car park beside Moorlands or Dunsfold Road, keeping neighbouring driveways clear.

• Session timing. The registration form's afternoon and all-day times differ from the room session information, including an all-day entry beginning at 11.45am. Before booking, agree the precise room, start time, finish time and lunch arrangement in writing.
• Concentration and food. In January 2023, busy shared spaces sometimes became noisy enough to disrupt concentration, and some lunches lacked sufficient nutritional balance. On a visit, ask how group activities are organised now and how staff work with families on lunch choices.
• Term-time costs and kit. Holiday and illness absences remain chargeable, parents provide food, and outdoor clothing is requested. How are non-food consumables handled for the chosen sessions?
• Preparing individual support. A complex SEND start can depend on adjustments, training and healthcare planning. Use the joining discussion to agree the preparation timetable and how the key person, SENCO and family will review support together.

Stepping Stones suits families seeking term-time morning or afternoon sessions, as well as those wanting an all-day preschool pattern. Its strongest practical attractions are the sensory and SEND spaces, communication support, shared key-person arrangements and weekly home reading through Stepping Stones Library. Parent involvement also has a clear role in sustaining the wider experience.

The January 2023 Good judgement is a useful reference, with concentration and nutritious eating remaining the two dated improvement points to weigh. Once the session timing is agreed, the choice is whether this play-based, relationship-led approach fits the child's needs and the family's term-time routine.